5. If it were handled better, I think I'd like Anita's need for reassurance and how she likes physical contact from people she loves, etc. It would make her seem human, and show that she has vulnerabilities and gets scared and has a heart and all that stuff under the 'tough as nails, no-fear, vampire-killing badass extraordinaire' image she likes to project. But it's not handled well at all. Firstly, the badass image is treated as entirely true. We are constantly told what a flawless (morally and as a fighter) person she is, what a self-sufficient powerhouse who needs no help she is, etc. Yet she also gets to cry, and faint, as a result be held and fawned over by men like a precious delicate flower...but you can bet that if another woman even LOOKS like she's scared or going to shed a tear, she's treated as this inferior twit who is The Reason For Sexism and utterly unlike Super Strong Perfect Anita. There's absolutely zero effort at acknowledging Anita's own weaknesses and making them work together with her strengths to make a whole person; she just has her cake and eats it too, getting all the credit for being SUPER STRONG PERFECT PARAGON WOMAN but also the benefits of attention when she cries/vomits/faints/someone might say something nasty to her.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2013-04-06 10:44 pm (UTC)5. If it were handled better, I think I'd like Anita's need for reassurance and how she likes physical contact from people she loves, etc. It would make her seem human, and show that she has vulnerabilities and gets scared and has a heart and all that stuff under the 'tough as nails, no-fear, vampire-killing badass extraordinaire' image she likes to project. But it's not handled well at all. Firstly, the badass image is treated as entirely true. We are constantly told what a flawless (morally and as a fighter) person she is, what a self-sufficient powerhouse who needs no help she is, etc. Yet she also gets to cry, and faint, as a result be held and fawned over by men like a precious delicate flower...but you can bet that if another woman even LOOKS like she's scared or going to shed a tear, she's treated as this inferior twit who is The Reason For Sexism and utterly unlike Super Strong Perfect Anita. There's absolutely zero effort at acknowledging Anita's own weaknesses and making them work together with her strengths to make a whole person; she just has her cake and eats it too, getting all the credit for being SUPER STRONG PERFECT PARAGON WOMAN but also the benefits of attention when she cries/vomits/faints/someone might say something nasty to her.