I don't agree; interestingly, I've just listened to "Focus on the Family"'s archive podreview of The Avengers, as part of an exercise in seeing what the response has been to the "mewling quim" comment across a wide range of media outlets and they don't even mention her presence in the movie, which is, according to them, about "four superheroes".
The reason I don't agree is that we all know that things are not the same for men and women and especially not in comics. That is, a woman in any environment where she is, in any respect, competing with men or even just interacting with them has the shackle on her ankle of on-going workplace sexual harassment and sexual discrimination. Pretending - as a lot of careers advice aimed at women does pretend - that these factors do not exist is an insidious form of victim-blaming since it suggests that the career detriment suffered by women as a result of being sexually harassed and changing their behaviours to avoid sexual harassment is them not being strong minded enough to deal with the problem like a man - when it's not, by and large a problem men have, at least, not in the endemic and systemised way that women experience it. And it's assuming that men who perpetrate it must be doing it because they're clueless and "misunderstand signals" rather than because they've found it's a doubly effective weapon because a) it works on its own terms; and b) it works because the woman is shamed into pretending it doesn't happen.
So by acknowledging the reality of it for Black Widow and having her overcome it and being seen as overcoming it despite the fact that it got to her you get a trebly strong message: a) it happens, it's real and even good guys and not just the designated evil Big Bad will sometimes use it to get their own way; b) if it happens to you, it's OK to let it get to you - that's a normal response, not the "big girls take harassment in stride". c) and you can be even more awesome by doing your job while being validly upset by the harassment.
I thought that was fabulous. Especially the fact that she got him to the point of delivering the "mewling quim" line which was supposed to show her weakness and it was the moment when in fact he'd just given her his.
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Date: 2012-05-08 02:00 pm (UTC)The reason I don't agree is that we all know that things are not the same for men and women and especially not in comics. That is, a woman in any environment where she is, in any respect, competing with men or even just interacting with them has the shackle on her ankle of on-going workplace sexual harassment and sexual discrimination. Pretending - as a lot of careers advice aimed at women does pretend - that these factors do not exist is an insidious form of victim-blaming since it suggests that the career detriment suffered by women as a result of being sexually harassed and changing their behaviours to avoid sexual harassment is them not being strong minded enough to deal with the problem like a man - when it's not, by and large a problem men have, at least, not in the endemic and systemised way that women experience it. And it's assuming that men who perpetrate it must be doing it because they're clueless and "misunderstand signals" rather than because they've found it's a doubly effective weapon because a) it works on its own terms; and b) it works because the woman is shamed into pretending it doesn't happen.
So by acknowledging the reality of it for Black Widow and having her overcome it and being seen as overcoming it despite the fact that it got to her you get a trebly strong message:
a) it happens, it's real and even good guys and not just the designated evil Big Bad will sometimes use it to get their own way;
b) if it happens to you, it's OK to let it get to you - that's a normal response, not the "big girls take harassment in stride".
c) and you can be even more awesome by doing your job while being validly upset by the harassment.
I thought that was fabulous. Especially the fact that she got him to the point of delivering the "mewling quim" line which was supposed to show her weakness and it was the moment when in fact he'd just given her his.