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?
Great blog post, K! Pam from True Blood. An Awesome Bitch. Pam is great because she never had to pretend to be the wife/mother. She is also a lesbian so perhaps that makes her exempt from the rules? Hmmm. Pam is an interesting one.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I got to thinking about the role of wife/mother. The minute those roles are compromised by a woman's selfishness, she is loathed. It's almost as if these women are supposed to be wives/mothers to society and not just their craptastic families.
I also hate Lori from Walking Dead. Though my reasons are far worse than yours. I thought she was unattractive. LOL! Her character stunk in many ways because I think she purposely made herself weak when she was much stronger. Dunno.
Concerning a female Byronic hero, I wonder if it has to do with devotion. What a woman is devoted to determines how we, the viewer, values her. We can excuse bad behavior in a man if his goals are wholesome in some way. If a woman has wholesome/for the greater good goals we approve, if the goals are her own power, we admire her but want to see her defeated. She violates some social norm.
Mellie is a great example because I think a tiny part of herself still loves her husband and I think many of her ruthless actions are stemming from pain. It makes me relate to her more. I consider myself a defender of the Scorned Woman in film and lit. You hurt her, you deserve vengeance in some way. I think a good component of the Awesome Bitch stems from the fact that maybe she is first Wounded Woman. Does/Can Wounded Woman equal Awesome Bitch?
I will keep pondering. This is a rad subject. Thank you for bringing it to the table.
I hope you and Matt are doing well in your new FL home. You are missed. xoxo
I immediately thought of Pam, but I do not know if her being a vampire changes our expectations for her. For one thing, she biologically cannot be a mother, so she cannot be upheld to that standard. She seems to operate by a separate moral code from the wives and mothers of less supernatural television show.
ReplyDeleteI also think that morally ambiguous women tend to be more stigmatized by their sexuality than their male counterparts. Most of Julie Cooper's transgressions relate to her sexuality, and there may be something similar going on with Pam's lesbianism; I'm not sure.
I think that your speculation about the desire for a universal wife/mother are dead on. There is something "unnatural," and therefore despicable if a woman does not consistently place her family first. Similarly, I think male characters are more excused for their actions if we can see that they are devoted to a woman, whether she is their mother, lover, wife, or daughter. It seems to me that devotion to a woman redeems many despicable male characters, perhaps because we then see them as devoted to us in turn? With Jax, it's Tara. With Don, I would say it's Sally, with Rick it becomes the ghost of Lori. Men, it seems, can do whatever they want as long as they come home to their mothers/wives/daughters. And oftentimes, their betrayal of that relationship is what marks them as shifted more towards the dark side than the heroic side. For example, when Don neglects his children, he reaches a new low level. When Clay Morrow beats his wife, that shifts that he is done being a redeemable character (Even though he can maintain his credibility while cheating on his wife; the same goes for Don).
I feel as if I am rambling, but I am pretty sure my brain is broken and I can no longer read or write succinctly.
Florida is getting a little better each day. We miss Arizona and the people in it like crazy though!