Why Sara Ellis is One of the Most Feminist Characters on TV
I've said multiple times that I consider White Collar to be one of the most feminist friendly shows on TV. It's not perfect, but it has multiple woman characters, with different personalities, desires, and goals, and it doesn't demonize any of them or pit them against each other. And nowhere, I think, does White Collar earn its feminist cred more than with the character of Sara Ellis. How so? I'm glad you asked! I happen to have written a post all about it. Thanks to 
frith_in_thorns for looking this over for me.
Be prepared for spoilers through season 4.
Crucial to Sara being a feminist character is the fact that she's a well written character. This is not a universal opinion. Sara is regularly castigated for inconsistency. While Sara and Neal were first dating, I saw even people who like her remark that they regretted the change in her character. The problem is that people are mistaking layers for inconsistency. Like most real people, Sara behaves differently with different people in different situations. When we first meet her, all her walls are way up. She's working with someone she doesn't like and doesn't trust. Neither she nor Neal are warm and fuzzy:
Neal: You're really redefining business casual.
Sara: Hardly recognized you without the Ruger.
But then she finds out about Kate's death and she begins to see Neal in a new light. They become friends, then lovers. Naturally, Sara behaves differently with her boyfriend than an adversary. She's warm, playful, and affectionate. Then they break up. The next time we see her, those walls are back up. They have to remake their friendship and Sara once again warms up.
Sara behaves differently with Neal than with Peter. Neal brings out her thrill seeking side, while Peter brings out the more serious, sensible aspects of her personality.
All of this is important because it allows Sara to be a full person. Writing women as people is a key aspect of feminist writing.
Sara is a controversial character, to put it mildly. It's easier being a Sara fan now than it was back in season three, but there's still plenty of hate. Ironically (or perhaps appropriately, given our society), the aspects that make her hated are the same ones that make her such a feminist character.
Sara is very feminine in appearance, but it's not a soft femininity. With her heels and architectural (thank you to
sahiya for that adjective) dresses, Sara's femininity is sharp and hard. And that doesn't endear people to her. I've seen Sara hated for "dressing loudly." Now, given that our male hero is not exactly a picture of sartorial understatement, we might suspect that it's not the flamboyance of Sara's outfits so much as what they represent: a lack of softness and a willingness, perhaps even an eagerness, to be seen and noticed. Society finds that hard to take in a woman.
Continuing from this, while Sara's appearance is feminine, she isn't good at performing femininity. Sara is a good person. She's loyal (sticking by Neal even after Kramer threatened her, agreeing to take down Landon Shepard for Peter), forgiving (she keeps letting Neal back into her life even as he hurts her again and again), and compassionate (dropping charges against Neal as soon as she learns that a child is at risk, defending Penny and Oz's love letters).
But Sara isn't particularly nice. Nice people are accommodating, they make friends easily, they don't cause trouble. None of that applies to Sara.
Women are expected to be nice first and foremost. If a woman isn't nice, then it doesn't really matter if she's good. For a real world example see Hillary Clinton. I'm not arguing whether or not Clinton is good, that's beyond the scope of fandom essay. But it doesn't matter in popular culture. Think of those "nutcracker" dolls, or the jokes about Clinton not wearing skirts because then her balls would show. None of this is even remotely concerned with whether or not she's good. The only thing that matters is that she's not seen as nice.
And so with Sara. Sara's courage, loyalty, and and forgiving nature don't keep her from being called a bitch, which is the Sara bashers' favorite word. But, the show never presents her as a bitch, never treats her as unreasonable for being angry. People sometimes talk about how Sara used to be an antagonist, but she never was. In her introductory episode she works to the same ends as the FBI, and we see her courage and tenacity. Also note that she gets along well with Peter, the second lead. Sara is a protagonist who doesn't always get along with Neal.
As Stephen Sondheim noted, nice is different than good, and to the narrative, it matters more that Sara is good.
Also vital is the fact that Sara never has to change who she is. As noted, Sara behaves differently in different situations, but she never has to become someone else. She doesn't have to become sweeter or more accommodating in order to be worthy of Neal. She's allowed to keep her abrasiveness and defensive coping mechanisms.
Sara's relationship with Neal is one of the reasons I consider her so very feminist. This may seem strange, initially. Why should Sara's relationship with a man be important in a feminist analysis of her character? But characters/people like Sara, not nice, occasionally abrasive and defensive, aren't regarded as attractive or desirable. How could a bitch like that get a man, eh? Wanting romance, sex, and/or companionship is a very common part of the human experience, and it's harmful to declare that only a certain type of woman can ever find those things. White Collar turns that sexist narrative on its head. Not only can Sara get a man, she can get the sexiest, suavest man on the show. Neal is presented as the epitome of desirability, and we're shown that he can have nearly any woman he wants. And he wants Sara, the woman who in most narratives would be dismissed. "Be who you are," White Collar says, "and you can still be wanted and loved."
And while Sara is affectionate with Neal and incredibly loyal to him, the narrative allows her to keep her voice and her own point of view. Sara doesn't always have to be happy with Neal. She's allowed to be angry with him and to poke at his ego.
Central to the Neal/Sara is the fact that she can keep up with him. It's a relationship of equals. See 2x10, as an example. The two of them don't know each other very well, but when Neal launches a con on the fly, Sara is not only able to keep it going, but she's able to have a little fun with him as well.
Sara: Just call him Junior. Everybody does.
The fact that Sara is shown to be intelligent and competent certainly doesn't set her apart from the other women of White Collar, but it's nice to see.
Sara breaks with traditional femininity in other ways. She's confident, driven and ambitious. Watch her very first scene and see how she struts. Sara knows how good she is. This is definitely not appropriate feminine behavior. Women are supposed to be supportive and modest. They're not supposed to put their own goals first or be too confident. Neal's preening confidence is one of the reasons he's loved, while Sara is "smug." Neal is much more sure of himself (to the point of arrogance) than Sara, but she's the one who's criticized.
What does Sara get in canon for her confidence and ambition? She gets a boss who trusts her and follows her lead (3x16) and an impressive promotion (4x14, 4x16). Once again, we see White Collar rewarding Sara where other stories would punish her.
Women's primary tools aren't assumed to be their intelligence, or their resourcefulness, or their tenacity. It's assumed that a woman will use her looks to get ahead. Women are supposed to use their femininity as a weapon, flirting and cajoling to do anything from getting a man to lower his guard so they can kick butt, to convincing a man to change his position on something. It's taken as a given that women, especially beautiful women, will use their feminine wiles to get what they want. And here again, we have Sara unable to properly perform femininity. Sara is not a femme fatale. She's terrible at faking attraction. She tries it on her ex-fiance, Brian, in 3x14, and he sees right through it. She and Peter make an awkward mess of their pretend affair in 4x07 until Neal and Elizabeth take to coaching them. Sara has much better luck with physical combat. She fails to seduce Bryan, but she is able to crack his leg with her baton after he tries to take her hostage. (And note that Sara is continuing the fine White Collar tradition of women rescuing themselves.)
But while Sara knows her way around a baton, she's not a fighter first and foremost. Fans tend to like women who are "badass," who know how to handle a sword or a gun. We tend to be more comfortable with women who reject femininity entirely than with a character like Sara who is both feminine and not.
Just as Sara doesn't depend on her sexuality, neither is she sexualized by the camera. (Indeed, she's shot the same way Neal is.) But while Sara isn't sexualized, she is sexual. Sara likes sex, judging by how often she and Neal have it, and she's never shamed for it. Sara's sexuality is part of her, but she's not defined by it. It's only one small part of who she is.
Continually, White Collar uses Sara to challenge and overturn sexist attitudes and narratives. In another story, Sara would be a villain, or at the very least worthy of contempt. But White Collar presents her as a competent, successful woman, who doesn't have to sacrifice any part of herself to be fulfilled professionally or personally. I wish that weren't so incredible, but since it is, the writers of White Collar have all my gratitude.
This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/346531.html. Please consider commenting there.
frith_in_thorns for looking this over for me.
Be prepared for spoilers through season 4.
Crucial to Sara being a feminist character is the fact that she's a well written character. This is not a universal opinion. Sara is regularly castigated for inconsistency. While Sara and Neal were first dating, I saw even people who like her remark that they regretted the change in her character. The problem is that people are mistaking layers for inconsistency. Like most real people, Sara behaves differently with different people in different situations. When we first meet her, all her walls are way up. She's working with someone she doesn't like and doesn't trust. Neither she nor Neal are warm and fuzzy:
Neal: You're really redefining business casual.
Sara: Hardly recognized you without the Ruger.
But then she finds out about Kate's death and she begins to see Neal in a new light. They become friends, then lovers. Naturally, Sara behaves differently with her boyfriend than an adversary. She's warm, playful, and affectionate. Then they break up. The next time we see her, those walls are back up. They have to remake their friendship and Sara once again warms up.
Sara behaves differently with Neal than with Peter. Neal brings out her thrill seeking side, while Peter brings out the more serious, sensible aspects of her personality.
All of this is important because it allows Sara to be a full person. Writing women as people is a key aspect of feminist writing.
Sara is a controversial character, to put it mildly. It's easier being a Sara fan now than it was back in season three, but there's still plenty of hate. Ironically (or perhaps appropriately, given our society), the aspects that make her hated are the same ones that make her such a feminist character.
Sara is very feminine in appearance, but it's not a soft femininity. With her heels and architectural (thank you to
sahiya for that adjective) dresses, Sara's femininity is sharp and hard. And that doesn't endear people to her. I've seen Sara hated for "dressing loudly." Now, given that our male hero is not exactly a picture of sartorial understatement, we might suspect that it's not the flamboyance of Sara's outfits so much as what they represent: a lack of softness and a willingness, perhaps even an eagerness, to be seen and noticed. Society finds that hard to take in a woman.
Continuing from this, while Sara's appearance is feminine, she isn't good at performing femininity. Sara is a good person. She's loyal (sticking by Neal even after Kramer threatened her, agreeing to take down Landon Shepard for Peter), forgiving (she keeps letting Neal back into her life even as he hurts her again and again), and compassionate (dropping charges against Neal as soon as she learns that a child is at risk, defending Penny and Oz's love letters).
But Sara isn't particularly nice. Nice people are accommodating, they make friends easily, they don't cause trouble. None of that applies to Sara.
Women are expected to be nice first and foremost. If a woman isn't nice, then it doesn't really matter if she's good. For a real world example see Hillary Clinton. I'm not arguing whether or not Clinton is good, that's beyond the scope of fandom essay. But it doesn't matter in popular culture. Think of those "nutcracker" dolls, or the jokes about Clinton not wearing skirts because then her balls would show. None of this is even remotely concerned with whether or not she's good. The only thing that matters is that she's not seen as nice.
And so with Sara. Sara's courage, loyalty, and and forgiving nature don't keep her from being called a bitch, which is the Sara bashers' favorite word. But, the show never presents her as a bitch, never treats her as unreasonable for being angry. People sometimes talk about how Sara used to be an antagonist, but she never was. In her introductory episode she works to the same ends as the FBI, and we see her courage and tenacity. Also note that she gets along well with Peter, the second lead. Sara is a protagonist who doesn't always get along with Neal.
As Stephen Sondheim noted, nice is different than good, and to the narrative, it matters more that Sara is good.
Also vital is the fact that Sara never has to change who she is. As noted, Sara behaves differently in different situations, but she never has to become someone else. She doesn't have to become sweeter or more accommodating in order to be worthy of Neal. She's allowed to keep her abrasiveness and defensive coping mechanisms.
Sara's relationship with Neal is one of the reasons I consider her so very feminist. This may seem strange, initially. Why should Sara's relationship with a man be important in a feminist analysis of her character? But characters/people like Sara, not nice, occasionally abrasive and defensive, aren't regarded as attractive or desirable. How could a bitch like that get a man, eh? Wanting romance, sex, and/or companionship is a very common part of the human experience, and it's harmful to declare that only a certain type of woman can ever find those things. White Collar turns that sexist narrative on its head. Not only can Sara get a man, she can get the sexiest, suavest man on the show. Neal is presented as the epitome of desirability, and we're shown that he can have nearly any woman he wants. And he wants Sara, the woman who in most narratives would be dismissed. "Be who you are," White Collar says, "and you can still be wanted and loved."
And while Sara is affectionate with Neal and incredibly loyal to him, the narrative allows her to keep her voice and her own point of view. Sara doesn't always have to be happy with Neal. She's allowed to be angry with him and to poke at his ego.
Central to the Neal/Sara is the fact that she can keep up with him. It's a relationship of equals. See 2x10, as an example. The two of them don't know each other very well, but when Neal launches a con on the fly, Sara is not only able to keep it going, but she's able to have a little fun with him as well.
Sara: Just call him Junior. Everybody does.
The fact that Sara is shown to be intelligent and competent certainly doesn't set her apart from the other women of White Collar, but it's nice to see.
Sara breaks with traditional femininity in other ways. She's confident, driven and ambitious. Watch her very first scene and see how she struts. Sara knows how good she is. This is definitely not appropriate feminine behavior. Women are supposed to be supportive and modest. They're not supposed to put their own goals first or be too confident. Neal's preening confidence is one of the reasons he's loved, while Sara is "smug." Neal is much more sure of himself (to the point of arrogance) than Sara, but she's the one who's criticized.
What does Sara get in canon for her confidence and ambition? She gets a boss who trusts her and follows her lead (3x16) and an impressive promotion (4x14, 4x16). Once again, we see White Collar rewarding Sara where other stories would punish her.
Women's primary tools aren't assumed to be their intelligence, or their resourcefulness, or their tenacity. It's assumed that a woman will use her looks to get ahead. Women are supposed to use their femininity as a weapon, flirting and cajoling to do anything from getting a man to lower his guard so they can kick butt, to convincing a man to change his position on something. It's taken as a given that women, especially beautiful women, will use their feminine wiles to get what they want. And here again, we have Sara unable to properly perform femininity. Sara is not a femme fatale. She's terrible at faking attraction. She tries it on her ex-fiance, Brian, in 3x14, and he sees right through it. She and Peter make an awkward mess of their pretend affair in 4x07 until Neal and Elizabeth take to coaching them. Sara has much better luck with physical combat. She fails to seduce Bryan, but she is able to crack his leg with her baton after he tries to take her hostage. (And note that Sara is continuing the fine White Collar tradition of women rescuing themselves.)
But while Sara knows her way around a baton, she's not a fighter first and foremost. Fans tend to like women who are "badass," who know how to handle a sword or a gun. We tend to be more comfortable with women who reject femininity entirely than with a character like Sara who is both feminine and not.
Just as Sara doesn't depend on her sexuality, neither is she sexualized by the camera. (Indeed, she's shot the same way Neal is.) But while Sara isn't sexualized, she is sexual. Sara likes sex, judging by how often she and Neal have it, and she's never shamed for it. Sara's sexuality is part of her, but she's not defined by it. It's only one small part of who she is.
Continually, White Collar uses Sara to challenge and overturn sexist attitudes and narratives. In another story, Sara would be a villain, or at the very least worthy of contempt. But White Collar presents her as a competent, successful woman, who doesn't have to sacrifice any part of herself to be fulfilled professionally or personally. I wish that weren't so incredible, but since it is, the writers of White Collar have all my gratitude.
This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/346531.html. Please consider commenting there.