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Think Like a Man:
A Test Case for the nature of the portrayal of women in Western Science Fiction and Fantasy
Television
Richert Flaetgen
Iona College
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Abstract
American author Tom Robbins said, “Equality is not in regarding different things
similarly, equality is in regarding different things differently.” With this in mind I pose the
question, what is the nature of the current portrayal of female leads in popular Sci-Fi and Fantasy
(SF/F) television shows? As an avid fan of the genre, I have noticed that women have come far
in terms of equal opportunity for lead roles in TV. Unfortunately sometimes they are portrayed
with typical “masculine” qualities, which are generally defined as good, or they keep feminine
characteristics, which are generally seen as weaker. My findings show that women often have to
act like a man in order to be taken seriously as a lead.
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Introduction:
A Test Cast for the nature of the portrayal of women in Western Science fiction and Fantasy
Television
As paradigms shift a new wave of ideals and norms flood society. Since the early 21st
century, opportunities for women have made enormous strides in every field in the western
world; we might even see our first female president in the United States next year. Unfortunately
there are still places where women are treated as second-class citizens; hell, even Hilary Clinton
cant show up to a rally without her attractiveness being analyzed by professionals. Some third
world countries believe in mutilating female genitals or just straight up killing the baby if it’s a
girl. Women either live in an uncivilized society where they are less than human, or they live in a
civilized place where men are still in charge. In name only, everyone is equal, but as a society we
still hold male values as more valuable. Women just do not get the same recognition as men.
While in the US we like to think we are part of “the land of the free,” women are still far from
equal to men. We judge the worth of a woman by her face and her body rather than by her
achievements.
This study is an attempt to identify if and how we are diminishing the value of women,
albeit subtly, in our entertainment industry; specifically television. There are not a lot of critiques
on specific female leads in the SF/F area. While I do not have the resources to dive into every
genre and episode of every series available, I narrowed down this study to five specifically
Science Fiction and Fantasy (SF/F) television shows.
A society can be evaluated on what it considers art. Art embodies everything around us
everyday. Movies, music, buildings, theaters; the list goes on forever but the point is that art
represents a critique or personification of the society we live in. We can always study the values
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of any era by looking back at the art we created. In this day an age of hyper commercialism or
fast transportation, we will see art, willingly or not. The fact is that we have no choice in our
exposure anymore so we are bound to be influenced by the world around us. George Gerbner, the
founder of Cultivation theory studied the effect of violence in television and how viewers are
influenced. In short, Gerbner theorizes that the more time people spend immersed in the
television world, the greater the chances of them adapting the social norms of the television
program. Larry Gross said, “The longer we live with the television, the more invisible it becomes
(Gross 1986).”
Gerbner’s theory is important because of its ability to influence the mind while going
unnoticed. Using cultivation theory as a base, I want to bring to light how in some cases we are
undermining females while still giving them equal opportunity. In feminist theory, there is a
concept of patriarchy and the gap between men and women. According to Ara Wilson, auther of
Patriarchy: Feminist theory (encyclopedia essay on concept of patriarchy) “[Patriarchy is] a
system of social structures, and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women
(Wilson 200).” I used feminist theory to identify how female leads are given the qualities of a
man in order to be a “hero” or a “leader.” I found that in most cases where women succeed, it’s
because of the masculine qualities (see appendix) whereas when they fail, it’s because of their
feminine traits. This study matters because the gender gap needs to be known in order for us to
move towards a future, non-gender dominant society.
Review of the Literature
Many articles and texts have been written on the status of women in fantasy and sci-fi
media. One of the first characters to receive academic attention was Ripley from Alien. Ripley
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was a representation of a strong independent woman an achieved a high status as a mainstream
action hero. Various others sprouted up afterwards such as Sarah Conner from Terminator, Xena
from Xena the warrior princess or Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Many of
those women have their own academic journals and fields of study as well as a notable fan base.
Most of those characters have specific articles and full texts dedicated to their existence but little
is written about the status of females as a whole.
The way both males and females are represented as a whole are perfectly binary. In
almost every show we watch we know who belongs to a specific archetype and what role they
fulfill. Patricia Hill Collins says that this is a disappointing fact because for over a century
feminist theorists have argued that gender is in no way determined at birth, instead it is a social
distinction to separate males and females in Black Feminist Thought.
Bell Hooks (2000) thinks that even though the effort to eradicate gender binaries are
there, roles have not changed because of the way we place value on patriarchal ideals. Women,
from birth are still raised into a power structure that doesn’t seem to change:
“Women, though assigned different roles to play in society based on sex, are not taught a
different value system. It is a women’s overall acceptance of the value system of the
culture that leads her to passively absorb the sexism and willingly assume a pre-
determined sex role. Although women do not have the power ruling groups that men
often exert, they do not conceptualize power differently (Hooks, 2000, p. 87).”
Laura Mulvey further supports Hooks’ theory by adding the idea of the “male gaze.” Mulvey
argues that even if women are put into a position of power (in a fictional work), she is still just a
trophy wife, so to speak.
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“In a world orderd by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active
male and passive female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy on to the female
form which it is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role, women are
simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual
and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness (Mulvey,
1973).”
Mulvey produced that theory in 1973 yet it is still relevant today when analyzing entertainment
media. Modern popular female leads have made strides in terms of how passive they are but
more often than not their active roles are being made for an erotic declaration. This can be in the
form of a main character wearing uncomfortably tight clothes, often black for whatever reason,
kick asses of hordes of muscular men, monsters, robots or basically whatever is in their way.
An example of a passive woman outlined by Amy Cotton (2014) is Mary Jane from
spider man:
“The fact that Peter Parker can only get the pretty girl once he develops his new powers
could either show stupidity of Mary Jane because she did not recognize Peter when he
was Spiderman or it tells the audience that Mary Jane will only be attracted to a man who
will defend her and “save her from the bad guys” which does not show the female
character being independent.”
The passive woman is essentially put in place to make the man look better. Now the active
woman is put into the male’s place but is still fetishized for men to look at, essentially removing
the middleman. SF/F TV is the perfect outlet to put action heroines into a role where they can be
objectified further. From Jeffrey A. Brown’s book, Dangerous curves: Action Heroines, Gender,
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Fetishism, and Popular Culture, we further objectify women in their portrayal in our SF/F
entertainment:
“Of the myriad ways action heroines are fetishized in popular culture, one of the most
telling is the manner in which this type of female character is figured in relation to
technology. In general, images of women in western culture have been so thoroughly
fetishized that it has become an unquestioned norm. Almost every depiction of women in
the media transforms them into living dolls. The standard glamorous presentations of
actresses and models with perfect faces and hair, thin bodies and augmented breasts, sexy
clothing, and provocative poses reinforces the standard objectification of women for male
pleasure at every turn (Brown, cp 4, 2011).”
While in this case study I am only reviewing the specific shows mentioned as based on reviews
and success to identify the archetypes that the characters fall into, there are other underlying
issues with feminism in TV such as race. The focus of this study is about distinguishing the
disparity between male and female values, there are also female-to-female values that are
differentiated by race. In 2012 there was a controversy surrounding The Hunger games a
mainstream popular movie. Robyn Citizen outlined in The Liverpool Companion to World
Science Fiction Film how Fans were objecting to having ‘some black girl’ cast as 12 year old
Rue (Amandla Stenberg), even thought she is clearly depicted as having dark brown skinned and
eyes in the books. The fans decided that Rue was less ‘innocent’ than the blonde girl everyone
had predicted. People were therefore less sympathetic to her death and described it as less sad.
Roles for ethnic characters in SF/F TV have generally been restricted to the alien race or the
sidekick, which further allegorizes how Western history had or still does have institutionalized
racial separation:
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“If it strains suspension of disbelief even in a speculative genre such as science-fiction to
imagine a black child as ‘innocent’ or that her murder could inspire a white protagonist to
action, then that is a power statement about black femininity and black women are
circumscribed in the ‘Western’ cultural imaginary. Historically, black female characters
are precluded from expressing certain qualities aligned with idealized white femininity,
particularly spiritual purity, delicacy, and guilelessness (Citizen, 2014, Mitchell 2011,
126).”
Under the premise that Cultivation Theory is possible, giving female leads patriarchal qualities is
not a good thing. Cultivation theory supports the notion that watching constant violence in
entertainment media can influence a person to have violent tendencies. Dara N. Greenwood’s
Are Female Action Heroes Risky Role Models? Character Identification, Idealization, and
Viewer Aggression text highlights how the current stream of badass female role models could
have a detrimental effect on young women. Her study surveyed 85 undergraduate women in
Michigan, United States, to determine “whether identification with and/ or idealization (wishful
identification) of a favorite female action hero was associated with aggressive tendencies
(Greenwood 2007).” Her findings show that similarly to how it can affect boys to be aggressive
when emulating their heroes, it can be similar to women.
Women are placed in a precarious situation. In an attempt to break out from their passive
identity they are given roles within the typical male archetype. Ripley and Sarah Conner are two
examples of noteworthy female leads that attempted to break free from passivity by embracing
male heroic values. This however just puts place women into a different set of oppression. This
either makes them eye candy or “…eventually [it] repudiates the feminine, becoming in effect
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sexless and less ‘human’ mirrors of male action heroes, (Diana Dominguez, 2005, paragraph 6).
Women are just not given the complexity that they deserve to be fulfilling characters.
Jeffrey Brown’s Gender and the Action Heroine: Hardbodies and the point of no return
Brown says that:
“The development of the hardbody, hardware, hard-as-nails heroine who can take it, and
give it, with the biggest and baddest men of the action cinema indicates the growing
acceptance of nontraditional roles for women and an awareness of the arbitrariness of
gender traits (Brown, 1996, p. 52).”
Female action heroes placed in male roles are generally welcomed by the public yet do
not disrupt the patriarchal value systems associated with them embolden male dominance. These
hero’s are a welcome change from the typical ‘damsel in distress’ they are still subject to the
male gaze in a way that male heroes aren’t. Inserting females into non-traditional and active roles
can allow women to emulate masculine values in entertainment. This is not entirely a positive
step towards positive, complex and rich representations of women. Popular video game star Lara
Croft of the Tomb Raider series emulates masculinity. She solves all problems through violent
and aggressive conflict resolution while sporting a tough emotionally guarded exterior. While
now we can see women breaking out of their shell, it isn’t because feminine qualities are valued,
but rather if they act like men, they can be seen as valid in the eyes of the audience (Sarkeesian
2010).
Method
I have conducted a content analysis in order to study the question proposed; what is the
nature of the portrayal of women in current popular SF/F television shows? I became interested
in the topic after noticing the rise in woman who have that “don’t take no for answer” kind of
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attitude in my favorite genres. I started to research the cause for the rise of that type of character
and came across theories explaining how they have a negative impact of viewers even if they
may not know it.
My sample consists of five television shows that fall into the Science Fiction or Fantasy
genre. I chose the shows, Lost Girl, Jessica Jones, Once, Game of thrones and Haven. These
shows were selected with based on a certain criteria I laid out prior. They must have a female
lead, fall into the SF/F genre, either created in 2015 or still on going (in which case I used the
most recent season), has a minimum of 7.5/10 stars on IMDB and has a minimum of 20,00
people who voted on the ratings. Selecting was difficult because SF/F is not as mainstream as
various or critically acclaimed as other primetime television.
After selecting samples, I used a random number generator to select episodes from the
TV show while purposefully omitting the season opener and the season finale. I did this because
the opener may not give me a good grasp of a character while the finale might offer a unique
situation that would be difficult to code. I ended up with episodes two, five and nine. I followed
a chart (see appendix) depicting typical masculine and feminine qualities as defined by feminist
theory (Sarkeesian 2010) and created a chart outlining which characters had which
characteristics in each episode. I then evaluated based on feminist theories which masculine
archetype the females were playing into if at all. Based on the results, I marked which leads fall
into which archetype (see appendix). Archetypes are narrative devices that are implemented in
order to carry a story. Most of them are so ingrained in our subconscious already that we don’t
have to give characters excessive back-stories because we already know what role they will
fulfill. Archetypes can be traced back to as early as Greek mythology and they are still similar
today.
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The archetypes I’m using were outlined in a previous study (Sarkeesian 2010) and they
are Leader, Warrior, Anti-Hero and Villain. I will use those categories to outline where each
character stands in a patriarchal value system.
Results
In order to decide where each character fits into an archetype it is important to define
them. The first archetype is the Warrior type. This one would be the most common throughout
all the others. It predates creative writings from women so naturally it would be constructed with
a male point of view in mind. The warrior consists of a call to adventure or refusing it, some sort
of companion, supernatural or otherwise and some sort of blessing or gift that allows them to
achieve their end greatness.
The first sample I analyzed is Bo (Anna Silk) from lost girl. Lost girl “focuses on
gorgeous and charismatic Bo, a supernatural being called a succubus who feeds on the energy of
humans, sometimes with fatal results. Refusing to embrace her supernatural clan system and its
rigid hierarchy, Bo is a renegade who takes up the fight for the underdog while searching about
her own mysterious origins (IMDB synopsis).”
Bo fits the warrior archetype perfectly. She has a plethora of supernatural companions
ranging from her on and off werewolf boyfriend Dyson who is ready to die for her at the drop off
a hat, a female doctor who is also her on and off girlfriend plus a walking encyclopedia of all
things supernatural and her grandfather who is about 5 feet tall and the most powerful being in
the universe who gives her all sorts of toys to destroy monsters with while he tends to his bar. Bo
is always cool headed even in the face of adversary. She depicts the stoic behavior that a
character of the warrior archetype should inherently have. In season four, episode 2, Bo wakes
up in a train riding through another dimension with a white dress on with no memory of how she
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got there. She calmly gets up and tries to pick the lock and fails because of her lack of finesse
and says “You’re right kenz, lock-picking is a skill every woman should know,” when she fails.
A caretaker comes in and see’s Bo trying to escape and then Bo asks her immediately how to get
out. The caretaker says she can’t tell because she’ll get in trouble and then Bo immediately uses
her succubus powers on the caretaker to coerce her to comply. This makes the master of the train
angry. Bo then goes to the nearest door, kicks it down with sheer strength alone (bare footed and
in a white dress), and jumps into the abyss. Bo is a bag of confidence and cheesy threats like
“Buddy, this is my town. If anyone’s taking a leave, its you and your circle jerk of doom,” which
are they trademarks of Heroes.
Fast forward to season 4, episode 5, and Dyson has gone through trial and tribulation to
get Bo out of the other dimension and Bo still seems calm and dominant when they are reunited.
When Bo comes back to earth from that other dimension she is surrounded by at least ten other
monsters that tell her learns she joined the Dark Fae (one of the two factions in the show), yet
has no memory of it. Bo outraged says, “Bullshit, there’s no freaking way I’m Dark Fae. Bo.
Succubus. Unaligned. Kinda’ my brand,” right before she attacks all of them alone. Episode nine
is no different. Leaving out all the extra back-story, her demeanor and her actions are similar to
the other two episodes. Mostly she has a shoot first ask questions later mentality and marches
through the show like a typical hero.
The next archetype indentified is the Leader. A position of power over a group is a
typical flag stating a leader archetype is present. They are generally the CEO or King/Queen of a
kingdom. In this case we have too, Audrey (Emily Rose) from Haven and Daenerys Targaryen
(Emilia Clarke). Firstly we have Audrey. She is only present season 4 episode nine episode
because for the other two episodes someone named Mara possessed her. Audrey is in command
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of two huge men, Duke (Eric Balfour) and Nathan (Lucas Bryant). They both listen to her
unconditionally and are essentially her lackeys. Audrey is confident, in control, ready to act and
can do anything that the two men who follow her seemingly cannot do. In addition to this,
Audrey at all times has black eyeliner around her eyes which help to give her this death stare
which basically brings anyone she looks at to heel. It often gives off the feeling that Audrey is in
that position strictly because the directors decided it, not because she earned it through actions in
the plot.
Daenerys (Dany) is a completely complex and different character all together. She is the
Queen of the recently freed city of Meereen. She originally had no power at all. Her brother sold
her to a clan of barbarians in exchange for their army. After the leader rapes her, she falls in love
with him. Dany’s now husband kills her brother and then later dies from a wound he suffers
elsewhere. Dany, left with no brother or husband is defaulted the leader of the barbarians.
Everything slowly gets worse and worse for her while she tries to rule embodying generic
masculine qualities such as strength cool headedness, etc., but still slowly heads in a downward
spiral. Right when things get out of hand, she gets her hands on three dragons. She instantly
regains the leader archetype roll and begins conquering and commanding. The dragons start to
get bigger and listen to her less and less and with that, so do her followers. She ends up locking
away her dragons so they don’t kill her and is eventually almost killed in a revolt, which fails
because, voila, a dragon comes to save her. While still embodying the leader archetype, she is
constantly set up for failure. Dany is given poor traits from both male and female characteristics.
This is worse than being a passive female because it implies that she isn’t even good enough to
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pretend to be a man. It’s more demeaning to have her try and fit the roll and fail, only to be saved
by a Deus ex Machina1 and the cycle repeats time and time again.
Next we have the Anti-Hero Archetype. The Anti-Hero is essentially someone who
embodies traits from both the villain and hero. They are generally a character with poor social
skills and little to no family. They tend to hover on the brink and cross the line of good or bad.
Jessica Jones is a good example of this. She is a troubled person who doesn’t hesitate to do
illegal things if it means she can do her job as a private investigator. She also has a temper that
she will unleash on anyone. When her upstairs neighbors are yelling in season one episode two,
she goes upstairs and tells them to quiet down. When they refuse, Jessica lifts up one of them by
the neck with one hand and says, “You know why I live alone? People distract me. Now I don’t
give a bag of dicks what kind of kinky shit you’re into. Just be into it quietly.” Jessica’s character
is interesting because it is inherently good but it gives the message that it’s okay to be violent,
aggressive and emotionally guarded as long as you’re a good person deep down.
The villain archetype is the next category I’ve identified. In the past they were displayed
as cartoony and goofy while causing minor annoyances with cheap tricks. The more modern
version is usually someone with a cold stare who is portrayed as the opposite of the main
character. Mara (Emily Rose) from haven fits the bill for the villain. She is Audrey’s alter ego
who possesses her for two of the episodes I sampled. Mara wears sleeveless shirts and generally
all black, opposite of the fully clothed Audrey. Mara is uncouth, evil, and not afraid to use her
brain to do bad things. She convinces an artist, who can make terrible things happen when she
draws, pick up a pencil again and start drawing. She is also portrayed as overly sexual, which is
also a common trait for female who are given the villain role. Apparently sexuality or eroticism
1 The Deus ex Machina is an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless
situation. It is considered a cop out and a very cheap technique in creative works.
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is synonymous with being a villain or ‘bad’, which further fetishized women in the eyes of men.
Mara in episode five is handcuffed to a table, while offered food by Duke, she retorts about how
if anything comes near her she’ll bite it off.
Lastly, one of my samples didn’t fit into a category. Emma swam from Once Upon a
Time is a very complex character. She embodies both the characteristics of male and female in
forms of the positives and the negatives. She seems the most like an actual person compared to
the other samples. In season four episode two, she says “He wouldn’t even let me hug him, it
killed me.”
“Sounds familiar,” replied David Nolan (Her Father)
“’Cause I do that. Great. I’ve passed it along”
At this moment, Emma showed poor nurturing, weakness, passiveness and asked for
advice, yet in season four episode five, she dove into a wall of ice that was suddenly raised from
the ground in order to help Elsa (an ice witch) find her sister. She calmed Elsa down then later
showed her pictures of her own son in a way that displayed strength, control, independence yet
also nurturing, emotions, relationships and a keen mind to solving where Elsa’s sister went.
Discussion
After collecting all my data I’ve come to the conclusion that the representation of women
in the selected TV shows ranges from empowerment to ridicule. Most of the women are not
masculine at all yet still represent masculinity by the way they act according to the producer’s
directions. This is favorable to producers because obviously it sells since we continue to watch
these shows.
The leading trend today is that instead of replacing archetypes with a more gender neutral
one, we are just replacing who the main character is but keeping all his values intact. This not
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only diminishes the value of women but also puts men farther apart. The fact is that men don’t
even have to be present to be represented in media because of how deeply patriarchy is
embedded in society. We need to redefine the female heroic archetype in order to transcend this
male-centric paradigm and move towards are truly equal society.
What needs to be done is to create a new value system in order to educate future
generations about what qualities a hero needs to embody. Hero’s are everyday people, not
necessarily a badass gunslinger. We need to focus more on the positive traits of both Male and
Female in order to create a new archetype that isn’t restricted to a gender, but rather to the inner
attributes of a person as a whole. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “I look to a day when people will
not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” This applies not
just to racism but also to all “isms” that circulate the world. As a society we need to stop judging
books by their covers and instead start at the first page.
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References
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Appendices
Masculine Feminine
Rational Physically and
verbally aggressive
Intuitive More likely to show
affection
Emotionally
Inexpressive
More frequently
rewarded
Emotionally
Expressive
More likely to
emphasize
relationships
Strong Showed more
ingenuity
Weak More Helpless
Cool Headed Asked more
questions
Hysterical More Likely to ask
for advice or
protection
In Control of
Themselves
Emphasized more
tasks
Lack Self Control Passive
Independent Violent Dependent Selfless in situations
of forced
submissions
Active Threatened others
more frequently
Passive Materialistic/prone
to attachment
Objective Keen minds and
problem-solving
Erratic Unaggressive
Dominant Muscularity and
strength
Submissive Weak
Decisive Resourceful Indecisive Shy
Self-Confident Daring Lacking in Self
Confidence
Cautious
Not Nurturing Competitive Nurturing Cooperative
(Sarkeesian)
Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 21
Characteristics of each character per episode
Bo-Lost Girl Jessica Jones-
Jessica Jones
Emma Swan Once Daenerys
Targaryen- Game of
thrones
Mara(ep2-5)
Audrey(ep 9)-
Haven
Ep2 Cool Headed, In
Control of
Themselves,
Independent,Self-
Confident,
Decisive,
resourceful, Keen
Minds and problem
solving abilities,
Muscularity and
strength,asked and
answered more
questions.
Rational,
Emotionally
Inexpressive,
Strong, Cool
Headed, In Control
of themselves,
Independent,
Active, Physically
and verbally
aggressive,violent,
daring, resourceful,
keen minds and
problem-solving
abilities. Asked and
answered more
questions.
Muscularity and
strength
Emotionally
Inexpressive, Weak,
Passive, Dependent,
Not nurturing, More
likely to ask for
advice or
protection.
Threatened others
more frequently, In
control of
themselves, Strong,
indecisive, Daring,
Physically and
verbally aggressive,
Dependent.
Cautious. Lacking
in self-confidence,
More helpless,
Weak, Erratic.
Physically and
Verbally aggressive,
Violent, Strong, In
control of
themselves,
Independent,
Active, Dominant,
Decisive, Self
confident,
Muscularity and
strength,Rational,
Asked and
answered more
questions.
Ep5 Cool headed, In
control of
Themselves,
Independent,Self-
Confident,
Decisive,
Resourceful, Keen
mind, Problem
solving,
Independent,
Objective,
Emotionally
Inexpressive,
Dominant, Active,
Competitive, Asked
and answered more
questions,
Threatened others
more frequently.
Emotionally
Inexpressive,
strong,independent,
active, dominant
physically and
verbally aggressive,
asked and answered
more questions,
violent, threatened
others more
frequently,
muscularity and
strength,daring,
competitive.
Cool headed,
intuitive
cooperative, In
control of
themselves,
confident, strong,
Emotionally
Expressive.
Weak, Emotionally
inexpressive,
Strong, Cool
headed,Erratic,
Active, Decisive,
Indecisive, Self
confident, Lacking
in self-confidence,
Dependent,Violent,
Threatened others
more frequently.
Strong, Violent,
Physically and
verbally aggressive,
Asked and
answered more
questions,
Muscularity and
strength,Objective,
Active, Self
confident,
Emotionally
inexpressive, In
control of
themselves.
Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 22
Ep9 Rational,
Emotionally
Inexpressive,
Strong, Coolheaded,
In control of
Themselves,
Independent,
Active, Objective,
Dominant,
Decisive, Self
Confident, Not
Nurturing,
Physically and
Verbally
Aggressive,More
Frequently
Rewarded, Asked
and Answered More
Questions,
Muscularity and
Strength.
Rational,
Emotionally
Inexpressive,
Strong, Cool
headed,In control
of Themselves,
Independent,
Active, Objective,
Dominant,
Decisive, Self
confident, Not
nurturing,
Physically and
verbally aggressive,
more frequently
rewarded, asked and
answered more
questions,
muscularity and
strength.
Strong, In control of
themselves,
Dependent,Cool,
Emotionally
Expressive, Daring,
Emphasized more
on tasks,Asked and
answered more
questions.Keen
minds on problem-
solving abilities.
Weak, Hysterical,
Lack of self control,
Dependent,Passive,
Indecisive, More
likely to show
affection, More
likely to emphasize
relationships,
Submissive.
Rational, Strong,
Cool headed, In
control of
themselves, Active,
Objective,
Dominant,
Decisive, Self
confident, More
Frequently
Rewarded, Showed
more ingenuity,
Asked and
answered more
questions and
answers,
emphasized more
tasks.
Archetype Chart
Archetypes Leader Warrior Anti-hero Villain None
Lead
Characters
Daenerys
Targaryen,
Audrey
Bo Jessica Jones Mara Emma Swan

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Final Paper

  • 1. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 1 Think Like a Man: A Test Case for the nature of the portrayal of women in Western Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Richert Flaetgen Iona College
  • 2. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 2 Abstract American author Tom Robbins said, “Equality is not in regarding different things similarly, equality is in regarding different things differently.” With this in mind I pose the question, what is the nature of the current portrayal of female leads in popular Sci-Fi and Fantasy (SF/F) television shows? As an avid fan of the genre, I have noticed that women have come far in terms of equal opportunity for lead roles in TV. Unfortunately sometimes they are portrayed with typical “masculine” qualities, which are generally defined as good, or they keep feminine characteristics, which are generally seen as weaker. My findings show that women often have to act like a man in order to be taken seriously as a lead.
  • 3. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 3 Introduction: A Test Cast for the nature of the portrayal of women in Western Science fiction and Fantasy Television As paradigms shift a new wave of ideals and norms flood society. Since the early 21st century, opportunities for women have made enormous strides in every field in the western world; we might even see our first female president in the United States next year. Unfortunately there are still places where women are treated as second-class citizens; hell, even Hilary Clinton cant show up to a rally without her attractiveness being analyzed by professionals. Some third world countries believe in mutilating female genitals or just straight up killing the baby if it’s a girl. Women either live in an uncivilized society where they are less than human, or they live in a civilized place where men are still in charge. In name only, everyone is equal, but as a society we still hold male values as more valuable. Women just do not get the same recognition as men. While in the US we like to think we are part of “the land of the free,” women are still far from equal to men. We judge the worth of a woman by her face and her body rather than by her achievements. This study is an attempt to identify if and how we are diminishing the value of women, albeit subtly, in our entertainment industry; specifically television. There are not a lot of critiques on specific female leads in the SF/F area. While I do not have the resources to dive into every genre and episode of every series available, I narrowed down this study to five specifically Science Fiction and Fantasy (SF/F) television shows. A society can be evaluated on what it considers art. Art embodies everything around us everyday. Movies, music, buildings, theaters; the list goes on forever but the point is that art represents a critique or personification of the society we live in. We can always study the values
  • 4. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 4 of any era by looking back at the art we created. In this day an age of hyper commercialism or fast transportation, we will see art, willingly or not. The fact is that we have no choice in our exposure anymore so we are bound to be influenced by the world around us. George Gerbner, the founder of Cultivation theory studied the effect of violence in television and how viewers are influenced. In short, Gerbner theorizes that the more time people spend immersed in the television world, the greater the chances of them adapting the social norms of the television program. Larry Gross said, “The longer we live with the television, the more invisible it becomes (Gross 1986).” Gerbner’s theory is important because of its ability to influence the mind while going unnoticed. Using cultivation theory as a base, I want to bring to light how in some cases we are undermining females while still giving them equal opportunity. In feminist theory, there is a concept of patriarchy and the gap between men and women. According to Ara Wilson, auther of Patriarchy: Feminist theory (encyclopedia essay on concept of patriarchy) “[Patriarchy is] a system of social structures, and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women (Wilson 200).” I used feminist theory to identify how female leads are given the qualities of a man in order to be a “hero” or a “leader.” I found that in most cases where women succeed, it’s because of the masculine qualities (see appendix) whereas when they fail, it’s because of their feminine traits. This study matters because the gender gap needs to be known in order for us to move towards a future, non-gender dominant society. Review of the Literature Many articles and texts have been written on the status of women in fantasy and sci-fi media. One of the first characters to receive academic attention was Ripley from Alien. Ripley
  • 5. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 5 was a representation of a strong independent woman an achieved a high status as a mainstream action hero. Various others sprouted up afterwards such as Sarah Conner from Terminator, Xena from Xena the warrior princess or Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Many of those women have their own academic journals and fields of study as well as a notable fan base. Most of those characters have specific articles and full texts dedicated to their existence but little is written about the status of females as a whole. The way both males and females are represented as a whole are perfectly binary. In almost every show we watch we know who belongs to a specific archetype and what role they fulfill. Patricia Hill Collins says that this is a disappointing fact because for over a century feminist theorists have argued that gender is in no way determined at birth, instead it is a social distinction to separate males and females in Black Feminist Thought. Bell Hooks (2000) thinks that even though the effort to eradicate gender binaries are there, roles have not changed because of the way we place value on patriarchal ideals. Women, from birth are still raised into a power structure that doesn’t seem to change: “Women, though assigned different roles to play in society based on sex, are not taught a different value system. It is a women’s overall acceptance of the value system of the culture that leads her to passively absorb the sexism and willingly assume a pre- determined sex role. Although women do not have the power ruling groups that men often exert, they do not conceptualize power differently (Hooks, 2000, p. 87).” Laura Mulvey further supports Hooks’ theory by adding the idea of the “male gaze.” Mulvey argues that even if women are put into a position of power (in a fictional work), she is still just a trophy wife, so to speak.
  • 6. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 6 “In a world orderd by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active male and passive female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy on to the female form which it is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role, women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness (Mulvey, 1973).” Mulvey produced that theory in 1973 yet it is still relevant today when analyzing entertainment media. Modern popular female leads have made strides in terms of how passive they are but more often than not their active roles are being made for an erotic declaration. This can be in the form of a main character wearing uncomfortably tight clothes, often black for whatever reason, kick asses of hordes of muscular men, monsters, robots or basically whatever is in their way. An example of a passive woman outlined by Amy Cotton (2014) is Mary Jane from spider man: “The fact that Peter Parker can only get the pretty girl once he develops his new powers could either show stupidity of Mary Jane because she did not recognize Peter when he was Spiderman or it tells the audience that Mary Jane will only be attracted to a man who will defend her and “save her from the bad guys” which does not show the female character being independent.” The passive woman is essentially put in place to make the man look better. Now the active woman is put into the male’s place but is still fetishized for men to look at, essentially removing the middleman. SF/F TV is the perfect outlet to put action heroines into a role where they can be objectified further. From Jeffrey A. Brown’s book, Dangerous curves: Action Heroines, Gender,
  • 7. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 7 Fetishism, and Popular Culture, we further objectify women in their portrayal in our SF/F entertainment: “Of the myriad ways action heroines are fetishized in popular culture, one of the most telling is the manner in which this type of female character is figured in relation to technology. In general, images of women in western culture have been so thoroughly fetishized that it has become an unquestioned norm. Almost every depiction of women in the media transforms them into living dolls. The standard glamorous presentations of actresses and models with perfect faces and hair, thin bodies and augmented breasts, sexy clothing, and provocative poses reinforces the standard objectification of women for male pleasure at every turn (Brown, cp 4, 2011).” While in this case study I am only reviewing the specific shows mentioned as based on reviews and success to identify the archetypes that the characters fall into, there are other underlying issues with feminism in TV such as race. The focus of this study is about distinguishing the disparity between male and female values, there are also female-to-female values that are differentiated by race. In 2012 there was a controversy surrounding The Hunger games a mainstream popular movie. Robyn Citizen outlined in The Liverpool Companion to World Science Fiction Film how Fans were objecting to having ‘some black girl’ cast as 12 year old Rue (Amandla Stenberg), even thought she is clearly depicted as having dark brown skinned and eyes in the books. The fans decided that Rue was less ‘innocent’ than the blonde girl everyone had predicted. People were therefore less sympathetic to her death and described it as less sad. Roles for ethnic characters in SF/F TV have generally been restricted to the alien race or the sidekick, which further allegorizes how Western history had or still does have institutionalized racial separation:
  • 8. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 8 “If it strains suspension of disbelief even in a speculative genre such as science-fiction to imagine a black child as ‘innocent’ or that her murder could inspire a white protagonist to action, then that is a power statement about black femininity and black women are circumscribed in the ‘Western’ cultural imaginary. Historically, black female characters are precluded from expressing certain qualities aligned with idealized white femininity, particularly spiritual purity, delicacy, and guilelessness (Citizen, 2014, Mitchell 2011, 126).” Under the premise that Cultivation Theory is possible, giving female leads patriarchal qualities is not a good thing. Cultivation theory supports the notion that watching constant violence in entertainment media can influence a person to have violent tendencies. Dara N. Greenwood’s Are Female Action Heroes Risky Role Models? Character Identification, Idealization, and Viewer Aggression text highlights how the current stream of badass female role models could have a detrimental effect on young women. Her study surveyed 85 undergraduate women in Michigan, United States, to determine “whether identification with and/ or idealization (wishful identification) of a favorite female action hero was associated with aggressive tendencies (Greenwood 2007).” Her findings show that similarly to how it can affect boys to be aggressive when emulating their heroes, it can be similar to women. Women are placed in a precarious situation. In an attempt to break out from their passive identity they are given roles within the typical male archetype. Ripley and Sarah Conner are two examples of noteworthy female leads that attempted to break free from passivity by embracing male heroic values. This however just puts place women into a different set of oppression. This either makes them eye candy or “…eventually [it] repudiates the feminine, becoming in effect
  • 9. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 9 sexless and less ‘human’ mirrors of male action heroes, (Diana Dominguez, 2005, paragraph 6). Women are just not given the complexity that they deserve to be fulfilling characters. Jeffrey Brown’s Gender and the Action Heroine: Hardbodies and the point of no return Brown says that: “The development of the hardbody, hardware, hard-as-nails heroine who can take it, and give it, with the biggest and baddest men of the action cinema indicates the growing acceptance of nontraditional roles for women and an awareness of the arbitrariness of gender traits (Brown, 1996, p. 52).” Female action heroes placed in male roles are generally welcomed by the public yet do not disrupt the patriarchal value systems associated with them embolden male dominance. These hero’s are a welcome change from the typical ‘damsel in distress’ they are still subject to the male gaze in a way that male heroes aren’t. Inserting females into non-traditional and active roles can allow women to emulate masculine values in entertainment. This is not entirely a positive step towards positive, complex and rich representations of women. Popular video game star Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series emulates masculinity. She solves all problems through violent and aggressive conflict resolution while sporting a tough emotionally guarded exterior. While now we can see women breaking out of their shell, it isn’t because feminine qualities are valued, but rather if they act like men, they can be seen as valid in the eyes of the audience (Sarkeesian 2010). Method I have conducted a content analysis in order to study the question proposed; what is the nature of the portrayal of women in current popular SF/F television shows? I became interested in the topic after noticing the rise in woman who have that “don’t take no for answer” kind of
  • 10. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 10 attitude in my favorite genres. I started to research the cause for the rise of that type of character and came across theories explaining how they have a negative impact of viewers even if they may not know it. My sample consists of five television shows that fall into the Science Fiction or Fantasy genre. I chose the shows, Lost Girl, Jessica Jones, Once, Game of thrones and Haven. These shows were selected with based on a certain criteria I laid out prior. They must have a female lead, fall into the SF/F genre, either created in 2015 or still on going (in which case I used the most recent season), has a minimum of 7.5/10 stars on IMDB and has a minimum of 20,00 people who voted on the ratings. Selecting was difficult because SF/F is not as mainstream as various or critically acclaimed as other primetime television. After selecting samples, I used a random number generator to select episodes from the TV show while purposefully omitting the season opener and the season finale. I did this because the opener may not give me a good grasp of a character while the finale might offer a unique situation that would be difficult to code. I ended up with episodes two, five and nine. I followed a chart (see appendix) depicting typical masculine and feminine qualities as defined by feminist theory (Sarkeesian 2010) and created a chart outlining which characters had which characteristics in each episode. I then evaluated based on feminist theories which masculine archetype the females were playing into if at all. Based on the results, I marked which leads fall into which archetype (see appendix). Archetypes are narrative devices that are implemented in order to carry a story. Most of them are so ingrained in our subconscious already that we don’t have to give characters excessive back-stories because we already know what role they will fulfill. Archetypes can be traced back to as early as Greek mythology and they are still similar today.
  • 11. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 11 The archetypes I’m using were outlined in a previous study (Sarkeesian 2010) and they are Leader, Warrior, Anti-Hero and Villain. I will use those categories to outline where each character stands in a patriarchal value system. Results In order to decide where each character fits into an archetype it is important to define them. The first archetype is the Warrior type. This one would be the most common throughout all the others. It predates creative writings from women so naturally it would be constructed with a male point of view in mind. The warrior consists of a call to adventure or refusing it, some sort of companion, supernatural or otherwise and some sort of blessing or gift that allows them to achieve their end greatness. The first sample I analyzed is Bo (Anna Silk) from lost girl. Lost girl “focuses on gorgeous and charismatic Bo, a supernatural being called a succubus who feeds on the energy of humans, sometimes with fatal results. Refusing to embrace her supernatural clan system and its rigid hierarchy, Bo is a renegade who takes up the fight for the underdog while searching about her own mysterious origins (IMDB synopsis).” Bo fits the warrior archetype perfectly. She has a plethora of supernatural companions ranging from her on and off werewolf boyfriend Dyson who is ready to die for her at the drop off a hat, a female doctor who is also her on and off girlfriend plus a walking encyclopedia of all things supernatural and her grandfather who is about 5 feet tall and the most powerful being in the universe who gives her all sorts of toys to destroy monsters with while he tends to his bar. Bo is always cool headed even in the face of adversary. She depicts the stoic behavior that a character of the warrior archetype should inherently have. In season four, episode 2, Bo wakes up in a train riding through another dimension with a white dress on with no memory of how she
  • 12. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 12 got there. She calmly gets up and tries to pick the lock and fails because of her lack of finesse and says “You’re right kenz, lock-picking is a skill every woman should know,” when she fails. A caretaker comes in and see’s Bo trying to escape and then Bo asks her immediately how to get out. The caretaker says she can’t tell because she’ll get in trouble and then Bo immediately uses her succubus powers on the caretaker to coerce her to comply. This makes the master of the train angry. Bo then goes to the nearest door, kicks it down with sheer strength alone (bare footed and in a white dress), and jumps into the abyss. Bo is a bag of confidence and cheesy threats like “Buddy, this is my town. If anyone’s taking a leave, its you and your circle jerk of doom,” which are they trademarks of Heroes. Fast forward to season 4, episode 5, and Dyson has gone through trial and tribulation to get Bo out of the other dimension and Bo still seems calm and dominant when they are reunited. When Bo comes back to earth from that other dimension she is surrounded by at least ten other monsters that tell her learns she joined the Dark Fae (one of the two factions in the show), yet has no memory of it. Bo outraged says, “Bullshit, there’s no freaking way I’m Dark Fae. Bo. Succubus. Unaligned. Kinda’ my brand,” right before she attacks all of them alone. Episode nine is no different. Leaving out all the extra back-story, her demeanor and her actions are similar to the other two episodes. Mostly she has a shoot first ask questions later mentality and marches through the show like a typical hero. The next archetype indentified is the Leader. A position of power over a group is a typical flag stating a leader archetype is present. They are generally the CEO or King/Queen of a kingdom. In this case we have too, Audrey (Emily Rose) from Haven and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). Firstly we have Audrey. She is only present season 4 episode nine episode because for the other two episodes someone named Mara possessed her. Audrey is in command
  • 13. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 13 of two huge men, Duke (Eric Balfour) and Nathan (Lucas Bryant). They both listen to her unconditionally and are essentially her lackeys. Audrey is confident, in control, ready to act and can do anything that the two men who follow her seemingly cannot do. In addition to this, Audrey at all times has black eyeliner around her eyes which help to give her this death stare which basically brings anyone she looks at to heel. It often gives off the feeling that Audrey is in that position strictly because the directors decided it, not because she earned it through actions in the plot. Daenerys (Dany) is a completely complex and different character all together. She is the Queen of the recently freed city of Meereen. She originally had no power at all. Her brother sold her to a clan of barbarians in exchange for their army. After the leader rapes her, she falls in love with him. Dany’s now husband kills her brother and then later dies from a wound he suffers elsewhere. Dany, left with no brother or husband is defaulted the leader of the barbarians. Everything slowly gets worse and worse for her while she tries to rule embodying generic masculine qualities such as strength cool headedness, etc., but still slowly heads in a downward spiral. Right when things get out of hand, she gets her hands on three dragons. She instantly regains the leader archetype roll and begins conquering and commanding. The dragons start to get bigger and listen to her less and less and with that, so do her followers. She ends up locking away her dragons so they don’t kill her and is eventually almost killed in a revolt, which fails because, voila, a dragon comes to save her. While still embodying the leader archetype, she is constantly set up for failure. Dany is given poor traits from both male and female characteristics. This is worse than being a passive female because it implies that she isn’t even good enough to
  • 14. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 14 pretend to be a man. It’s more demeaning to have her try and fit the roll and fail, only to be saved by a Deus ex Machina1 and the cycle repeats time and time again. Next we have the Anti-Hero Archetype. The Anti-Hero is essentially someone who embodies traits from both the villain and hero. They are generally a character with poor social skills and little to no family. They tend to hover on the brink and cross the line of good or bad. Jessica Jones is a good example of this. She is a troubled person who doesn’t hesitate to do illegal things if it means she can do her job as a private investigator. She also has a temper that she will unleash on anyone. When her upstairs neighbors are yelling in season one episode two, she goes upstairs and tells them to quiet down. When they refuse, Jessica lifts up one of them by the neck with one hand and says, “You know why I live alone? People distract me. Now I don’t give a bag of dicks what kind of kinky shit you’re into. Just be into it quietly.” Jessica’s character is interesting because it is inherently good but it gives the message that it’s okay to be violent, aggressive and emotionally guarded as long as you’re a good person deep down. The villain archetype is the next category I’ve identified. In the past they were displayed as cartoony and goofy while causing minor annoyances with cheap tricks. The more modern version is usually someone with a cold stare who is portrayed as the opposite of the main character. Mara (Emily Rose) from haven fits the bill for the villain. She is Audrey’s alter ego who possesses her for two of the episodes I sampled. Mara wears sleeveless shirts and generally all black, opposite of the fully clothed Audrey. Mara is uncouth, evil, and not afraid to use her brain to do bad things. She convinces an artist, who can make terrible things happen when she draws, pick up a pencil again and start drawing. She is also portrayed as overly sexual, which is also a common trait for female who are given the villain role. Apparently sexuality or eroticism 1 The Deus ex Machina is an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation. It is considered a cop out and a very cheap technique in creative works.
  • 15. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 15 is synonymous with being a villain or ‘bad’, which further fetishized women in the eyes of men. Mara in episode five is handcuffed to a table, while offered food by Duke, she retorts about how if anything comes near her she’ll bite it off. Lastly, one of my samples didn’t fit into a category. Emma swam from Once Upon a Time is a very complex character. She embodies both the characteristics of male and female in forms of the positives and the negatives. She seems the most like an actual person compared to the other samples. In season four episode two, she says “He wouldn’t even let me hug him, it killed me.” “Sounds familiar,” replied David Nolan (Her Father) “’Cause I do that. Great. I’ve passed it along” At this moment, Emma showed poor nurturing, weakness, passiveness and asked for advice, yet in season four episode five, she dove into a wall of ice that was suddenly raised from the ground in order to help Elsa (an ice witch) find her sister. She calmed Elsa down then later showed her pictures of her own son in a way that displayed strength, control, independence yet also nurturing, emotions, relationships and a keen mind to solving where Elsa’s sister went. Discussion After collecting all my data I’ve come to the conclusion that the representation of women in the selected TV shows ranges from empowerment to ridicule. Most of the women are not masculine at all yet still represent masculinity by the way they act according to the producer’s directions. This is favorable to producers because obviously it sells since we continue to watch these shows. The leading trend today is that instead of replacing archetypes with a more gender neutral one, we are just replacing who the main character is but keeping all his values intact. This not
  • 16. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 16 only diminishes the value of women but also puts men farther apart. The fact is that men don’t even have to be present to be represented in media because of how deeply patriarchy is embedded in society. We need to redefine the female heroic archetype in order to transcend this male-centric paradigm and move towards are truly equal society. What needs to be done is to create a new value system in order to educate future generations about what qualities a hero needs to embody. Hero’s are everyday people, not necessarily a badass gunslinger. We need to focus more on the positive traits of both Male and Female in order to create a new archetype that isn’t restricted to a gender, but rather to the inner attributes of a person as a whole. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” This applies not just to racism but also to all “isms” that circulate the world. As a society we need to stop judging books by their covers and instead start at the first page.
  • 17. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 17 References Baker, K. & Raney, A. (2007). "Equally Super?: Gender-Role Stereotyping of Superheroes in Children’s Animated Programs." Mass Communication & Society Brown, J. (2011). Gender and the Action Heroine: Hardbodies and the Point of No Return. In Dangerous curves action heroines, gender, fetishism, and popular culture. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Citizen, R.. (2014). Are Black Women the Future of Man?: The Role of Black Women in political and Cultural Transformation in Science Fiction from the US, UK, and Cameroon. In The Liverpool Companion to World Science Fiction Film (NED - New edition, 1, 1, Vol. 47, pp. 191–208). Liverpool University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18kr755.17 Collins, P. (2000). Black feminist thought knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (Rev. 10th anniversary ed.). New York: Routledge Dominguez, D. (2005) It's Not Easy Being a Cast Iron Bitch": Sexual Difference and the Female Action Hero. Enns, A.. (2010). Make Room for SFTV [Review of The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader]. Science Fiction Studies, 37(1), 138–141. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40649601 GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND TOUGHNESS: The Bad Girls of Action Film and Comic Books. (2011). GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND TOUGHNESS: The Bad Girls of Action Film and Comic Books. In Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and
  • 18. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 18 Popular Culture (pp. 43–62). University Press of Mississippi. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tv6xs.5 Ginn, S. (2005). Our space, our place: Women in the worlds of science fiction television. Lanham: University Press of America. Greenwood, D. (n.d.). Are Female Action Heroes Risky Role Models? Character Identification, Idealization, and Viewer Aggression. Sex Roles,725-732. Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1986). Living with television: The dynamics of the cultivation process (pp. 17-40). publisher not identified. Gunter, B. (1995). Television and gender representation. London: John Libbey. Hastings, P. D., Utendale, W. T., & Sullivan, C. (2007). The socialization of prosocial development. Handbook of socialization: Theory and research, 638-664. Johnson, A. G. (2005). The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy. Philadelphia, Temple University Press. Johnson, A. (2006). Privilege, power, and difference (2nd ed.). Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill. Morris, S. M.. (2012). Black Girls Are from the Future: Afrofuturist Feminism in Octavia E. Butler's "Fledgling".Women's Studies Quarterly, 40(3/4), 146–166. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23333483 Mulvey, L. (1975). "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." “PLAY WITH ME”: Sexy Cyborgs, Game Girls, and Digital Babes. (2011). “PLAY WITH ME”: Sexy Cyborgs, Game Girls, and Digital Babes. In Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture (pp. 93–119). University Press of Mississippi. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tv6xs.7
  • 19. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 19 SARKEESIAN, A. (2010). “I’LL MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOU1 ”: STRONG WOMEN IN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY TELEVISION. A Research Paper Submitted to the Graduate Program in Social and Political Thought in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Social and Political Thought, 1-75. Retrieved December 15, 2015, from https://www.academia.edu/4066522/I_LL_MAKE_A_MAN_OUT_OF_YOU1_STRON G_WOMEN_IN_SCIENCE_FICTION_AND_FANTASY_TELEVISION Spender, D., & Wilson, A. (2000). PATRIARCHY: Feminist Theory. In C. Kramarae (Ed.), Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge (pp. 1493-1497). New York: Routledge. Telotte, J. (2008). The essential science fiction television reader. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. The Representation of Women in Science Fiction. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14th, 2015, from https://prezi.com/wqxe4vlluf79/the-representation-of-women-in-science-fiction/ Ximena Gallardo C.. (2007). Die Hard Fan [Review of Our Space, Our Place: Women in the Worlds of Science Fiction Television]. Science Fiction Studies, 34(1), 141–143. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4241503
  • 20. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 20 Appendices Masculine Feminine Rational Physically and verbally aggressive Intuitive More likely to show affection Emotionally Inexpressive More frequently rewarded Emotionally Expressive More likely to emphasize relationships Strong Showed more ingenuity Weak More Helpless Cool Headed Asked more questions Hysterical More Likely to ask for advice or protection In Control of Themselves Emphasized more tasks Lack Self Control Passive Independent Violent Dependent Selfless in situations of forced submissions Active Threatened others more frequently Passive Materialistic/prone to attachment Objective Keen minds and problem-solving Erratic Unaggressive Dominant Muscularity and strength Submissive Weak Decisive Resourceful Indecisive Shy Self-Confident Daring Lacking in Self Confidence Cautious Not Nurturing Competitive Nurturing Cooperative (Sarkeesian)
  • 21. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 21 Characteristics of each character per episode Bo-Lost Girl Jessica Jones- Jessica Jones Emma Swan Once Daenerys Targaryen- Game of thrones Mara(ep2-5) Audrey(ep 9)- Haven Ep2 Cool Headed, In Control of Themselves, Independent,Self- Confident, Decisive, resourceful, Keen Minds and problem solving abilities, Muscularity and strength,asked and answered more questions. Rational, Emotionally Inexpressive, Strong, Cool Headed, In Control of themselves, Independent, Active, Physically and verbally aggressive,violent, daring, resourceful, keen minds and problem-solving abilities. Asked and answered more questions. Muscularity and strength Emotionally Inexpressive, Weak, Passive, Dependent, Not nurturing, More likely to ask for advice or protection. Threatened others more frequently, In control of themselves, Strong, indecisive, Daring, Physically and verbally aggressive, Dependent. Cautious. Lacking in self-confidence, More helpless, Weak, Erratic. Physically and Verbally aggressive, Violent, Strong, In control of themselves, Independent, Active, Dominant, Decisive, Self confident, Muscularity and strength,Rational, Asked and answered more questions. Ep5 Cool headed, In control of Themselves, Independent,Self- Confident, Decisive, Resourceful, Keen mind, Problem solving, Independent, Objective, Emotionally Inexpressive, Dominant, Active, Competitive, Asked and answered more questions, Threatened others more frequently. Emotionally Inexpressive, strong,independent, active, dominant physically and verbally aggressive, asked and answered more questions, violent, threatened others more frequently, muscularity and strength,daring, competitive. Cool headed, intuitive cooperative, In control of themselves, confident, strong, Emotionally Expressive. Weak, Emotionally inexpressive, Strong, Cool headed,Erratic, Active, Decisive, Indecisive, Self confident, Lacking in self-confidence, Dependent,Violent, Threatened others more frequently. Strong, Violent, Physically and verbally aggressive, Asked and answered more questions, Muscularity and strength,Objective, Active, Self confident, Emotionally inexpressive, In control of themselves.
  • 22. Running head: THINK LIKE A MAN 22 Ep9 Rational, Emotionally Inexpressive, Strong, Coolheaded, In control of Themselves, Independent, Active, Objective, Dominant, Decisive, Self Confident, Not Nurturing, Physically and Verbally Aggressive,More Frequently Rewarded, Asked and Answered More Questions, Muscularity and Strength. Rational, Emotionally Inexpressive, Strong, Cool headed,In control of Themselves, Independent, Active, Objective, Dominant, Decisive, Self confident, Not nurturing, Physically and verbally aggressive, more frequently rewarded, asked and answered more questions, muscularity and strength. Strong, In control of themselves, Dependent,Cool, Emotionally Expressive, Daring, Emphasized more on tasks,Asked and answered more questions.Keen minds on problem- solving abilities. Weak, Hysterical, Lack of self control, Dependent,Passive, Indecisive, More likely to show affection, More likely to emphasize relationships, Submissive. Rational, Strong, Cool headed, In control of themselves, Active, Objective, Dominant, Decisive, Self confident, More Frequently Rewarded, Showed more ingenuity, Asked and answered more questions and answers, emphasized more tasks. Archetype Chart Archetypes Leader Warrior Anti-hero Villain None Lead Characters Daenerys Targaryen, Audrey Bo Jessica Jones Mara Emma Swan