Wynonna Earp: TV for women?Season One of Wynonna Earp was an interesting reversal of traditional gender depictions. Not only is the main character a kick-ass girl who wields an epic gun, she is also a stereotypical gunslinger, which is normally a man. She drinks (a lot), she swears, she is a sexual being, but she also is about family. However, this was not the only interesting diversion, rather it was the depiction and sexualisation of men in the show. The sidekick character of Doc Holliday is just that, a sidekick who does not diminish Wynonna’s strength, the main villain Bobo delivers his epic bad-guy monologue shirtless, there are a series of other men-in-skimpy clothing moments throughout. The show is comedic and very tongue-in-cheek of its treatment of the gender roles, but it is also a great example of how very stereotypical most TV shows are when contrasted to this. An interesting discussion would be to break down Wynonna Earp and compare it to other female lead shows such as Tru Blood, or even to other popular male shows such as Supernatural that deal in the same genre. Otherwise another comparison is to what happened in Season Two where suddenly we are seeing strongly sexualised portrayals of women, but in a largely lesbian manner – is this for the male gaze, or is it actually continuing to subvert gender portrayals? |