strong vs. empowered

[veronica_rich]

A few years ago, in some discussion in some community, other women and I were discussing the idea that in some circles, a woman not wanting to have children is seen as a rogue, burden, or liability to that society, for not fulfilling her ostensible role. I made a joke about those of us being "a bunch of uppity whores" who wanted to do what we wanted to do, someone else made a few icons out of it, and lo and behold, here you go. /points to avatar on post

Now what people who don't know the story think when they see this icon, I haven't the foggiest. Friends are probably amused, knowing me. But it's the icon I thought of when reading a few things this morning via LJ that enlightened and amused me about how female characters are treated in fiction. philosophercat linked to an essay on the difference between 'power' and 'empowerment', and her commentary echoes most of what I think:

The big idea to take away here is that Powerful Woman does not equal Empowered Woman. I could never quite put my finger on what bothers me about the types of female characters writers have been shoving at us in modern times as exemplars of "strong women." This does so very nicely.

The basic formula that offending writers are following, unknowingly in most cases, is that you can make any female character "strong" by giving her skill with weapons or physical strength. She can be a basketcase so long as she "can totally, like, punch a guy." This falsely equates physical strength with empowerment. Why is this so common? Because it's so EASY. And it seems to work: how many women look at a female character suddenly sprout fighting skills and cheer even though it makes no sense? Do YOU know anyone like this? It's a little confusing to me. This isn't even what happens in real life, except in freak situations that end up as Cracked articles about random people going crazy.

The post also discusses the next step in the process of creating a Strong Female Character: you have to make her "realistic" by slapping on some token weaknesses. So, to compensate for being able to "totally, like, punch a guy" our heroine has a random failing which she never overcomes.

Empowered characters are more difficult to write, but also far more engaging and interesting. They don't always win, they're not always the toughest in the room. I think there's a similar problem with male characters (Rory [from "Doctor Who"] was generally despised until he became an action hero), and certainly it takes different forms for marginalised groups (magical minority characters, for instance). I'd recomend this post as reading for my writerly friends.

And this is the crux of what I tried so hard to say so many times about Elizabeth Swann in the POTC fandom all those years ago, when it felt like I was beating my head against the wall when addressing fellow fans who pitied her or were angry at her husband for her at the end of AWE, but I just couldn't apparently find the words to phrase what I meant: She didn't need to be "saved" from her circumstances, or from Will Turner, by Jack Sparrow or any other character, because she was as responsible for being in them as was her husband. The situation the two of them were in after a certain point didn't allow either a whole lot of self-agency, but they struggled within that to each do what their character dictated, with the knowledge they had. This means Elizabeth did, too, and could easily be imagined continuing to do so after the end of AWE. (Hell, even being imprisoned doesn't mean one can't be empowered; Will may be tied to the Dutchman, but that doesn't strip him of the character that empowers his actions and thoughts. Same with Lizzie.)

Comments

I agree

[gryphons-lair.livejournal.com]

You can't expect a character to be "empowered" by someone else. They need to be empowered by their own self.

Re: I agree

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

That's the definition!

[philosophercat.livejournal.com]

pst, the LJ name thingy is broke.

The illustrations in that article are great too. Looking at my flist, which has a fair number of fan community posts, it seems clear that there's a market for the Powerful Woman out there. I don't really know if the question is "well, it's too much work to write empowered women so let's just write strong women" or if it's that plus "and no one wants see/read about empowered women anyway."

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I'll be interested to see what Hollywood does with the character of Stephanie Plum in the upcoming movie version of "One for the Money." It's based on a series of humorous action-romance novels from Janet Evanovich. Stephanie is a laid-off factory worker in New Jersey who begs for a job from her cousin - who owns a bail bonds office - so she can earn some money. She becomes a bounty hunter, but is horrible with a gun and doesn't even carry one half the time. Sometimes she manages to wrestle down her quarry (who is usually of the non-violent variety), sometimes she needs help from one of the guys she works with or her female ex-prostitute partner, sometimes she gets her ass kicked and the quarry runs off. I like her because she's funny, but she's also an extreme version of the person that any of us who've ever been out of work and desperate becomes in an effort to make ends meet.

[lizzie-omalley.livejournal.com]

Has an aha moment about the behaviors I faced in my students last year. Some of the most physically powerful kids, male or female, were actually some of the least empowered people I'd ever met. And didn't know it. Neither of us, actually, knew it.

Still, it helps going forward.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, I wonder if the physical kick-ass isn't overdeveloped to compensate for not having or feeling control of one's life in one's mind. Food for thought.

[pktaxwench.livejournal.com]

I had this discussion yesterday with my friend Debi... being 'empowered' means having the choice of whether to be a successful accountant (which I was) or being a stay at home mome (which I am). I can be whatever I want... and being a mommy is strangely fulfilling.

I always thought those women who popped out babies were just trying to justify their pathetic existance when they say that.... but being a mommy is awesome. Having the opportunity to wear my pajamas all day is even more so.

Of course, ask me that in about six months, which is the longest I've ever been out of my field (by choice) without going crazy. I wonder how long it will be until I start hearing the seductive call of tax season.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

It's all in how much you're able to choose what you want to do on a larger scale. Daily shit is hard to combat and we don't always get a choice in problems given to us, but an overall life arc should have at least some strong element of "hey, this is what I want to do because I want to, for me."

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I definitely felt that Elizabeth Swann was empowered in PotC 1 (where she was as much of a flawed protagonist as everyone else) but that the moment she becames powerful, as in able to fight with two swords, she actually lost a lot of that. Or maybe that was just my own feeling that we've had the kickass chick so often that I regretted losing the "has to make do with her wits and strength of character" version.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I think she still had wits and strength, but they weren't showcased very well, in the sequels. We really didn't need all that bullshit with her being torn between two men in DMC to ramp up tension; there was plenty already built into the storyline of looking for Will, looking for Jones, figuring out what Jack was trying to hide. Any of that could have been a good use for her wits. (And hell, even kissing Jack at the end to distract him would have been plenty clever without all the "ooh, do I want to sleep with him?" horse poop that came before with the compass).