I come at this from a different angle to you. I do identify myself a feminist (though in a general, not narrowly defined/cliched way).
Badass, hard as nails girls and sensitive, compassionate boys both really turn my crank. *cough* Me too.
Why is strength considered such an important attribute? Why not skill, compassion, empathy, knowledge, wisdom, kindness? Good call. It made me think about the way I personally refer to 'strong' female characters--I use it as a term that doesn't just refer to physical strength, but may indeed cover some of the things you mention. However you've made me think about why I even choose the word 'strong' then. Why not choose 'complex' or 'well drawn'? I guess one of the reasons is I use 'strong' as shorthand for 'not framed as a victim by the show/source'--so they may not be physically strong but they are portrayed as having power of some form, whether skill based or emotional strength or some other form.
there is a very big line that is crossed when a really fucking strong woman goes after a physically weak man, which I find no more excusable than if the situation were reversed. If power can go both ways, then why not chivalry? Heh. *tries to imagine Kara Thrace being chivalrous* Yeah, I think this was the argument that excited me the most because SO FEW people speak up about this. It's one area where fandom seems to dumb things right down.
When women sexually take advantage of men, it's framed and blocked as sexy. Ew, ew, ew. Yeah, I have BIG issues with that. I don't think the two can be equated easily, but to think that men cannot be sexually abused by women is just wrong. And to code it as 'sexy' is actually dangerous for our society.
I'll talk BSG because it's the canon I'm most familiar with, but I think the comparison between Kara and Lee is really marked. Both, it is heavily suggested, were abused by their mothers--Kara primarily physically, Lee emotionally and possibly physically. Kara gets a 'get out of jail free' card from fandom for being a poor tortured soul. She kills, she attacks, she bullies, she abuses others emotionally and physically--and she's (generally) accepted as powerful and awesome. Lee gets... not a lot of sympathy for having been abused. In general it's shrugged off as 'not as bad' as Kara's abuse. Maybe it wasn't. But I'd argue that emotional abuse is still abuse. I do feel there's a level at which it's dismissed because it's a) emotional and b) from the hands of a woman to a boy, 'so it can't be all that bad, can it?' It's also interesting that some people view Lee as 'weak'. Why? Because he hasn't turned into a bullying, aggressive alpha male? Oh, wow, what a failure of parenting. *eyeroll* But that parenting also left him with huge anger and abandonment issues that do come out in other ways.
Full confession: my favourite hero of all time is a white, straight male who was abused by women and turned into an abuser himself--on an epic, nation-destroying level. So I guess I'm really interested in these ideas? ;)
Oh, also, I think when we're seeing female characters usurp male stereotypes as the kickass emotionally distant action hero, I see that as very much Stage 1 of changing people's cliched ideas about gender roles. It's kind of Level 1 basic 'just swap the genders and it's diversity' thinking. REAL diversity is much harder to achieve than that.
And it's diversity--from both genders--I would rather see on my screen.
Sorry for the tl;dr. I'd really like to friend you if that's ok?
Badass, hard as nails girls and sensitive, compassionate boys both really turn my crank.
*cough* Me too.
Why is strength considered such an important attribute? Why not skill, compassion, empathy, knowledge, wisdom, kindness?
Good call. It made me think about the way I personally refer to 'strong' female characters--I use it as a term that doesn't just refer to physical strength, but may indeed cover some of the things you mention. However you've made me think about why I even choose the word 'strong' then. Why not choose 'complex' or 'well drawn'? I guess one of the reasons is I use 'strong' as shorthand for 'not framed as a victim by the show/source'--so they may not be physically strong but they are portrayed as having power of some form, whether skill based or emotional strength or some other form.
there is a very big line that is crossed when a really fucking strong woman goes after a physically weak man, which I find no more excusable than if the situation were reversed. If power can go both ways, then why not chivalry?
Heh. *tries to imagine Kara Thrace being chivalrous* Yeah, I think this was the argument that excited me the most because SO FEW people speak up about this. It's one area where fandom seems to dumb things right down.
When women sexually take advantage of men, it's framed and blocked as sexy. Ew, ew, ew.
Yeah, I have BIG issues with that. I don't think the two can be equated easily, but to think that men cannot be sexually abused by women is just wrong. And to code it as 'sexy' is actually dangerous for our society.
I'll talk BSG because it's the canon I'm most familiar with, but I think the comparison between Kara and Lee is really marked. Both, it is heavily suggested, were abused by their mothers--Kara primarily physically, Lee emotionally and possibly physically. Kara gets a 'get out of jail free' card from fandom for being a poor tortured soul. She kills, she attacks, she bullies, she abuses others emotionally and physically--and she's (generally) accepted as powerful and awesome. Lee gets... not a lot of sympathy for having been abused. In general it's shrugged off as 'not as bad' as Kara's abuse. Maybe it wasn't. But I'd argue that emotional abuse is still abuse. I do feel there's a level at which it's dismissed because it's a) emotional and b) from the hands of a woman to a boy, 'so it can't be all that bad, can it?' It's also interesting that some people view Lee as 'weak'. Why? Because he hasn't turned into a bullying, aggressive alpha male? Oh, wow, what a failure of parenting. *eyeroll* But that parenting also left him with huge anger and abandonment issues that do come out in other ways.
Full confession: my favourite hero of all time is a white, straight male who was abused by women and turned into an abuser himself--on an epic, nation-destroying level. So I guess I'm really interested in these ideas? ;)
Oh, also, I think when we're seeing female characters usurp male stereotypes as the kickass emotionally distant action hero, I see that as very much Stage 1 of changing people's cliched ideas about gender roles. It's kind of Level 1 basic 'just swap the genders and it's diversity' thinking. REAL diversity is much harder to achieve than that.
And it's diversity--from both genders--I would rather see on my screen.
Sorry for the tl;dr. I'd really like to friend you if that's ok?
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