TV and my feminist sensibilities
Lately I’ve been feeling that we’ve taken a step back on the issue of TV’s female characters. There were two instances particular which made me think that.
Firstly Lady Heather of CSI, she was back again and I made sure I was firmly sitting in front of the telly that night, because who could forget her last appearance. Her daughter had been murdered, and not only had she tracked the killer down faster than the CSIs she had actually kidnapped him, tied him to the front bumper of her soccer-mom car, and whipped the hell out of him. Great stuff! So my expectations were high. But oh, boy, did they fuck it up!
Not only was Lady Heather the victim of that particular episode, but she was shown but a shadow of her former self. She had made a deal for a great amount of money, to let a sadistic bastard strangle her in order to provide a college fund for her grand-daughter (who she was not allowed to see due to her profession). Now, there were several things in this episode that made me incredibly mad.
Firstly she had given up her livelihood to prove to the authorities that she would be fit to see her grand-child. The Lady Heather we all knew and loved from the previous episodes would have never done this. She would have fought, like a wild cat, and I would argue would have been successful, because it was indicated that she knew many of the Sin City’s powerful. I’m certain she would have been able to secure very extensive legal representation. Secondly I was infuriated by the fact that she was demoted, from a self-respecting business woman, to a whore. This is the crux of the matter, the men (writers, and the characters in the series) have a problem with her profession. She makes her living as a very successful dominatrix. She is independent and even in the case of her daughters murder did not need to be rescued by a bunch of guys. But apparently this is not acceptable in today’s TV; independent women have to be pulled down because they are too threatening to the heterosexual and patriarchal family unit.
This threat was showcased in two ways. Firstly by making Heather an unfit guardian for her grand-daughter (which I find highly unlikely, taking into account how much money she makes, and the US justice systems preferential treatment of the Mother figure). Secondly by making her sacrifice her life for the college fund. As in she understood her own unfitness and would thus sacrifice her “dirty” body in order to sanctify the holiness of the family purity.
In the end of the episode she was left, alone and broken in her empty house with Brass looking down upon her and pretty much calling her a cheap whore. Now this is the perfect example of today’s society’s fear of string women, and I find it disgraceful.
However, Heather is not my only bone to be picked. Temperance Brennan from Bones is another. The first series was pretty good, even though Booth’s all-American-family-values were often portrayed as the right and the correct way, Brennan still managed to hold her own by not wanting children, conventional relationship with an alpha male, but wanted to pursue her career. So, all around interesting character.
But I started watching the second season a while ago, and are they just pedalling the fucking-family-values again! But this time Brennan is not show as the opposite, but someone who is in the wrong. Her desire of her career and her rejection of her feminine purpose (i.e. to have children) is over and over again shown to be wrong.
In the beginning of the second series Brennan returns from holiday only to find that a stranger outside the institute has been promoted above her. Now, she wonders about this, and is insulted. “Why didn’t Goodman hire me?” she wonders, and her partner Booth (the alpha male, and we will return to this) marks that “You aren’t good with people, Bones.” This not only indicates that Cam (the woman promoted in Brennan’s place) is not only good with people, but a better investigator than her. And obviously the fact that Cam has slept with Booth, been in relationship with him has nothing to do with it. Cam is willing to commit to a relationship and this makes her better with people.
Okay, I admit, I’m stretching the setting there a bit, but that is the underlying message here.
My second issue is family-values! First series Brennan was set against ever having children, and now the writers are setting out to show how wrong she is. Booth’s out-of-wedlock child is brought into the plot when the mother gets a new boyfriend, and Booth gets all riled up about it. There are threats flying back and forth between Booth and his ex. And Brennan even questions “Would you have child if you knew that this was going to be the situation, wouldn’t it be better not have brought a child into that situation?” to which Booth shoots her down by declaring that children are the best thing ever, and if you don’t have them you are not fulfilling your purpose on the earth.
In the end of the episode all three Booth, his ex and her boyfriend sit down and eat some all American pie while Brennan watches on “jealously”. Her unwillingness to have children is here indicated as unnatural, not the fact that the poor child is having to survive with his parents fighting for custody.
My third issue is sex. Okay, Brennan likes it, she proclaims to need it on occasion and for that she has a few men on call. I’m thinking here: great! You go girl! But the men don’t really, because sexually active and aggressive and in control woman is threatening and dangerous.
So, Booth stars sleeping with his ex, that’s all fine and dandy, because they share a child together. Ignoring the fact that she is cheating on her current boyfriend with Booth, because that is apparently not an issue because Booth is the father of her child, and thus allowed first pick (i.e. he is the alpha in the pack). Brennan dismisses his escapades merely as “mammals need sex, it’s a biological imperative. And I have men on speed dial for that!” Booth looks horrified, how can she say that sex is only about biology, she’s a woman she should this it’s about love! In the end of the episode Booth gets to chastise Brennan on how sex is not only about biology, but about love and blah blah blah. Ignoring the fact that he was the other man! His ex was cheating!!
Firstly Lady Heather of CSI, she was back again and I made sure I was firmly sitting in front of the telly that night, because who could forget her last appearance. Her daughter had been murdered, and not only had she tracked the killer down faster than the CSIs she had actually kidnapped him, tied him to the front bumper of her soccer-mom car, and whipped the hell out of him. Great stuff! So my expectations were high. But oh, boy, did they fuck it up!
Not only was Lady Heather the victim of that particular episode, but she was shown but a shadow of her former self. She had made a deal for a great amount of money, to let a sadistic bastard strangle her in order to provide a college fund for her grand-daughter (who she was not allowed to see due to her profession). Now, there were several things in this episode that made me incredibly mad.
Firstly she had given up her livelihood to prove to the authorities that she would be fit to see her grand-child. The Lady Heather we all knew and loved from the previous episodes would have never done this. She would have fought, like a wild cat, and I would argue would have been successful, because it was indicated that she knew many of the Sin City’s powerful. I’m certain she would have been able to secure very extensive legal representation. Secondly I was infuriated by the fact that she was demoted, from a self-respecting business woman, to a whore. This is the crux of the matter, the men (writers, and the characters in the series) have a problem with her profession. She makes her living as a very successful dominatrix. She is independent and even in the case of her daughters murder did not need to be rescued by a bunch of guys. But apparently this is not acceptable in today’s TV; independent women have to be pulled down because they are too threatening to the heterosexual and patriarchal family unit.
This threat was showcased in two ways. Firstly by making Heather an unfit guardian for her grand-daughter (which I find highly unlikely, taking into account how much money she makes, and the US justice systems preferential treatment of the Mother figure). Secondly by making her sacrifice her life for the college fund. As in she understood her own unfitness and would thus sacrifice her “dirty” body in order to sanctify the holiness of the family purity.
In the end of the episode she was left, alone and broken in her empty house with Brass looking down upon her and pretty much calling her a cheap whore. Now this is the perfect example of today’s society’s fear of string women, and I find it disgraceful.
However, Heather is not my only bone to be picked. Temperance Brennan from Bones is another. The first series was pretty good, even though Booth’s all-American-family-values were often portrayed as the right and the correct way, Brennan still managed to hold her own by not wanting children, conventional relationship with an alpha male, but wanted to pursue her career. So, all around interesting character.
But I started watching the second season a while ago, and are they just pedalling the fucking-family-values again! But this time Brennan is not show as the opposite, but someone who is in the wrong. Her desire of her career and her rejection of her feminine purpose (i.e. to have children) is over and over again shown to be wrong.
In the beginning of the second series Brennan returns from holiday only to find that a stranger outside the institute has been promoted above her. Now, she wonders about this, and is insulted. “Why didn’t Goodman hire me?” she wonders, and her partner Booth (the alpha male, and we will return to this) marks that “You aren’t good with people, Bones.” This not only indicates that Cam (the woman promoted in Brennan’s place) is not only good with people, but a better investigator than her. And obviously the fact that Cam has slept with Booth, been in relationship with him has nothing to do with it. Cam is willing to commit to a relationship and this makes her better with people.
Okay, I admit, I’m stretching the setting there a bit, but that is the underlying message here.
My second issue is family-values! First series Brennan was set against ever having children, and now the writers are setting out to show how wrong she is. Booth’s out-of-wedlock child is brought into the plot when the mother gets a new boyfriend, and Booth gets all riled up about it. There are threats flying back and forth between Booth and his ex. And Brennan even questions “Would you have child if you knew that this was going to be the situation, wouldn’t it be better not have brought a child into that situation?” to which Booth shoots her down by declaring that children are the best thing ever, and if you don’t have them you are not fulfilling your purpose on the earth.
In the end of the episode all three Booth, his ex and her boyfriend sit down and eat some all American pie while Brennan watches on “jealously”. Her unwillingness to have children is here indicated as unnatural, not the fact that the poor child is having to survive with his parents fighting for custody.
My third issue is sex. Okay, Brennan likes it, she proclaims to need it on occasion and for that she has a few men on call. I’m thinking here: great! You go girl! But the men don’t really, because sexually active and aggressive and in control woman is threatening and dangerous.
So, Booth stars sleeping with his ex, that’s all fine and dandy, because they share a child together. Ignoring the fact that she is cheating on her current boyfriend with Booth, because that is apparently not an issue because Booth is the father of her child, and thus allowed first pick (i.e. he is the alpha in the pack). Brennan dismisses his escapades merely as “mammals need sex, it’s a biological imperative. And I have men on speed dial for that!” Booth looks horrified, how can she say that sex is only about biology, she’s a woman she should this it’s about love! In the end of the episode Booth gets to chastise Brennan on how sex is not only about biology, but about love and blah blah blah. Ignoring the fact that he was the other man! His ex was cheating!!