I've become increasingly annoyed at friends- both on Tumblr and in the real world- who say that Supernatural is a sexist or misogynist show. "All the women die" or "All the women are weak."
These two statements are gross misrepresentations of the show. Firstly: yes, not only do most of the recurring or guest female characters die, but all the men do too. What a horror. Oh, wait. Isn't the genre of this show horror? Secondly, the women are not weak. Look at Jo and Ellen Harvelle! They're only two examples of incredibly strong women on the show. Half of the females who "need to be saved" end up helping the Winchesters save themselves. So please don't tell me that the women are weak.
Besides, even if the women were weak, and even if only women were being killed off, who cares? Just because we live in a society that has progressed towards equality, and continues to do so every day, does not mean that there can no longer be books or television shows that focus on men. You don't watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and go, "Oh my god this show! Look at all the weak men who just fall all over Buffy- it must be misandry." You don't watch Charmed and ask why there's no Charmed brother, do you? No, you accept that it's a show about women, and that just like there can be shows about women, there can also be a show about men without it being misogynist or unequal.
Yes, Supernatural can be focused on male characters, but that doesn't mean it can't also have female representation. It has lots of chances to include women, lgbtq folk and people of color, but it doesn't. They don't even have to be in major roles, as long as there is diversity.
ReplyDeleteAnd while character do tend to die a lot in SPN, there are still more male characters in general and male characters tend to live longer.
SPN is notorious for fridging. The first episode killed two females for the sake of the male characters.
If you look at Bobby he got killed for similar purposes but unlike most of the female characters, actually had character development, and even a few episodes devoted to him.
SPN has little representation and female characters are usually written horribly. The only character who has really escaped the fate of sexist tropes is Charlie.
BTVS on the other hand managed to have equal representation (for women at least) by having a fairly balanced cast of men and women, most of who had development and their own story lines. And while it's known for female empowerment, there were also strong male characters and the show was always examining the structures of power within it's universe.
Anyone who has watched Buffy would not call it misandrist based solely upon the fact that the lead character is female. (also misandry doesn't exist)
Similarly, you cannot call SPN sexist based upon the fact that the leads are males
And that's not what is happening. Feminists can pick this show apart, and even people whom don't usually explore the media through a feminist lens can pick up on the obvious sexist tropes.
And you should care if women are being represented badly in TV because representation is incredibly important. This changes how people will percieve women.You can see this in the behavior of some parts of the fandom.
Its 2013. BTVS first aired in 1997. We should be seeing better representation than what SPN has, and sometimes we are. There are no excuses for SPN being so sexist and misogynistic. Society is progressing towards equality, but Supernatural is not helping.
Supernatural can be a show about men. But it should be able to do this without also having negative portrayals of women.