Girls can play too: Why Game of Thrones isn’t sexist


There is an interesting article by Emlyn Roberts-Harry on Screenrobot.com. She eleborates on female nudity and sexism in HBO's TV adaptation of George R. R. Martin's international bestselling series. Here's a teaser:

After accusations that HBO’s Game of Thrones is demeaning to women, one writer argues that the claims are unfounded.

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It’s not all about power, though: Game of Thrones’s success in striking a balance between weakness and strength is what makes its female characters so compelling, and I would argue that it has one of the best female ensembles on TV right now. The usual trap for making a good female character is to make her ‘strong’ and define her solely on her strength, but generic ‘Strong Female Characters’ are boring: it’s the fact that Daenerys is allowed to be weak and frightened when it’s appropriate that makes her so interesting and believable.

This is even more the case for Brienne the Beauty, ridiculed by all the other characters on the show for her plainness and status as a warrior woman. The character was never in danger of being a sex object, but she could easily have become a Strong Female Character, disdainful of men and interested only in fighting. But she’s also a hopeless romantic at heart, utterly devoted to Renly Baratheon and determined to be a true, noble knight in a world where nobility gets you killed. And while she does probably merit the status of damsel in distress when being mauled by a bear, she was only rescued because she allowed herself to bond with a man she had every reason to hate. Again, it’s that emotional vulnerability that makes us believe in her as a character.

So yes, Westeros is a world where women are treated pretty terribly. But that only gives Game of Thrones the opportunity to show their struggles against adversity, which is what leads to interesting drama and engaging characters.

Follow this link to read the full article.

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