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annwfynVague ponder.
The “not like the other girls” trope is actually weirdly linked to sexual purity and male control, while desperately pretending to be the reverse. Yes/no?
My answer, by the way, is a sort of ‘maybe, but I might be overthinking it’.
This thought arose, by the way, as I pondered the fact that romantic heroines (from Disney princesses to rom coms to romance novels) used to be framed as virginal. Always. Now, of course, it’s not considered relatable or normal to say “THIS GIRL HAS NOT KNOWN THE TOUCH OF MAN” but instead I’ve noticed as the ‘virgin’ thing faded out (in which the heroine has never been kissed, doesn’t date, lives in a cottage in the woods with her protective parent), what has come in is a trope where the heroine is Just Not Interested. She doesn’t do boys, doesn’t flirt, doesn’t fancy anyone, doesn’t date, but often SHE HAS MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO. It’s not actually necessarily that relevant what that important thing is – it becomes plot relevant some of the time, but often not, and it can be as vague as ‘she loves to read’ or ‘she needs to make sure her father is fed and cared for’ – but what is important is that she definitely isn’t interested in boys, kissing or sex.
In fact, when the hero turns up, she’ll immediately show how uninterested in boys and sex she is. Normally by being stroppy and rude to him, whereas all the OTHER GIRLS have been flirty and silly and worn pink and swooned at him. This is a turn off for the hero, but this girl, who is loudly saying “NO I AM NOT INTERESTED” is much more attractive. Because apparently “no” = romance.
Then the plot happens, and after the film/book/show has spent enough time telling us that the heroine is DEFINITELY NOT INTERESTED IN BOYS she is rewarded with…a boy.
I also note, in these films, it is depressingly common to have a couple of flirty, giggly, very feminine other girls around as a foil to the heroine to show how NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS she is and how AWFUL those pink wearing, romance yearning, boy crazed girls are. Because sexual interest in the opposite sex rots the brain. Nice girls, good girls, smart girls aren’t interested. Unless it’s True Love. Then all bets are off.
And the narrative tries to tell us that this heroine is all about being bold and independent, while simultaneously pointing out that she’s definitely not sexually available, presumably hasn’t been in the past, and so remains pure. She’s independent, except her world consists largely of men (except the shrieking femmes over there) and she relates largely to men (who are still controlling the world) and she ends up as a sidekick/love interest to a man, and therefore doesn’t actually operate outside of male direction and agency. It isn’t universal at all, btw. It’s just a vaguely reoccurring thing that I’m distracting myself with today rather than fretting about my cat.
Examples: Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Ella in Ella Enchanted (she does get to keep doing her IMPORTANT THING at the end of the film), Tiana in the Frog Princess (also gets to keep doing her IMPORTANT THING at the end), Clary Fray in Mortal Instruments (esp the film), Gwen Stacey in Spiderman, Jane Foster in Thor.
The “not like the other girls” trope is actually weirdly linked to sexual purity and male control, while desperately pretending to be the reverse. Yes/no?
My answer, by the way, is a sort of ‘maybe, but I might be overthinking it’.
This thought arose, by the way, as I pondered the fact that romantic heroines (from Disney princesses to rom coms to romance novels) used to be framed as virginal. Always. Now, of course, it’s not considered relatable or normal to say “THIS GIRL HAS NOT KNOWN THE TOUCH OF MAN” but instead I’ve noticed as the ‘virgin’ thing faded out (in which the heroine has never been kissed, doesn’t date, lives in a cottage in the woods with her protective parent), what has come in is a trope where the heroine is Just Not Interested. She doesn’t do boys, doesn’t flirt, doesn’t fancy anyone, doesn’t date, but often SHE HAS MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO. It’s not actually necessarily that relevant what that important thing is – it becomes plot relevant some of the time, but often not, and it can be as vague as ‘she loves to read’ or ‘she needs to make sure her father is fed and cared for’ – but what is important is that she definitely isn’t interested in boys, kissing or sex.
In fact, when the hero turns up, she’ll immediately show how uninterested in boys and sex she is. Normally by being stroppy and rude to him, whereas all the OTHER GIRLS have been flirty and silly and worn pink and swooned at him. This is a turn off for the hero, but this girl, who is loudly saying “NO I AM NOT INTERESTED” is much more attractive. Because apparently “no” = romance.
Then the plot happens, and after the film/book/show has spent enough time telling us that the heroine is DEFINITELY NOT INTERESTED IN BOYS she is rewarded with…a boy.
I also note, in these films, it is depressingly common to have a couple of flirty, giggly, very feminine other girls around as a foil to the heroine to show how NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS she is and how AWFUL those pink wearing, romance yearning, boy crazed girls are. Because sexual interest in the opposite sex rots the brain. Nice girls, good girls, smart girls aren’t interested. Unless it’s True Love. Then all bets are off.
And the narrative tries to tell us that this heroine is all about being bold and independent, while simultaneously pointing out that she’s definitely not sexually available, presumably hasn’t been in the past, and so remains pure. She’s independent, except her world consists largely of men (except the shrieking femmes over there) and she relates largely to men (who are still controlling the world) and she ends up as a sidekick/love interest to a man, and therefore doesn’t actually operate outside of male direction and agency. It isn’t universal at all, btw. It’s just a vaguely reoccurring thing that I’m distracting myself with today rather than fretting about my cat.
Examples: Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Ella in Ella Enchanted (she does get to keep doing her IMPORTANT THING at the end of the film), Tiana in the Frog Princess (also gets to keep doing her IMPORTANT THING at the end), Clary Fray in Mortal Instruments (esp the film), Gwen Stacey in Spiderman, Jane Foster in Thor.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-11 06:00 pm (UTC)Yeah :( I feel the same way about Strong Female Characters whose awesomeness turns out to exist only so that the male main character will look even more amazing when he saves the day.