Misogyny and Media Tropes: An Investigation

“Male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it's all a male fantasy: that you're strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it.

Even pretending you aren't catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you're unseen, pretending you have a life of your own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own [censored].”

Margaret Atwood, poet and author

Is this untrue, though? Because I would argue it isn´t. With very few exceptions, the women celebrated in mainstream media, the women given a voice, even when that voice is used to argue for women's rights, have to check boxes, have to cater to the male fantasy in some way to be heard out.

The Main Character and The Cool Girl

Think of the common stereotype in high school movies. True, the main character in most scenarios is not high in the social hierarchy. But they are undeniably more attractive than those who do, almost like a requirement.

Furthermore, the lack of popularity or social competency is not treated like a flaw- it's more like a quirk, a kind of idiosyncrasy that attracts men, at least desirable men. Interesting, isn´t it, how despite claiming themselves to be ¨unattractive,¨ main characters generally get a lot of male attention? It´s almost like you can make a checklist, for qualities you must have in order for it to be socially acceptable to be unpopular/break some social rules:

a. You MUST be thin, preferably white or light skinned

b. You MUST be conventionally attractive without effort

c. You MUST be desirable to men

And of course, the big redeeming quality that makes them attractive to men: being ¨not like other girls¨. It's been years, but somehow I still can't help but cringe every time a crush confesses to their feelings using the phrase, ¨you´re not like the rest of them.¨ You know, gross girls. Girly girls.

The ones that need to put effort into conforming, the ones that actively try to get male attention. You know, the currency of a girl´s worth is most useful when you don't ask for it.

Furthermore, these girls almost always have some sort of lack in their lives, usually an issue with self-esteem or fitting in. The male romantic interest usually helps, if not completely fills, this hole in their life. Which is great, of course a boyfriend is meant to be supportive.. but this not only oversimplifies a girl´s problems but almost makes it seem as though she needs a man´s permission to be herself.

The main character often enjoys traditionally masculine hobbies such as sports, or intellectual ones such as writing, but almost never enjoys feminine things such as fashion or clothes, interpreting these things as for ¨dumb girls¨ or too try-hard, or even mocking those who do indulge in these things. However, they are not called out for their behavior, instead being treated like a victim of society's expectations.

This is a gross oversimplification of gender roles, completely ignoring the power dynamic that comes with them. In our society, masculine behavior is equivalent to powerful behavior, so a woman that only achieves power through male desire and masculine interests does not really change the underlying issue in our patriarchal society.

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Girly Girl

It's also notable the lack of nuance or complexity in so many of these girls. And no, it's not about their young age, most males in YA do show more realistic, in-depth personalities that don't conform to any one image. But there are only two types of girls in the media that enjoy girly occupations- makeup, clothes, nails- just for fun. The Sweet Dumb Girl and the B*tch.

As I mentioned earlier, the association between femininity and lack of strength is something that is completely baseless, only existing due to the patriarchal connection between masculinity and power. I´m not going to go too much into why this stereotype is harmful because I think you already got the gist of it in the last paragraph.

Image Credit: Janko Ferlic from Unsplash

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl

For those who don´t know, the manic pixie dream girl is a common trope in which a romantic lead is extremely odd or unique, bordering on crazy, yet is loved purely for this reason. Despite being seemingly opposite to the main character trope, I consider these two tropes very similar in terms of foundation. This one is a bit more overt in it´s misogyny, however.

The manic pixie dream girl is careless and causes no harm or stress to the male protagonist. She is never given her own voice, and she is portrayed solely through her lover or friend´s perspective. Her ¨insanity¨ or ¨stupidity¨, despite never being explicitly stated as such, also helps to discredit her, making her less intimidating or emasculating to men.

She is never their competition. However, she is likely very beautiful, which serves to make her oddities seen as empowering rather than obnoxious or disillusioning.

The most concerning aspect of this trope, however, is that her ¨quirks¨, her ¨flaws¨, her non-socially-acceptable characteristics are ONLY acceptable in this scenario because of a man's approval.

Image Credit: Ian Dooley from Unsplash

The Femme Fatale

What about another stereotype? The femme fatale is usually considered a symbol of power, of control. And yet.. and this is pretty much always true for these kinds of characters- they are desirable.

They are usually ridiculously desirable, and attain power through men´s desire. They increase this power by making themselves seem rare or ungettable. Which is fine, you know, you can get power whatever way you want. But I think Emily Ratajkowski (one of the most sought after models in America) said it best in her critically acclaimed novel, My Body

“In my early twenties, it had never occurred to me that the women who gained their power from beauty were indebted to the men whose desire granted them that power in the first place. Those men were the ones in control, not the women the world fawned over. Facing the reality of the dynamics at play would have meant admitting how limited my power really was—how limited any woman’s power is when she survives and even succeeds in the world as a thing to be looked at.”

― Emily Ratajkowski, My Body

Conclusion

Unfortunately, the female experience is the kind of thing that you just can´t simplify. And by approaching feminism using the rules of the patriarchy doesn't actually help us grow- in fact, it just has us falling back into a system that has done nothing but hurt us. True equality isn't achieved by cheap girl-boss movies but by creating a world in which both genders are held accountable for their actions. Thank you for reading, and let me know in the comments what feminist media you love!