Recently, I have been on a Jezebel kick, which is probably better than my Sons of Anarchy binge. During my perusal of their publications yesterday, I found "Breaking Bitch: Admit You Have a Problem with Women." In this article, the author grapples with Anna Gunn's claims in her New York Times piece, "I Have a Character Issue." Basically, Anna Gunn argues that the mass hatred of her character, Skyler White on Breaking Bad, is gendered. She explains that most of the problems with her character come from the misguided notion that a woman should "stand by her man" even when her man is a homicidal meth-cooking psychopath (my words, not hers). I immediately felt vindicated, because I have had quite a few debates about this with my husband. They go something like this:
"Skyler is such a bitch."
"Why?"
"She's just awful, and she's always undermining Walt or getting angry for no reason."
"You mean she undermines her husband who is putting her family in constant danger by cooking meth, and gets angry at him for violating federal law and risking his own life? That sounds unreasonable."
While I don't have a good leg to stand on because I have never seen more than a few episodes of Breaking Bad, the same misogynistic phenomenon affects Betty Draper. Betty is constantly criticized for being a dumb bitch because she cheats on Don or because she is, yes, bitchy to the man who repeatedly cheated on her for their entire marriage. Does Betty have problems? Yes. Are Don's problems worse? Yes. Who is hated more? Betty. And I think that is ridiculous. However, while my defense of Skyler and Betty makes me feel like a good little feminist, I am guilty of the same treatment of Lori on Walking Dead.
Oh my goodness, do I hate Lori. Not only do I hate her, but I actually was rooting for her gruesome death. And while, like the author of "Breaking Bitch," I do feel justified in saying that she is an awful character, I also cannot honestly say that my gendered expectations did not play a role in my hatred. She was an unfaithful wife, she was a negligent mother, she made Rick kill his best friend! But, Rick is no more attentive to Carl than she is, and Shane is as much to blame for the affair and his own murder as she is, and I do not feel the same guttural hatred for them that I feel for Lori. The same goes for Cersei Lannister (boo! hiss). Every time I read a Game of Thrones book, I have this internal debate: should I like Cersei? Stand behind her as a strong woman who thwarts patriarchal power? But at the end of the day, I can't. I mean, she's the worst, right? But is she any worse than Jaime, who I sometimes find myself crushing on? How is it that when a woman is maniacal, deceptive, conniving, she is an evil bitch, but when a man is the same thing, he is a sexy genius?
Needless to say, this idea has been percolating in my head for a day now, and it has fueled many conversations between me and Matt. We both come to the same conclusion that our hatred of certain female characters stems from differentiated expectations of what makes a good male character and what makes a good female character. The issue is that the flawed, immoral, but somehow redeemable male hero is a staple of literature; he is the Byronic hero. Think of Dracula, Heathcliff, the Joker. Traditionally, men can get away with more and still be considered heroic or a dark protagonist in film and literature. The examples in modern television are prolific: Jax Teller (Sons of Anarchy), Rick Grimes (Walking Dead), Dexter, Don Draper (Mad Men), Jaime Lannister, Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones), Walter White (Breaking Bad), etc. These men can kill, cheat, lie, and break the law, and yet maintain a positive impression on male and female audiences, which made me wonder...is there a female equivalent of the Byronic hero?
If there is a female Byronic hero, I think she is the Awesome Bitch. The best example I can think of is Julie Cooper from The OC. She does some truly awful things--sleeps with her daughter's ex boyfriend, frames her daughter's boyfriend for murder, plots to kill her husband, starts a prostitution ring, etc--but at the end of the day I root for her success. Not only that, but she is also one of my favorite characters on the show. Julie Cooper is an Awesome Bitch. The problem is when I try to think of more examples, I draw a blank. I think that it is important that fictional female characters be allowed the same moral ambiguity as their male counterparts, but I cannot come up with a decent list of Awesome Bitches like I can for the male dark hero. I think Olivia Pope from Scandal is a candidate, but I actually think Mellie is the better candidate. She does not stand by her man because he does not deserve to be stood by. She thwarts his plans and undermines his authority. Sadly, I pretty much stand alone in my love of Mellie, so she falls more in the category of the unfairly hated women like Betty Draper.
So this long and rambling post had a point, and that is to ask some questions. Do you (male or female) find yourself hating female characters for qualities you would excuse in male protagonists? If so, who are these fictional women that you suspect you might unfairly hate. Also, can you think of further examples of Awesome Bitches in film or literature, women who make morally despicable decisions but still end up being liked?
