why couldn't there be female minions?
I try not to be a picky militant feminist killjoy, honestly. I don't try to find fault with every little thing I see. I realize the Despicable Me minions, soon to be featured in their own special movie, are just supposed to be cute and funny and lovable. So I shouldn't overthink.
But it really bothers me that there's no female minions. I watch Despicable Me with my kids, who love the minions, and it's just another example to me of the way males in this world just get to "be" and do whatever, but females can't. We have to be FEMALE.
The worst part is that the minions were introduced in a way that could have been very gender neutral - but then they were given names: Dave, Stuart, Kevin, Jerry, Tim, Mark, Phil. All traditional male. White male, I might even say... they couldn't even sneak in a "Tony" or "Darnell". Nope, that would have been too easy.
It would have also been very easy to name a minion "Sally". But they didn't. Probably because the illustrators would have assumed that Sally has to wear a bow or have sparkle fairy wings or just basically somehow not fit in, because you can't just have a woman be part of normal life, that would be insane! It would be this huge controversy, proof that those evil feminists have infiltrated the movie industry and are ruining everything, right?
A minion named Megan wouldn't have to wear a bow, guys. She could just be. She could go on a heist or drive a getaway car or go on any crazy adventure, we could laugh at her silly antics.
Instead, we get the male minions dressing up in feminine outfits as comedy, because it's just so darn funny to cross into gender stereotypes, like when Phil dresses as a maid to do housework.
Giving every minion a traditional male name just really irritates me. It says that the normal world is made of and for men, and everybody else has to have a good reason to be there. It says that you can't have a character who's female unless they can come packaged with stereotypes. And it says that we can laugh at men, but women can't be funny or entertaining.
Am I being too picky? I know someone will say I should relax, it's just a kids movie. Minion names are a really simple thing. Well if they're so damn simple why didn't anyone think to name one after a girl? If it was really simple we'd never have to say anything.
But it really bothers me that there's no female minions. I watch Despicable Me with my kids, who love the minions, and it's just another example to me of the way males in this world just get to "be" and do whatever, but females can't. We have to be FEMALE.
The worst part is that the minions were introduced in a way that could have been very gender neutral - but then they were given names: Dave, Stuart, Kevin, Jerry, Tim, Mark, Phil. All traditional male. White male, I might even say... they couldn't even sneak in a "Tony" or "Darnell". Nope, that would have been too easy.
It would have also been very easy to name a minion "Sally". But they didn't. Probably because the illustrators would have assumed that Sally has to wear a bow or have sparkle fairy wings or just basically somehow not fit in, because you can't just have a woman be part of normal life, that would be insane! It would be this huge controversy, proof that those evil feminists have infiltrated the movie industry and are ruining everything, right?
A minion named Megan wouldn't have to wear a bow, guys. She could just be. She could go on a heist or drive a getaway car or go on any crazy adventure, we could laugh at her silly antics.
Instead, we get the male minions dressing up in feminine outfits as comedy, because it's just so darn funny to cross into gender stereotypes, like when Phil dresses as a maid to do housework.
Giving every minion a traditional male name just really irritates me. It says that the normal world is made of and for men, and everybody else has to have a good reason to be there. It says that you can't have a character who's female unless they can come packaged with stereotypes. And it says that we can laugh at men, but women can't be funny or entertaining.
Am I being too picky? I know someone will say I should relax, it's just a kids movie. Minion names are a really simple thing. Well if they're so damn simple why didn't anyone think to name one after a girl? If it was really simple we'd never have to say anything.