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Post by Jairo on Dec 13, 2010 13:09:43 GMT -4
Watch just about any non-beer commercial and the woman will almost invariably be portrayed as the wiser, more mature half of the relationship, often compensating for her husband's immature faults. It's also frequent in cartoons and such, like Simpsons, Dinosaurs, Family Guy, etc. When someone said it was reflecting reality, I replied that mice always beat cats in cartoons too.
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Post by gillianren on Dec 13, 2010 14:21:09 GMT -4
How many commercials have you lot seen where the wife comes home from work after the rest of her family and has to make dinner? With her husband and children all sitting there demanding it of her? Yes, women are generally shown to be more competent--but of course the reward for a job well done is another job. All commercials for household cleaning products show women cleaning. (Admittedly, my boyfriend doesn't really do any cleaning here, but that's because he has a full-time job and our roommate has a mild case of obsessive-compulsive cleanliness disorder.) When men provide dinner for the family, it is either by barbecuing or by ordering pizza.
On sitcoms, the woman is often the voice of reason, and it's often the case that the man's problems are his own fault. However, if you examine media of the twentieth century, the smart woman generally has to get her comeuppance. One of the reasons I prefer the Tracy-Hepburn Desk Set to their also quite funny Adam's Rib is that, in the former, it's okay that she's astonishingly brainy. (It's also one of the few examples where a librarian, which is sort of what Bunny is, is neither frumpy nor overtly sexual.) I would also note that, if you examine the commercials shown during most prime time programming not overtly geared toward women, the commercials are geared toward men. As of my next birthday, I will officially be in the demographic no one cares about, whereas, if I were male, they would still be interested.
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Post by Jason Thompson on Dec 13, 2010 16:14:18 GMT -4
All commercials for household cleaning products show women cleaning. Except for an Oven Pride commercial that describes the product as 'so simple a man can do it', and until recently the brand 'Mr Muscle involved a weedy looking man struggling with basic cleaning tasks. I find the assumption of incompetence based solely on being male far more offensive than the admittedly old-fashioned idea of the perfect housewife portrayed in most commercials. Further proliferating the stereotype that men are lazy and incompetent in household areas, a stereotype that is most certainly NOT true in my household. Why is this less offensive than portraying women as ultra-competent? Sorry, I can't quite agree with that asessment. It seems, with respect, that your memory is skewed by your personal feelings here. Some examples of 20th century media where smart women are smart on their own terms: Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, in which a pensioner does the work of the detective force. Murder, She Wrote, in which a crime fiction writer makes her local police force look incredibly incompetent by solving crimes for them. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, in which Willow Rosenberg is a brainy, geeky girl who saves the whole damn world more than once (bar a small blip where she tried to destroy it, but we'll let that slide...). Star Trek is full of clever, strong female characters. They stepped back a few decades in Voyager by putting Seven of Nine in a catsuit and really overtly sexualising her, but the Captain was female, both Cheif Medical Officers in TNG were female, and the Science Officer in DS9 was a female with an amazing mind and enough chutzpah to accompany Klingons on their missions without breaking a sweat. Doctor Who, which suffered in the old days by having some very silly girl companions, but which in the newer series is populated by strong intelligent resourceful females who even occasionally get one up on a super-intelligent 900 year old Time Lord. I think there are just as many examples of females who are smart on their own terms (and quite a few where they run rings around the men to deflate them a bit). I cannot comment on that, since I am in a different country. I certainly haven't noticed it here in the UK.
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Post by echnaton on Dec 13, 2010 16:53:25 GMT -4
I think we need to remember that commercials are geared toward aspirations of the intended audience. We buy what we think will fulfill our aspirations.
If it features a ultra competent domestic woman, it is because some women do aspire to that. It may not be everything they aspire to and they may not be significantly invested in the aspiration, but affirming women's domestic aspirations seems to sell product.
It is admirable, IMO, for a woman to aspire to be competent in making a home for her family whether that is a full time pursuit or an adjutant to a career. Same for a man.
In my household my DW and I have taken turns in primary household duties. Right now I take most of the daily duties and I really enjoy spending the additional time with my children.
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Jason
Pluto
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Posts: 5,579
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Post by Jason on Dec 13, 2010 17:59:07 GMT -4
All commercials for household cleaning products show women cleaning. Except for an Oven Pride commercial that describes the product as 'so simple a man can do it', and until recently the brand 'Mr Muscle involved a weedy looking man struggling with basic cleaning tasks. I find the assumption of incompetence based solely on being male far more offensive than the admittedly old-fashioned idea of the perfect housewife portrayed in most commercials. There are several commercials depicting a knowing wife telling her husband to clean and introducing him to a product to do it with. He proceeds to be dumbfounded at how easy the work has become, possibly boasting at how hard it was to her or his friends later while she shakes her head with a knowing smile at the fragility of the male ego. I would add the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, in which a female teacher proves to be a capable and charismatic President, the best fighter pilot on the show is a woman (though her personal life is a mess), and the leader of the rebel Cylons is also a woman (albeit an artificial one). And there are several female priests.
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Post by gillianren on Dec 13, 2010 18:44:48 GMT -4
Except for an Oven Pride commercial that describes the product as 'so simple a man can do it', and until recently the brand 'Mr Muscle involved a weedy looking man struggling with basic cleaning tasks. I find the assumption of incompetence based solely on being male far more offensive than the admittedly old-fashioned idea of the perfect housewife portrayed in most commercials. I suspect this is a difference based on perspective. The thing is, I find it offensive that, even if I'm working just as hard as a man in my chosen field, I still have to come home and cook and clean because the man doesn't bother. I think it perpetuates an image that men don't have to do that work, because women will always be there to do it for them. Because it implies to me that it's all they have to do. It isn't that they can't, at least not in most of what I've seen. It's that they don't. There was a horribly offensive commercial for frozen pizza wherein the husband was hanging out in the backyard with his friends and called his own wife to tell her to prepare him a pizza just the way he likes it. Now, as I recall, this ended with the wife spraying him with a hose, but it did show that the man thought of his wife as the one who provides frozen pizza, that he was not himself to be bothered to go in the house, heat the oven, and throw in the pizza himself. Indeed, few of the cooking/cleaning commercials I've seen show men as unable to do these things. It's shown that it's what women do. The idea that the men can't is never addressed. The woman does it without comment most of the time. Excuse me while I counter essentially all of them. A fine tradition in mystery novels of all stripes. Very seldom is the hero of a detective novel actually someone working for the police department. Ditto. Though I have always subscribed to the philosophy that she is in fact a serial killer who goes around framing people for her crimes. And while you have two examples of a woman in this genre--and I can provide a third from my own reading--in easily 90% of cases, the detective doing that particular job of showing up the cops is male. Yes, and there are several competent females in essentially anything with Joss Whedon's name on it. (Except the first Toy Story--and Pixar has never done a movie with a female main character.) Now, I never liked that show, but half the joke of the eponymous character is that she had to be basically forced into the job instead of spending all her time on her clothes and her hair as is natural for a girl in her particular socioeconomic position. Yeah, and you didn't see Deanna Troi in a catsuit at all. Or in lovely flowing dresses which showed her cleavage in a totally unprofessional way. No, I have to step in here and shatter people's delusions of Star Trek as a feminist show. Because bluntly, it isn't. The only female on the original series to hold any real position of power was Uhura, who--let's face it--was one of the least important of the main characters. Oh, she's probably got Chekov and maybe even Sulu beat, but there are four main characters ahead of her. She also had to wear the degrading female uniform. Yes, miniskirts were fashionable at the time, but see also unprofessional. There's a reason the Woman's job in Galaxy Quest was to just repeat what the computer said; Uhura's job didn't exist in Next Gen, because it could be done by any of three people on the bridge crew. Then there's Yeoman Rand, aka "The Woman Who Brings Kirk Coffee." Nurse Chapel, aka "The Woman With a Thing for Spock." Spock's Mother. And I'm drawing a blank on any other recurring female characters on the show. Now, yes, the reason the position of Chief of Security on Next Gen went to a male was that Denise Crosby didn't want to be on the show anymore. But let's then look at the sexually rapacious Lwaxana Troi. On DS9, we have the Woman Who Used to Be a Man and one real, natural female character. On Voyager, we have, yes, a woman captain and a tough female engineer. And the way they decided to improve their flagging ratings was a woman in a catsuit. I can't speak much to Enterprise, because it made me too sad for poor Scott Bakula to watch for very long. I get very tired of claims of the great treatment of females and in general people who aren't white males on Star Trek. It doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Remember that one of the reasons the show didn't follow the structure of the original pilot was that the network execs couldn't see a woman in power. All of the major female characters on Next Gen after Denise Crosby left the show--again, her own stupid fault--were in positions of nurturing. And in any case easily 80% or better of the major characters of the televised Star Trek universe are male. I can't speak to Doctor Who, given I simply don't like that show. You'd be wrong. Even in those sitcoms with the smart and competent women, it's the men you're supposed to sympathize with. Arguably the most famous sitcom with a female lead is I Love Lucy, which is not only decades old but features a ditzy character who gets into scrapes because she just isn't very bright. Yes, there's Rosanne, but just about everyone on that show is extremely unpleasant, and the only character I found at all likable was the John Goodman character, the moral center of the show. In the average romantic comedy, the woman must change her ways to be right for the man. In the average science fiction show or movie, the woman might as well not exist. Likewise most action movies, and when that isn't true, it brings up the question of how on Earth she's able to fight terrorists in that outfit without breaking a heel or popping out of her shirt. There was actually a movie last summer where the smart, competent woman literally could not get a man without dumbing herself way, way down, and we were supposed to see it as desirable that she would do such a thing instead of getting angry that it was all men wanted out of her. Sex in the City is supposedly about smart, capable women, but it's about smart, capable women who are only interested in shoes and sex. I don't doubt that.
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Post by Ginnie on Dec 13, 2010 18:45:19 GMT -4
When men provide dinner for the family, it is either by barbecuing or by ordering pizza. Not all men! I do 80% of the cooking in my home and most of the cleaning too. My wife does do the laundry though - she doesn't like the way I do it. She also does all the financial stuff thank goodness. Oh, and I don't bake - she does.
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Post by gillianren on Dec 14, 2010 1:22:21 GMT -4
I meant in commercials, not in real life. My boyfriend is quite accomplished at cooking various quite tasty dishes, though he does barbecue quite well. He also never orders pizza.
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Post by lionking on Dec 14, 2010 4:34:41 GMT -4
We had a funny sitcom called Marti w Ana [ = My Wife and Me]. Fadi and Karen Rizkalla are truly married in life and they did this episode exposing the strong woman who controls the life of her husband and she and her mother impose themselves on him. Her mother is just like her strong and dominant over her husband. The Generic starts with the man saying: Me and my wife.. she cuts him off and says angrily : FADI then he says: my wife and me
Karen spends all the money and is very demanding on the poor husband who puts up with her but they both love each other truly.
In the second part of the episode they have childern and she raises her daughters to be exactly like her: demanding and want the best of the best. The little girl can't keep a secret and busts everyone.
There was a Syrian sitcom. It was also very successful as usual with the Syrian series. However, it tackled a different aspect. The husband is viewed by the wife as shy. She wants to encourage him to see women and be extrovert. He keeps on doing things to try to make her feel jealous but she wouldn't get affected. At last he does a big thing to let her feel jealous and she does finally. The next part was about how she made his life miserable by her jealousy. They had a heavy neighbor who want to take advantage of them like in Marti w Ana.
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Post by Jason Thompson on Dec 14, 2010 10:28:03 GMT -4
I suspect this is a difference based on perspective. I quite agree. The thing is that I find it equaly offensive to be lumped into a group that apparently is so lazy and/or incometent that they assume women will cater to their every whim. So here we have you, a woman, arguing that the men come off better in those commericals because they just sit back and expect the women to do all the work, while I, a man, argue the opposite because they portray women as ultra-competent and the glue of the household while men are the lazy sods who do nothing after their paid work finishes. The idea that men can't is certainly addressed here, and indeed is not only addressed but used as the comedy hook in a number of commercials. Sorry, but although your arguments are fine and valid, they don't actually seem to address the idea of smart women getting some kind of 'comeuppance', which is what I was actually addressing with the examples. I had never thought of that, but it makes so much sense! Yes, but that wasn't the point I was addressing. See above. You may also like to ponder that one of the only characters to have ever beaten Sherlock Holmes was in fact a woman. Not a claim I ever made. I said it has strong female characters, not that it was a shining example of multiculturalism and sexual equality. It tried, and then in later years failed abysmally, but that doesn't remove those strong female characters from the mix. And who frequently shows herself equally or even more capable than the men in the show, Who could kick anyone's butt and often did. A point I already conceded. Seven of Nine's presence, however, does not detract from Janeway or Torres. Enterprise was frankly even worse. Jolene Blalock was never in anything but figure0hugging clothes, and was quite often seen out of them. The protocol after an away mission involved long periods in a mood-lit room rubbing decontaminant gel over each other's bodies, which provided ample opportunity for lingering shots of appealing female flesh. One thing that one of my female friends who watched it did comment on was that it had the highest male shirtlessness quotient of any Star Trek series, however! Fine, but I never claimed it to be so, I simply pointed to some examples where it does do well on that front. Granted, but that does not alter the fact that such a character was conceived, written, cast and filmed, so someone at least was trying even if the office-bound bigwigs didn't get it. Well then take my word for it that females are getting a good showing there! And I still don't see that as any great deal on the part of men who are supposed to sympathise with a guy who has his brains in his pants and needs his wife/girlfriend/mother/all three to get himself out of some stupid situation resulting from his interest in all things fast or involving fire. Not being a great fan of rom coms, I wouldn't know percentages, but I can think of a couple where that certainly is not the case, and indeed feature the men going through all kinds of absurd hoops to try to impress the woman. The one I really dislike is Grease, however, because despite Danny making the effort throughout the second half of the film to change to impress Sandy, right at the end she does a sudden change to cigarette smoking, catsuited harlot, and Danny literally sheds the jacket that symbolises everything he tried to change himself into for her and reverts to his old self. You may not believe this, but I find it just as offensive that we are supposed to think men are only after a hot dumb girl to hang off his arm rather than someone who could engage in inteligent discourse and give him a good run for his money on an assault course or something. I don't want to be lumped in with a demographic that is portrayed in such a way. One of my biggest annoyances on that front, as a small aside, is the number of people who say things like 'oh, the wife let you out then?' when I go out of an evening. Apparently married men are totally at the beck and call of the wife, who runs the show entirely, and we have no free will of our own. I hope that's not a suggestion that I don't see it because I'm a man so naturally wouldn't notice....
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Post by echnaton on Dec 14, 2010 11:03:25 GMT -4
Sex in the City is supposedly about smart, capable women, but it's about smart, capable women who are only interested in shoes and sex. And Sex in the City was squarely aimed at it target market, women. Entertainment is the way it is because people want to be entertained with characters that are not real but plausible within a fictive universe. Apparently smart young women these days seek to enhance their day with fiction about smart young women that are able to be shop and be sexy. I don't really see much difference between modern entertainment and the Harlequin books that so many women read. I have had many female friends that love the "horny historical" genre of novels. They didn't model there lives around the book. As one friend, a fellow struggling college student, described them, the books made her "feel more like a woman" for a time.
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Post by gillianren on Dec 14, 2010 16:13:34 GMT -4
The thing is that I find it equaly offensive to be lumped into a group that apparently is so lazy and/or incometent that they assume women will cater to their every whim. Apparently the ad execs (almost exclusively male) don't. The issue is that they can do nothing. Commercials never consider that the woman might want to put her feet up for five minutes before starting dinner for people who have been there maybe half an hour. Men have the option of slacking off and take full advantage of it. Now, of course, the housecleaning products' commercials are actually geared toward women, largely because market research shows that women are generally responsible for purchasing said products. However, I think the media perpetuates that fault because chores, to men in the media, are something your wife/mother tells you to do. Well, there's a difference between your TV and mine. I'd say it does make ours at least marginally better; I find that offensive, too. It was more intended to show how your examples don't really show as much as you think about smart women in the media. It is the most logical answer, isn't it? I will point out, given that I know more about Wimsey than Marple, that Harriet Vane is an intelligent, educated female character written by an intelligent, educated female author, and even she needs to be helped out by the man, who is even smarter and more capable. I must admit that I don't much care for Sherlock Holmes, either. I think he's making it up. Another detective going around framing everyone. But mostly in that genre, it's a man coming to the rescue of a woman if a woman is involved at all. Often, the clever woman is the criminal--usually, the clever woman is the criminal. As is in fact the case in the Holmes, yes? And quite often, she isn't committing the crime out of some sort of valid motive along the lines of what a man would have. Often, they're just sneaky and vicious because they're a woman. Yes, but few of the characters considered strong by the average watcher actually are. I maintain there is no major strong female character on the original series, and Uhura's status as one is greatly exaggerated. Remember that she officially never even got a first name. And whose masculine past is constantly referenced. Yes, I concede her. Though she's certainly lacking in a lot of other departments, but Star Trek is not my go-to place for complicated characters! Well, I'd say Janeway isn't a very good captain. She is also shown as being about the only captain of the lot to be more reliant on her second in command than in control herself. I admit her situation is more complicated, but she isn't very effective. Or likable, in my opinion. And I honestly cannot think of any character development from Torres except that she's half-Klingon and has an emotional relationship with a male who gets a lot more screen time. I liked that their fashion was closer to current than Next Generation; I thought it was one of the only sensible fashion decisions of the entire universe. (According to Gene Roddenberry, there were no zippers in the future.) And, yes, I remember the decontamination. It's part of why I stopped watching. As I recall, though, half the point of her character is that is so the humans can show themselves to be smarter and better than she thinks they are. Except I really don't think it does. Uhura is powerless and almost nonexistent in most plots. Crusher is in many places there to be Wesley's Mother (and she'll answer for that!) or Picard's Emotional Center, and Troi is a lousy therapist whose information is never helpful. Guinan is probably just about the smartest person on the ship, but she mostly only shows it in relationship advice. Jadzia Dax is drawing more on her masculine past than her feminine present, and the one from after she left the show is chirpy and bluntly uninteresting. Kira is, I will acknowledge, a pretty decent female character. Janeway is probably the least-liked and possibly even least-efficient captain in the entire televised universe, and most of the character development about Torres is either her relationship with What's-His-Name or her confused heritage and how it makes her angry and unreasonable all the time. We agree about Seven of Nine, and there's really nothing to say about Enterprise other than that it was a good opportunity wasted. Someone was, assuredly. And that is admirable. But the thought was that people didn't want to see it, which does say something as well. I will, though my friend who actually likes Buffy doesn't think Willow is so great an example as all that. She says she was at first and then rapidly wasn't. She doesn't think much of her as an example of a lesbian in the media, either. It isn't. On the other hand, I think it says a lot about a culture where that is more desirable than being a competent woman. Those men need competent women, because if they didn't have them, they'd die. I'll also note that the woman's efforts to make her husband less dependent on her usually go wrong and she's back to being essentially a servant. I've never bothered watching Grease. It isn't just my dislike of John Travolta, either. But from what you're describing, at the end, the point is that she has to change herself for him and not vice versa. His changing himself for her was a failure, and compromise was not an option. (Compromise is almost never an option.) Remember, this is the media aimed at women, too. I'm afraid you seem to be in the minority. I do think that movie bombed pretty seriously; I hope it did. But in general, the desired outcome in a romantic comedy, even the good ones, is to have a woman marry a man who wasn't much interested in getting married at the beginning of the story. Yes, that's dreadful. It also means that the wife is a horrible, controlling shrew whose only interested in trapping a man. The expression "the old ball and chain" is still in use today, after all. Not because you're a man, no. However, I don't think I'm the one seeing what they want to. You want a list of intelligent women getting their comeuppance outside of disgusting modern romantic comedies? The Philadelphia Story. Dear Katharine Hepburn can't be strong and independent. Her independence and intelligence make her a snob. She holds herself as a goddess, not as a woman, they keep telling her, and the ultimate outcome is that she subjugates herself to Cary Grant's will. Oh, there are worse men to subjugate yourself to, if you're going to subjugate yourself to anyone, but most of her movies seem to end with some man in control of her, and the actress was one of the most determined women in Hollywood. Looking at Audrey, there's Funny Face, wherein she must give up her personality to be a fashion plate model, I wasn't sure watching it why, so that she can be desirable to Fred Astaire. And why anyone would want to be desirable to Fred Astaire, especially by the time Audrey was a big star, I cannot say. Of course, there's Gone With the Wind, wherein Scarlett O'Hara is determined and strong for most of the picture except for the Ashley thing, most of which is just sort of generic background noise, until she falls apart entirely in the last chapter and doesn't know what to do without Rhett except go home. What's-Her-Name in Avatar was strong and independent and needed the white human male to save her. Actually, I have just performed the interesting experiment of looking at the nominees in the Best Actress category of the Academy Awards database just over the last twenty years. (I admit that going back as far as Gone With the Wind also goes back before most of the feminist revolution, which is why I leave out most of classical literature.) There are exceptions, such as Cate Blanchett's two nominations playing Gloriana. However, by and large, the women in those roles--and remember that these are considered the best leading performances by women, at least in movies that made a big splash in the United States--are really supports to their men, lose some major aspect of themselves to get what they want, or die. Of course, the Academy is fond of roles where people die, but still.
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Jason
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Post by Jason on Dec 14, 2010 16:37:59 GMT -4
For the interested, I recommend The Beekeeper's Apprentice and its sequels, in which Sherlock Holmes finally meets (and works with, and marries) his female equal.
Gillian, most of your movie examples are all rather old. Isn't it possible that this trend of the brainy girl getting her commupance isn't as prevelent as it used to be?
Avatar isn't a sexist movie, anyway - it's racist. Mighty Whitey shows up and is intantly better than any of the natives at stuff they've been doing their whole lives and saves them all, not just the girl.
What about Ripley in Alien? If everyone had followed her advice and obeyed the quarantine regs then they probably would have all lived (except Kane).
The slasher genre is full of "Final Girls" who are smart and survive the killer while all the men around her die. What about Sarah Conner? In all her incarnations she's smarter and tougher than all the men around her (though she's not tougher than the cyborgs disguised as men).
What about Hermione? Sure she's not the hero of the series, but she's certainly a better wizard than both the male lead characters - a result of studying. Ginny Weasly works too.
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Post by PhantomWolf on Dec 15, 2010 1:10:24 GMT -4
If you want a Sci Fi series with a tough brainy woman who can not only match it with the guys, but often outclasses them..... Stargate-SG1
Sam Carter is a genius who is tough and can hold her own in a fire fight, often is the one that gets the men out of the trouble they got themselves into and also because the longest running Sci-Fi character in any show after heading over to Stargate: Atlantis and having cameo roles in Stargate Universe. Atlanis also has strong female characters with Dr Weir, Talyor, and in the last 2 seasons Dr Kellar. Of course when talking about Amanda Tapping, it'd be hard not to mention Sanctuary as well.
Farscape is another series with very stong female main characters with Aryn Sun being able to kick the hinnie of any of the rest of the crew, probably all at the same time. She also manages to make John, who is supposed to be a top scientist/Astronaut, look like a chump multiple times throughout the show. Even Zhaan, who does wear revealing clothing, is a very powerful character who you wouldn't want to cross, and in her case the clothing is very much a part of the character (she's a Delvian Priestess or Pa'u. Delvians are humanoid plants so need to absorb a lot of light to stay healthy.)
For movies, watched Alien/Aliens/Alien3?
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Post by gillianren on Dec 15, 2010 1:23:03 GMT -4
Again, not shows I've much watched, though I do agree that Sam Carter is a pretty impressive female character.
A friend cajoled me into watching The Big Bang Theory last night. Three episodes before I could escape. She kept hyping it as being a show that actually portrayed smart people well. Leaving aside how uneven that portrayal is--and really, I was wondering how many more nerd stereotypes they were planning to trot out--the three episodes I saw included one female character of any intelligence. The main female character on the show left me wondering how she ever started talking to these guys in the first place, because they have pretty much literally nothing in common. All the girl cared about was guys and fashion. One of the nerds turned out to have a twin sister--who was beautiful and personable and never implied to be even "not quite as smart as her brother." Her intelligence, in fact, was never commented on.
An interesting note (brought to mind by the fact that I went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader this weekend) is that C. S. Lewis literally did not consider that his readers might be female. Lucy is of course Aslan's most loved, but the thing which made me twitchy about the Prince Caspian movie was that Susan was fighting in the Battle That Wasn't in the Book. Whereas an actual direct quote from I think it's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is "battle is ugly when women fight." In The Silver Chair, Jill crouches in the corner trying not to be sick when the boys fight the evil serpent, and it was only after a lot of angry letters from girls that his female characters start being as capable as the boys. Even then, there are plenty of hints in the books that he was still thinking he had an exclusively male audience.
I mean, yes, "A Date With Your Family"--the short I'm currently watching from the first Mystery Science Theater 3000 collection thereof--showing the girl and the mother serving the men of the family is hopelessly dated. As is "The Home Economics Story," which flatly says that being a wife is a woman's most important job. (They boo that line.) And it is truer that fewer women get directly told that these days. On the other hand, you can ask pretty much any woman, and she can tell you about experiences she's had where that's the implication at least. And, yes, that includes "Boys won't like you if you're smarter than they are." Which at least one of my friends was actually flat-out told by her mother.
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