The amazing feminist book club, Our Shared Shelf, continues into February with a classic. The Color Purple by Alice Walker was a book I'd heard of often but never read and could barely discuss due to the not having read it.
The story follows two black sisters living in the South. The story unfolds as Celie writes letters to God, another form of journaling. Eventually they become letters to her sister Nettie, who then writes letters in return. Years pass between the sisters and their contact. It's a heartwarming tale of the power of love, family, and finding yourself. I can easily see why this is a classic and how Walker is heralded for her writing.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"I don't even look at mens. That's the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I'm not scared of them."
-Pg 15
"A girl child ain't safe in a family of men. [...] I loves Harpo, she say. God knows I do. But I'll kill him dead before I let him beat me." -Pg 46
"I twirl the spit around my finger. I think bout ground glass, wonder how you grind it. But I don't feel mad at all. Just interest." -Pg 58
"Angels all in white, white hair and white eyes, look like albinos. God all white too, looking like some stout white man work at the bank." -Pg 91
"Have you ever seen a white person and a colored sitting side by side in a car, when one of 'em wasn't showing the other one how to drive it or clean it? I got out the car, opened the back door and clammed in. She sat down up front." -Pg 101*
"She just like me, Mama say. She drink, she fight, she love mens to death. She work in a roadhouse. Cook. Feed fifty men, screw fifty-five." -Pg 116
"The little I knew about my own self wouldn't have filled a thimble!" -Pg 123
"Do not be offended, Sister Nettie, but our people pity women such as you who are cast out, we know not from where, into a world unknown to you, where you must struggle all alone, for yourself. So I am an object of pity and contempt, I thought, to men and women alike." -Pg 149
"She say, Celie, tell the truth, have you ever found God in church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God." -Pg 176
"Man corrupt everything, say Shug. He on your box of grits, in your head, and all over the radio. He try to make you think he everywhere. Soon as you think he everywhere, you think he God. But he ain't. Whenever you trying to pray, and man plop himself on the other end of it, tell him to git lost, say Shug. Conjure up flowers, wind, water, a big rock." -Pg 179
"Why any woman give a shit what people think is a mystery to me." -Pg 182
"Well, I say, if words could kill, I'd be in the ambulance." -Pg 219
"Some colored people so scared of whitefolks they claim to love the cotton gin." -Pg 233
*I wanted to come back to this because it amused me. Sofia, a black woman, is teaching her mistress how to drive and her mistress offers to drive her to go see her children. But the mistress tells her they can't sit in front together, so Sofia has to sit in back. Which is hysterical because traditionally those in service of others would be driving or up front while the more distinguished individual sat in back. Here is a clear reversal of that role, and something I would suspect Walker did on purpose.
Much to my delight one of my favorite actors and people living on this planet, Emma Watson, decided to create a feminist book club for this year. My title suggestion of A Feminist's Reading Agenda was not picked, sadly. But Our Shared Shelf seems like an acceptable choice. The first month's pick was My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem.
The book chronicles Gloria's life of travel. First, she is stuck in the car with her family driven around the country by her father. His appetite for life on the road dictated the family and their situation. This childhood will lead Gloria to desire the feeling of home, but live her life traveling anyway. She shares her stories from many different perspectives.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"What seems to be one thing from a distance is very different close up." -Prelude
"I worshipped dead men for their strength, forgetting I was strong." -Pg 39
"[...] but younger and more radical women didn't want just a job and a piece of the existing pie. They wanted to bake a new pie altogether." -Pg 48
"Altogether, if I had to pick one place to hang out anywhere, from New York to Cape Town and Australia to Hong Kong, a bookstore would be it." -Pg 52
"Because adventure starts the moment I leave my door." -Pg 70
"Girls need to know they can break the rules." -Pg 79
"'Filters let in a cup of water,' he says, 'but keep out the ocean.'" -Pg 82
"'We have long known that rape has been a way of terrorizing us and keeping us in subjection. Now we also know that we have participated, although unwittingly, in the rape of our minds.'" -Pg 98
"Roots can exist without flowers, but no flower can exist without roots." -Pg 117
"'Always look at what people do,' as my mother said, 'not at who they are.'" -Pg 127
"This was my first hint of the truism that depression is anger turned inward; thus women are twice as likely to be depressed." -Pg 129
"When the past dies, we mourn for the dead. When the future dies, we mourn for ourselves." -Pg 138
"'The purpose of ass-kicking is not that your ass gets kicked at the right time or for the right reason,' she often explained. 'It's to keep your ass sensitive.'" -Pg 170
"Polls show that what women fear most from men is violence, and what men fear most from women is ridicule." -Pg 180
"Laughter is an orgasm of the mind." -Pg 181
"The simple right to reproductive freedom--to sexuality as an expression that is separable from reproduction--is basic to restoring women's power, the balance between women and men, and a balance between humans and nature." -Pg 204
"'I'll see you on the other side of the mountain.'" -Pg 244
My favorite chapter was by far Gloria's experiences with cab drivers. There is so much to learn from those that drive people everywhere and are often the driving equivalent of priests or bartenders. These are the people that overhear some deepest, darkest secrets just by sitting in the front seat and driving around.
Recently, Gloria made some comments that disturbed me. Reading this book at the time of my life that I'm at was very powerful. This book made me feel stronger and made me very enamored with her life story. But then she had to go make an asinine comment about women who support Bernie Sanders. Saying that young women who support him are only doing so to catch a guy because the young men are following him is not only sexist but minimizing. I follow Bernie Sanders because he sticks to what he believes, he isn't controlled by corporation donations, and he actually seems like a genuine person. Her half-hearted apology was more of an excuse than an actual apology. I understand from her writing that she is in Hillary's camp, and that's fine. But please don't minimize women who support someone else.
In one of the earlier episodes of the show the Big Bang Theory, Howard continues to hit on Penny saying lewd things, and insisting that they would eventually hook up. Now at this point in the show, Howard (pre-Bernadette) spends all his time focusing on sleeping with women. Eventually during this tirade, Penny has enough. She tells Howard that it’s not a compliment to call her “do-able” or to make jokes about her body.
And she’s spot freaking on.
It isn’t a compliment to say these things about women. It’s disgusting and misogynistic. And she has every right to call him out for what he says, because after dealing with that for two seasons, I’d be fed up too.
At this point, I was cheering the show on for being so progressive. Then the show pissed me off big time.
Howard takes her challenge personally and withdraws into himself, not talking to his friends. They are entered into robot fighting challenge and he is their engineer. But they obviously can’t fight without him. So Leonard asks Penny to apologize. When she refuses, he blackmails her to apologize saying she owes him a favor.
What the actual hell?
Not only does she not need to apologize, but she’s blackmailed into it? That’s bullshit. She goes over to Howard’s and at first he plays it off like her comment doesn’t mean anything because "whatever"…
Then she talks to him some more and comes to see his history of no success with the ladies, which is why he sees that he needs to “try to hard” with women, which apparently means insulting them by being degrading...huh. When Penny says that him being honest is actually nice, he takes this to mean he can make a move and he tries to kiss her.
Here’s where the show had me clapping again: she punches him.
The point is made later that this is what will happen if women aren’t treated with respect…
She leaves the room, and Howard’s first comment is that he’s “halfway to pity sex.” So he actually learned nothing at all.
The show had the opportunity to not only have character development but also to make a statement about how men treat women. Unfortunately, they took the opportunity and used it for laughs. Which is fair to a point because it’s a comedy show. But since misogyny is a bigger issue than laughs, I’m disappointed in how they wrote it.
This year I’ve been doing banned and challenged books for my book club. And I had intended that Catch-22 be my post for May. I had started reading Frankenstein shortly after I finished Catch-22, which was to then be my June post. But in the midst of reading Frankenstein, the horrific shooting perpetrated by Elliot Rodger occurred in California. Suddenly, certain phrases and quotes from Frankenstein made far more sense to write about it now. Catch-22 will have to wait until next month.
For those who are unaware of the story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, it can be summed up as this: a young scientist decides to dabble in some questionable sciences, he creates a man from varying body parts of those already deceased, he brings the man to life, the man learns what it means to be alive but hates being lonely, he tries to blackmail Frankenstein (who is the doctor, btw, not the monster) into creating a female counterpart, Frankenstein submits and then changes his mind, the monster seeks revenge, and then Frankenstein seeks revenge.
While the story has far more emotional intricacies, especially when the monster is telling his point of view, it is a very revenge driven story for the most part. Movie adaptations of the book tend to minimize the intelligence of the creature, and put far more violent anger in the common people towards him. The book has very few characters and relies mainly on the relationship between Frankenstein and his creation.
What pray tell does this have to do with the shooting? Allow me to elaborate.
“I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me.” pg. 126
“You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This alone you can do; and I demand it of you as a right which you must not refuse to concede.” pg. 127
“I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself; the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive , and it shall content me. It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another. Our lives will not be happy, but they will be harmless, and free from the misery I now feel.” pg. 128
What these three quotes demonstrate is that the creature, suffering in loneliness, demands Frankenstein make a companion for him. What is unsaid, though in the story, is that the creature will exhibit revenge upon Frankenstein if he doesn’t comply. The creature says that is his right to have a companion. What he doesn’t think about is the female creature. She has no say in being created. He hates his existence but doesn’t want to be alone, so he demands a companion even though he doesn’t consider her feelings.
Sound familiar?
I haven’t viewed Elliot Rodger’s video, because I have the feeling it would not only make me ill but it would also make me despair at the state of humanity. What Elliot failed to take into account is the feelings of women. We have them, surprise surprise. Men have several rights. There is a bill that explains some of them. But in no way are vaginas a man’s right. The same way that penis is not a woman’s right. You have no right to someone else’s body. The only physical rights you have is for your own body.
Outside of the book comparison, there’s a few things I want to talk about. First, article that I have been seeing talking about the event describe Elliot in one of two ways. He’s either labeled a misogynist. Or he’s labeled as mentally ill. He is both. Most misogynists don’t run out and kill people. The same way most mentally ill people don’t go on shooting sprees. Elliot Rodger was a misogynist suffering with a psychosis, and this is what caused him to choose to kill people. The fact that his family spoke to people about being worried about him indicates that people weren’t entirely in the dark about the situation.
Second, the backlash of the #YesAllWomen hashtag is exactly why the hashtag exists. Plenty of men are lashing out against this as an attack on men. We are not saying all men are assholes. What we are saying is that all women have experienced some form of harassment at the hands of males. From rape or sexual assault or sexual harassment, or even the phrase “stop being such a girl” or “man up.” Women experience this, and men do too. Our point is that it has to stop. Otherwise, acts of violence such as this will continue.
Lastly, we need to spend just as much time educating girls about awareness as we do boys. That is not the case right now. Right now, girls are being taught that what they wear matters and not to walk alone at night. When really, men need to be taught to respect women and what consent really is. Something that keeps coming to mind is a quote Tina Fey says in Mean Girls, “You've got to stop calling each other bitches and whores, that just makes it ok for men to do it.” While I think men should respect women anyway, I’m certain it doesn’t help that we treat each other that way.
The whole point of the entire thing is that we need to communicate. We need to talk about gender equality. We need to talk about mental illness. We need to talk about what we teach our children. We need to talk. About all of it. There were two articles I saw online about the Elliot Rodgers situation that I appreciated. The first was posted on the Belle Jar and written by a female. The second was posted on Slate and written by Phil Plait.
Here are other quotes from Frankenstein that I like:
“I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man.” pg. 4
“Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.” pg. 31
“The blood flowed freely in my veins, but a weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart, which nothing could remove.” pg. 77
“We rest; a dream has power to poison sleep.” pg. 84
“I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, [...]” pg. 86
“a devouring blackness overcast the approaching sunshine.” pg. 135
“I had unchained an enemy among them, whose joy it was to shed their blood, and to revel in their groans.” pg. 166
“Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me?” pg. 200
The reason the book received criticism comes from two angles: secular and nonsecular. More religious people found the book abhorrent because it details acts against God, meaning no one should have the power of that kind of creation except the almighty. Less religious readers found it to be implying that taking technology too far might allow the technology to turn on mankind. The indecent scientific experiment is against the will of God. Sounds about right. Overall,
I enjoy the story but sometimes get tripped up by Shelley’s style. I
also feel that film adaptations could easily miss out on the emotional
depth of the monster and his relationship with his creator.
People
have been up in arms recently about a song released from Robin Thicke
called “Blurred Lines.” And I am one of them. The song and the video
both have elements that cross sexual boundaries. What is the extra
terrible cherry on the sundae of awful is that plenty of songs cross
boundaries such as these and have for years, but no one seems to protest
them. The reason this song has been protested is mainly the video, but
the lyrics are poor too. Add them together for a cocktail of
douche-baggery.
The
video, which I have had occasion to watch, features
Thicke, Pharrell, and T.I. singing while women prance around them
completely naked with the exception of nude underwear. So here’s my
question, apart from the already questionable lyrics, what is the damn
point? Women prancing around naked? Just because they want to have
them. The music video, still available on youtube, is inflammatory on
its own. In addition to the lyrics, it’s down right disgusting. Below is the clean version, but the unrated version can still be viewed on Youtube if you verify your age.
Blurred Lines Lyrics
[Verse 1: Robin Thicke]
If you can't hear what I'm trying to say
If you can't read from the same page
Maybe I'm going deaf,
Maybe I'm going blind
Maybe I'm out of my mind
[Pharell:] Everybody get up
[Pre-chorus: Robin Thicke]
OK now he was close, tried to domesticate you
But you're an animal, baby, it's in your nature
Just let me liberate you. Hey, hey, hey
You don't need no papers. Hey, hey, hey
That man is not your maker
[Chorus: Robin Thicke]
And that's why I'm gon' take a good girl
I know you want it, I know you want it, I know you want it
You're a good girl
Can't let it get past me
You're far from plastic
Talk about getting blasted
I hate these blurred lines
I know you want it, I know you want it, I know you want it
But you're a good girl
The way you grab me
Must wanna get nasty
Go ahead, get at me
[Pharell:] Everybody get up
[Verse 2: Robin Thicke]
What do they make dreams for
When you got them jeans on
What do we need steam for
You the hottest bitch in this place
I feel so lucky
Hey, hey, hey
You wanna hug me
Hey, hey, hey
What rhymes with hug me?
Hey, hey, hey
[Pre-chorus and Chorus]
[Verse 3: T.I.]
One thing I ask of you
Let me be the one you back that ass to
Go, from Malibu, to Paris, boo
Yeah, I had a bitch, but she ain't bad as you
So hit me up when you passing through
I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two
Swag on, even when you dress casual
I mean it's almost unbearable
In a hundred years not dare, would I
Pull a Pharside let you pass me by
Nothing like your last guy, he too square for you
He don't smack that ass and pull your hair like that
So I just watch and wait for you to salute
But you didn't pick
Not many women can refuse this pimpin'
I'm a nice guy, but don't get it if you get with me
[Bridge: Robin Thicke]
Shake the vibe, get down, get up
Do it like it hurt, like it hurt
What you don't like work?
[Pre-chorus: Robin Thicke]
Baby can you breathe? I got this from Jamaica
It always works for me, Dakota to Decatur, uh huh
No more pretending
Hey, hey, hey
Cause now you winning
Hey, hey, hey
Here's our beginning
[Chorus: Robin Thicke]
So
there are a few specific lines that stick out to me as incredibly
offensive. The first is pre-chorus in which Robin likens the girl’s
last relationship as him trying to domesticate her and Robin being the
one who can liberate her. On the one hand, he is claiming that the last
guy wasn’t her maker and couldn’t domesticate her, but on the other
hand he’s saying he is the one who can liberate her….with his penis, I’m
presuming. Bro, I’m already liberated and I didn’t need your dick to
do so.
Secondly,
the repeated usage of “I know you want it” especially after saying “I
hate these blurred lines.” One of the most common rape myths or excuses
used by rapists is that the victim actually wanted it. Even though she
was saying no, she really meant yes. No means no. “The way you grab
me, must wanna get nasty.” Because apparently women aren’t allowed to
do anything sexual because it means they want sex? No. That is like
saying a woman kissing you wants to have sex with you just because she’s
kissing you. Shockingly enough, a physical relationship can happen
without sex. So which are these blurred lines exactly? The sexual
blurred lines? Those lines aren’t blurred. Those lines are actually
very explicit. That’s why there are laws about those lines.
The
last part that really got me was T.I.’s solo in which he talks about
this “bitch” he used to know, and that he can “tear your ass in two,”
and “he don’t smack that ass and pull your hair like that.” Calling a
woman a bitch is not endearing. It is most certainly not going to make
me want to sleep with you, but hey, these lines are blurred so you’ll
probably just take it anyway right? The use of sexual preferences here
is used in a degrading manner. Anal sex, spanking, or hair pulling are
personal preferences, but when a singer tells me he can tear my ass in
two, and how he’ll smack my ass and pull my hair, it isn’t a come on,
it’s predatorily sexual.
Creepy lyrics + naked girls = sketchy as hell song
Robin
Thicke even tried to defend his song, saying the lyrics were
misinterpreted and how it is supposed to be a feminist movement. Which
is why the women were naked in the video, right Robin? All three
artists that contributed to the song are married with kids, do any of
them have daughters? Did any of them think for one second how one of
their kids would view this? More can be read about Robin’s perception
of the misinterpretation at Huff Post,
along with pictures from the music video. Whatever you want to claim,
Robin, your song is not a feminist movement.
I
mentioned at the very beginning of the post that many people have been
up in arms about the song lyrics and video. One group in Auckland, New
Zealand made a reply video called “Defined Lines.” Read more here at Huff Post.
Defined Lines Lyrics
Every bigot shut up (x 2)
Hey hey hey (x 3)
Boy you'd better quit all your sexist ways
So hear our manifesto of the modern age.
It's time to undermine
The masculine confines
Coz we don't wanna grind,
Gri-ii-iind.
You think that you're so slick,
Let me emasculate ya!
Because your precious dick
Can't beat my vibrator.
We're feelin' the frustration
From all the exploitation.
Prepare for your castration.
(Chorus)
So we can fuck this man's world,
With all its bullshit,
Girls don't deserve it.
We ain't good girls:
We are scholastic,
Smart and sarcastic,
Not fucking plastic.
Listen mankind!
If you wanna get nasty,
Just don't harass me:
You can't just grab me.
That's a sex crime!
Yeah we don't want it -
It's chauvinistic.
You're such a bigot!
What you see on tv
Doesn't speak equality,
It's straight up misogyny.
Don't want you to come on my face!
You think you're hunky (hey hey hey)
You wanna hug me (hey hey hey)
Don't you mean fuck me?
One thing I ask of you:
Don't assume that we all just wanna screw.
Gotta respect me for me to be your boo.
We don't want no scrubs, no we don't approve.
Need a universal role reversal,
In real life not a dress rehearsal.
Gotta resist all the gender roles,
Time to put misogyny on parole,
Put exploitation on probation,
Time for you to witness our liberation!
There's more to life than penetration,
And sexual discrimination.
So tonight we ignite our civil rights,
Resist chauvinism,
Win the fight,
Coz you're livin large just like a montage
Of you and your friends actin' out Entourage.
But we ain't whores to do your household chores,
To make you a sandwich when we're on all fours.
From history to herstory.
Know you got some opinions that we don't agree.
Need to call my sister Joan of A-R-C,
Bake a feminist cake, Antoinette Marie.
Yeah, guys, we got spies,
Know all you wanna do is fertilise,
But avert your eyes from my thighs,
Never tell a bitch that she gotta drop a size.
You wanna box gap? Show me your six pack.
Wanna landing strip? You'd better get ripped.
I apologise if you think my lines are crass,
Tell me how it feels to get verbally harassed.
(Chorus)
This
video is getting a lot of controversy and criticism as well. Here’s my
take. As a feminist, I believe in equality between the sexes. Does
this video represent that idea? No. Because if that were the case,
they wouldn’t need men being scantily clad. That being said, I think
this video is still spot on about how women are represented.
Men
are not and have never been treated the same in media or life as women.
Catcalling seems innocent enough to men. But as a woman, I can’t
stand it. I used to think it was flattering because I had low self
esteem and thought a guy paying me any attention at all was nice. But
now, I think it’s degrading and humiliating. You aren’t paying me a
compliment to who I am, you’re paying me a compliment to what you see.
Men have likely never felt wary of meeting the opposite sex at bars.
Do I think all men are evil and prey on women? Absolutely not. But do
I have enough evidence at my disposal to be wary of men I meet?
Absolutely yes. Men have always been considered the stronger sex,
because they are the ones who have always dictated how things go. I
don’t believe that personally, but I’m short and know by physical
averages most men are taller than me. I could probably fight a guy off
long enough to get away, but I also don’t want to be put into that
situation.
I’m
not saying “Blurred Lines” is an evil song. I’m not saying you should
boycott it. I’m not saying “Defined Lines” is perfect.
What
I am saying is that women are not treated the same way in the world as
men, and that before people blindly listen to music, think about what it
is saying and if this is a song you’d want to hear your children
singing along to some day.
One
might not look at Joss Whedon and think, “Yeah, he is totally a
feminist.” Because by today’s standards (and by today’s standards I mean
society’s standards) feminists are angry radicals who hate men. While
some feminists are angry radicals who hate men, not all of them are.
Feminism is about having equality between men and women, eliminating
gender roles created by society, and establishing proper rights for
women around the world. During high school, I would have balked at the
idea of being a feminist. But now that I’ve grown and become more
educated about the world, I am completely proud to call myself a
feminist.
Joss Whedon has owned part of my soul since I first saw the show Firefly
(it’s a Western, in space. Yeah, mind blown). Now, years later and
several shows and films, he still has a part of my soul and now it is an
even larger portion. One of the things I love so much about Joss
Whedon is his dedication to writing powerful female characters. Firefly
has several female characters, all awesome and all in some way
representative of feminist ideals. Go Joss Whedon, you are a beast.
Zoe
The
Captain’s right hand WOMAN, she is part of the rebel group the
Browncoats and fights to help keep the Alliance from taking over. Even
though the Independence loses, Zoe remains the Captain’s confidant and
his second in command. Zoe is strong, kick-ass, and sassy. She’s
married to the pilot of the Serenity, ‘Wash,’ but this is definitely a
relationship where she wears the pants. And he loves it! In one of the early episodes when the crew is being questioned by the Alliance, he
says, “Have you seen what she wears? Forget about it. Have you ever been
with a warrior woman?” Zoe is known for wearing characteristically
more masculine outfits, and Wash is not only pleased with it but also
enjoys her strength as well.
Kaylee
As
the mechanic of the ship, Kaylee has a job that is typically a male
oriented profession. Not only is she incredibly gifted at it, she
schools men in knowledge of spaceships. At a party, all the guys are
hanging around her asking her questions. And the way she gets the job
in the first place is by owning the guy she’s hooking up with in
knowledge about the ship, and he is supposed to be the mechanic of
Serenity. Kaylee is also the heart of the ship. She’s the warmth and
sweetness of character that accepts everyone and makes the Serenity a
pleasant place to live.
Inara
In
regards to feminism, Inara addresses the idea of female sexuality being
in the hands of the female themselves. Inara is educated and works as a
companion, the futuristic approach of prostitution. While feminism
takes both sides on prostitution, the common denominator is that it is
the woman’s decision because it is her body. The Firefly
aspect of companionship also includes education. Women go to a school
where they learn about sex, but also varying topics so that they can
converse fluently with their clients. An important part of
companionship is also the health factor. Companions are given physicals
every year to keep medically safe, and if a client ever mistreats them,
the companion can have the client blacklisted, so no companion ever
runs the same risk of harm.
River
Shown
to have been essentially kidnapped and then subsequently experimented
on, River’s character is severely damaged from the work done to her.
She was accepted into an elite academy for youth because of her
marvelous intellect. Her incredibly smart brother, who is a doctor
says, “So when I tell you that my little sister makes me look like an
idiot child, I want you to understand my full meaning. River was more
than gifted. She... she was a gift. Everything she did, music, math,
theoretical physics - even-even dance - there was nothing that didn't
come as naturally to her as breathing does to us.” River’s character is
showing the innate strength and smarts that women have, that can come
out if given a good education. Everyone has innate talent that if
nurtured properly can blossom into amazing gifts. Women and especially
young girls can often be dissuaded from pursuing these intellectual
passions by today’s societal goals.
All
of these female characters embody something that feminism works to
promote or achieve. Joss Whedon created these amazing characters. His
other works also feature women of strength and power (i.e. Buffy,
Willow, Winifred, Cordelia, Echo, etc). He likes strong women, and he
resents the lack of strong women as main characters.
Whedon
discussed his daughter and her take on the females of the Avengers, who
were her favorites. Of course they were! Maria Hill and Black Widow are
BAMFs. His newest flick coming out is Much Ado About Nothing. In the
article, he comments on his like of Beatrice as a character and later
realized her power as a feminist. The article can be read here.
As someone who appreciates powerful females in film and knowing there
is at least one male out there who feels the same, fills me with a
little bit of faith in the future of cinema. Much Ado About Nothing is
my favorite Shakespearean work, so I’m beyond excited to see what Joss
has done.
