Commenter

Rin

Date and time

Monday 03 Dec 2012 - 9:53 PM

I am all for getting offended by patriarchal bias in television and media however in this case Giordano was just looking for something to be offended by.

I thought that the episode with the "rape" scene was the best episode of The Walking Dead so far.

Commenter

leahrobertson

Date and time

Tuesday 04 Dec 2012 - 11:04 AM

Given the show's questionable gender politics thus far (didn't the whole thing kick off with a misogynistic rant from Shane in a car? And was Lori not a mixture of every shitty female stereotype under the sun?) and the domestic and sexual violence depicted against Carol and Lori respectively, I'm surprised she was surprised.

Sidenote - was pretty excited by the show *finally* passing the Bechdel test by having Andrea and Michonne kick arse in forests and - shock - talk about survival and stuff, but then sadly, along came the governor..

Commenter

Rin

Date and time

Tuesday 04 Dec 2012 - 12:38 PM

The character of Carol in the show is actually quite strong compared to the comics. In the comics she actually allows herself to be killed by a walker after being rejected by another woman.

In the show she is a woman that over comes domestic abuse and the loss of a child.

The character of Lori on the other hand was at first a grieving widow and Andrea is a civil right attorney.

In America Domestic abuse is rampant and the highest cause of death in pregnant women is murder at the hands of their significant other. There is a lot of social commentary in The Walking Dead and just because something is wrong doesn't mean that they should omit it and pretend it doesn't exist.

The Walking Dead also has a pretty good ratio of male to female characters.

Commenter

leahrobertson

Date and time

Tuesday 04 Dec 2012 - 2:07 PM

Oh, I'm not at all saying this stuff should be omitted. I was pointing out that Giordano should not have been surprised.

I do think, though, that this show/comic holds a particularly unhealthy view of females. Lori has to be one of the worst female characters ever written - she's portrayed, alternately, as a bitch (very first scene), a whore (hooks up with the best mate), irrational, immoral, deferential, a cock-tease..

The domestic abuse stuff was frustrating, too. Carol didn't so much overcome it - she had it overcome for her by a dude, who used brute force as a solution.
I love this show for its excellent gore, but it feels like how a writer in the 50s would imagine the aftermath of an apocalypse - most everyone fits into their traditional gender role. A wasted opportunity. Imagine throwing, say, LaDonna and Toni from Treme in the mix and seeing how things progressed. (They'd destroy the joint.)

Commenter

Rin

Date and time

Tuesday 04 Dec 2012 - 3:24 PM

Still don't quite understand how Lori starting a relationship with Shaun when she fully believed that her husband was dead makes her a whore.

Things that make a woman a whore:

Exchanging sexual relations for financial gain.

Things that are insulting and do nothing for the feminist agenda:

Calling a woman a whore for partaking in a consensual sexual relationship.
Calling a woman a whore in general.

Commenter

leahrobertson

Date and time

Tuesday 04 Dec 2012 - 4:30 PM

@Rin - I said 'portrayed as', not 'is'.

And true, Alyx, a lot of the the male characters (and their macho stereotyping) haven't been much better. I suppose that's a comic thing. I just wanna see *one* woman (aside from Michonne - who's drawn as cold and unfeminine) make a leadership decision, plan an attack, devise a strategy.