Ok Disclaimer Time: there will be generalizations below and since I'm talking from the perspective of a white, cis-gendered woman from the United States those generalizations will have big, semi-truck sized gaps in them. Please, bear with me 'cause this is gonna get rambly and convoluted.
I've been pondering this ever since this afternoon, except for the hour and fifty-seven minutes when I was watching the A-Team and having a nostalgia-gasm. My gut reaction is that part of the reason is that female fans are more likely to hold female characters (FCs) to a higher standard because we've been...conditioned? Taught? Led to believe? that women can't be heroes/fighters/warriors/etc. We've been taught that women are victims, that women have to be protected and be careful and that we can't go out and kick ass and take names.
I remember at seventeen trying to explain to one of my aunts why I loved the character of Hazel in "A Cat Who Walks Through Walls" -- my explanation included the fact that Hazel fought back against people. She carried a rat trap in her purse and wasn't afraid to threaten to torture/beat the crap out of an enemy if the need arose. My aunt wasn't very impressed with this reasoning in part because she's a bit of a pacifist but also because I wasn't making my point clear -- it wasn't so much that Hazel *was* violent, it was more that Hazel *could* be violent, that she could fight back against a man and be taken seriously as a threat. Outside of GI Joe, I wasn't used to seeing women as fighters. Female characters in most of the shows I watched were victims -- they were the ones hiring the A-Team or Magnum, P.I. or Simon and Simon, etc to help them save their family farm or find out who was trying to kill them or otherwise save the day. Even in Remmington Steele, where Laura Holt was a brilliant detective, she had to create a fictional man to be taken seriously -- and had to keep Pierce Brosnan's character around to play the role to preserve the lie. Hell, originally? The show was supposed to be about Laura hiding her fake boss but the network didn't think the show would work without a male lead. Yeah.
I'm trying to think of a show with female characters in a lead role in my childhood and I'm drawing a blank -- except for Rainbow Bright, My Little Pony (who apparently fought Satan himself so, yeah screw you GI Joe, you protect the world from terrorists and leave the BIG BAD to the Ponies) and Strawberry Shortcake. Oh! And Jem and the Holograms. Now, there's a show that passes the Bechdel test with flying colors -- Jerrica Benton runs Starlight Music, performs with the band, helps raise 12 foster daughters and has time to manage two identities. Awesome? Hell yes, but I didn't realize it until I was older because at the time I was watching and enjoying the show but characterizing it as 'girly' and therefore lacking (I was a sexist little brat at 13...).
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branchandroot
Ohhh this is blathery...part 1
Date: 2010-06-16 06:56 am (UTC)I've been pondering this ever since this afternoon, except for the hour and fifty-seven minutes when I was watching the A-Team and having a nostalgia-gasm. My gut reaction is that part of the reason is that female fans are more likely to hold female characters (FCs) to a higher standard because we've been...conditioned? Taught? Led to believe? that women can't be heroes/fighters/warriors/etc. We've been taught that women are victims, that women have to be protected and be careful and that we can't go out and kick ass and take names.
I remember at seventeen trying to explain to one of my aunts why I loved the character of Hazel in "A Cat Who Walks Through Walls" -- my explanation included the fact that Hazel fought back against people. She carried a rat trap in her purse and wasn't afraid to threaten to torture/beat the crap out of an enemy if the need arose. My aunt wasn't very impressed with this reasoning in part because she's a bit of a pacifist but also because I wasn't making my point clear -- it wasn't so much that Hazel *was* violent, it was more that Hazel *could* be violent, that she could fight back against a man and be taken seriously as a threat. Outside of GI Joe, I wasn't used to seeing women as fighters. Female characters in most of the shows I watched were victims -- they were the ones hiring the A-Team or Magnum, P.I. or Simon and Simon, etc to help them save their family farm or find out who was trying to kill them or otherwise save the day. Even in Remmington Steele, where Laura Holt was a brilliant detective, she had to create a fictional man to be taken seriously -- and had to keep Pierce Brosnan's character around to play the role to preserve the lie. Hell, originally? The show was supposed to be about Laura hiding her fake boss but the network didn't think the show would work without a male lead. Yeah.
I'm trying to think of a show with female characters in a lead role in my childhood and I'm drawing a blank -- except for Rainbow Bright, My Little Pony (who apparently fought Satan himself so, yeah screw you GI Joe, you protect the world from terrorists and leave the BIG BAD to the Ponies) and Strawberry Shortcake. Oh! And Jem and the Holograms. Now, there's a show that passes the Bechdel test with flying colors -- Jerrica Benton runs Starlight Music, performs with the band, helps raise 12 foster daughters and has time to manage two identities. Awesome? Hell yes, but I didn't realize it until I was older because at the time I was watching and enjoying the show but characterizing it as 'girly' and therefore lacking (I was a sexist little brat at 13...).