Earlier today I was on tumblr reblogging things as nerds and fangirls often do. I was then reminded of something I've wanted to write about but had forgotten about. Strong female leads in TV shows. As a female and a feminist I am attracted to media with strong female leads. I'm not saying there aren't problems with how strong female leads are portrayed in books and movies but today I want to talk about television specifically.
As I said I was on tumblr and I reblogged a photoset of a show I'm a pretty big fan of. The image was of promo shots from each season of the show. In the first image the female lead has short hair, folded arms, "natural makeup" (meaning that she looks as if she isn't wearing any), and she is showing absolutely no skin except for her face, neck and part of her hand. In the second season promo her hair is a bit longer, she still has "natural makeup", she is posed sitting casually on her desk, but her top is low cut. Our season three photo has our star with full on pretty wavy hair and makeup, she has on a button down shirt unbuttoned to show quite a lot of sideboob, she is posing back to back with our male lead with their hands out reaching toward the audience because they are handcuffed together. Finally, the fourth season promo more closely resembles a makeup advertisement than a TV show one. She looks like she should be advertising mascara, her makeup is perfect, and her teeth are unnaturally white. The whole ad is heavily photohopped except for our male lead's eye wrinkles, because guys get hotter as they age and women have to have the skin of infants forever or be shamed. How dare we live another year and get older?!
The reason I wanted to write this is because this is not the only show that this happened on. In fact I am watching more than one show right now where this exact same thing has happened. In the beginning they make the female character as masculine as possible so that she can be taken seriously by the audience. Then as the show progresses she's allowed to wear a little makeup, then show some skin, then she will be allowed to have feelings besides "hard", "cold" and "wanting to kick everyone's ass". This is a problem for a multitude of reasons.
First off why do women have to come into the show as masculine to be seen as a strong lead? Secondly, if they decide to downplay the makeup and hair in the first seasons then why not continue to do so? Why does every female lead suddenly turn into a glamour model around season three? It irks me. Does this bother anyone else? Can you think of any shows that don't follow this trope? Buffy is the only one I can think of off the top of my head.
(I intentionally did not specify the show because it doesn't matter what show it is, it matters that we recognize that this is a problematic trope.)
As I said I was on tumblr and I reblogged a photoset of a show I'm a pretty big fan of. The image was of promo shots from each season of the show. In the first image the female lead has short hair, folded arms, "natural makeup" (meaning that she looks as if she isn't wearing any), and she is showing absolutely no skin except for her face, neck and part of her hand. In the second season promo her hair is a bit longer, she still has "natural makeup", she is posed sitting casually on her desk, but her top is low cut. Our season three photo has our star with full on pretty wavy hair and makeup, she has on a button down shirt unbuttoned to show quite a lot of sideboob, she is posing back to back with our male lead with their hands out reaching toward the audience because they are handcuffed together. Finally, the fourth season promo more closely resembles a makeup advertisement than a TV show one. She looks like she should be advertising mascara, her makeup is perfect, and her teeth are unnaturally white. The whole ad is heavily photohopped except for our male lead's eye wrinkles, because guys get hotter as they age and women have to have the skin of infants forever or be shamed. How dare we live another year and get older?!
The reason I wanted to write this is because this is not the only show that this happened on. In fact I am watching more than one show right now where this exact same thing has happened. In the beginning they make the female character as masculine as possible so that she can be taken seriously by the audience. Then as the show progresses she's allowed to wear a little makeup, then show some skin, then she will be allowed to have feelings besides "hard", "cold" and "wanting to kick everyone's ass". This is a problem for a multitude of reasons.
First off why do women have to come into the show as masculine to be seen as a strong lead? Secondly, if they decide to downplay the makeup and hair in the first seasons then why not continue to do so? Why does every female lead suddenly turn into a glamour model around season three? It irks me. Does this bother anyone else? Can you think of any shows that don't follow this trope? Buffy is the only one I can think of off the top of my head.
(I intentionally did not specify the show because it doesn't matter what show it is, it matters that we recognize that this is a problematic trope.)
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