'Strong' is too abstract

Female strength manifests in varied forms. And female characters should reflect that.

My fellow English majors can probably relate.

Women in literature, television and film are just not as “strong” as their male counterparts. However, strong is not good enough.

Women come in all shapes and sizes. Women come from all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Women want many things.

I think the dichotomy between the “real” woman and the “perfect” woman is a dead horse, and I really don’t want to harp on that anymore.

Instead, I see a new problem surfacing.

To counteract the imbalance between real women and women in entertainment, writers, artists, actors, etc., are encouraged to portray strong, independent women.

These girls have six-packs, slug back whiskey and can hang with the guys. They generally have great boobs and wear make-up, although the audience is supposed to believe they have disavowed the confines of their gender.

We’re supposed to believe a smoky eye is natural and will last through car chases across big urban landscapes.  Instead of simply being sexualized, women are oversexualized, and we’re supposed to not care about what anyone thinks.

Women can go on muscle-y adventures, slaying monsters in a tank top.

It’s a step in the right direction, but it still does not fully realize or appreciate the feminine spirit. This new idea of “womanhood” equalizes women by turning them into men. We are not men.

Some women desperately want to get married and have children. Some women are ripped apart by gossip.Some women want to cook and clean. Some women want to go into business.Some women are timid, and others speak their minds.

There are women who do have six-packs, slug back whiskey and can hang with the guys, but I doubt they feel they’re accurately represented.

I still don’t believe mainstream media has managed to portray a “real” woman.

We need to write “strong” women by writing women who embrace who they are, not sexualized characters who throw it away in a lazy show of equality.
The problem isn’t the media’s inability to portray women. It’s their lack of perspective.

­— ewenning@umail.iu.edu
Follow columnist Emma Wenninger on Twitter @EmmaWenninger.