dsubject

“Good point, there are instances of sexual abuse towards males in this show (not to mention a ridiculous amount of physical abuse) and the fact that it isn’t mentioned much shows how much more reluctant we are to talk about male sexual abuse!

However, Theon’s maiming was mostly implicit and not sexualized. It was implied when Ramsay was chewing on a phallic shaped meal and when the Greyjoys got the box in the mail. Couldn’t the abuse of women be somehow implied as well? No one wants to see the removal of one’s “manhood” and no one should want to watch rape either.

But I’m also thinking of the scene with Gentry and Melisandre, when she seduces the boy and then leeches him for blood. It is an example of male sexual abuse, but it was also very stereotypical, Gentry even suggests later in the episode that he wanted the sexual encounter. This is also harmful to how we think about male sexual abuse and also deserves attention.

I suppose female sexual abuse gets more attention because according to RAINN, 90 percent of rape victims are female. That’s not to downplay sexual abuse towards males, but to point out that most sexual abuse in America is directed towards women.”

I came across this response and thought I’d say great answer – alongside of the problem of sexualization of violence against women, there are also the continuously reinforced stereotypes regarding sexual violence against men and boys. The concept of the “MILF” is hyper-sexualized – boys/men are expected to like the idea of being taken advantage of by an older woman, though in hindsight it is a form of sexual abuse.

Sexual violence against women does happen, and I understand why television shows may feel they should depict it, in order to stay true to what we have to deal with in real life, however, there are ways to depict rape and sexual violence without sexualizing it. The way GOT depicts rape is highly sexualized and unnecessary. Just as you point out that Theon’s maiming was not sexualized, why must similar violence against women be shown as sexualized?

I think female villains are just as much of a mystery as female superheroes – I feel as though nobody really understands what, exactly, they want in a female character; she is either too sexy, too strong, too broken, too crazy, too boring, too tame, or too loose. It will be interesting to see how Harley Quinn plays out next year in Suicide Squad – it will also be interesting to see how the new Wonder Woman film will play out. With the backlash that Marvel has seen with Black Widow, it seems as though it can go either way.

I feel that women have been misrepresented so much in the media, that we still don’t understand how we want to see women represented in the spotlight, and I feel that this becomes more clear as female protagonists continue to make their way through TV and Film.

Great article!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer explores so many unearthly issues, including the “God crisis”. Buffy is a teenager in search of herself, in search of a higher power, and in search of life’s meaning. She struggles to balance being a 16 year old and saving the world – every moment is a life-or-death struggle; it’s a metaphor for teen angst in itself. Both prom and graduation are correlated with an apocalypse. The show is genius – Whedon intertwines existential crises on a whole other level. I guess that’s why it’s my absolute favourite show of all time.

Great article! I enjoyed the read.