Time To Call A Spade A Spade, Or An Extension Of Anti-Extreme-Feminism To The Media
We've all been there; watching a TV show or even a movie, when suddenly here she comes, stomping down the hallway, filled with righteous anger and hypocrisy that jerks you right out of the story. She's nasty, she's rude, she jumps to conclusions, she refuses to consider the opinions of others--but she's a girl, so it's okay, and god help the poor "sexist" soul who tries to say otherwise.
Fandom is a largely feminine field, and as such tends to have feminist leanings. While I can't say I have any problems with the idea of respectable and interesting female characters, I do have a problem with the idea of what those characters are supposed to look--or more precisely, behave--like. Being a woman isn't license to act like an ass, just as being a man isn't an excuse to sleep with anything that moves. A double standard is still a double standard, regardless of which gender it favors--but many women refuse to see a double standard which favors them.
One of the things which endeared Supernatural to me was its willingness to call out female characters that were acting, well, bitchy. (I'm not saying that spn doesn't have its sexist moments, but that's a discussion for another day.) Most shows have no problem with having male characters referred to in-show as jerks at the very least (see DiNozzo, Tony, NCIS), but female characters are often portrayed in a positive light at their nastiest, almost as if flouting basic codes of behavior were more acceptable because it meant a traditionally suppressed gender was breaking away from its typical role. Newsflash: if a male character acted in the same way many of these female characters do (CSI:Miami in particular comes to mind), there would be an uproar. Supernatural has the guts--and perhaps the exact right balancing act between mainstream notoriety and devoted fanbase--to call a bitch, a bitch. What's more, it contrasts them nicely with some genuinely likeable female characters such as Ellen Harvelle and Missouri Moseley. Ruby is not a nice person, and if she were male the fandom would be right there alongside Dean calling her/him a bastard.
So get off your high horse, girls. We wanted to be equals; we need to take the good of that along with the bad. If we aren't the weaker gender, then we no longer get exemptions just because we're not men.
Fandom is a largely feminine field, and as such tends to have feminist leanings. While I can't say I have any problems with the idea of respectable and interesting female characters, I do have a problem with the idea of what those characters are supposed to look--or more precisely, behave--like. Being a woman isn't license to act like an ass, just as being a man isn't an excuse to sleep with anything that moves. A double standard is still a double standard, regardless of which gender it favors--but many women refuse to see a double standard which favors them.
One of the things which endeared Supernatural to me was its willingness to call out female characters that were acting, well, bitchy. (I'm not saying that spn doesn't have its sexist moments, but that's a discussion for another day.) Most shows have no problem with having male characters referred to in-show as jerks at the very least (see DiNozzo, Tony, NCIS), but female characters are often portrayed in a positive light at their nastiest, almost as if flouting basic codes of behavior were more acceptable because it meant a traditionally suppressed gender was breaking away from its typical role. Newsflash: if a male character acted in the same way many of these female characters do (CSI:Miami in particular comes to mind), there would be an uproar. Supernatural has the guts--and perhaps the exact right balancing act between mainstream notoriety and devoted fanbase--to call a bitch, a bitch. What's more, it contrasts them nicely with some genuinely likeable female characters such as Ellen Harvelle and Missouri Moseley. Ruby is not a nice person, and if she were male the fandom would be right there alongside Dean calling her/him a bastard.
So get off your high horse, girls. We wanted to be equals; we need to take the good of that along with the bad. If we aren't the weaker gender, then we no longer get exemptions just because we're not men.