Misogynistic Movies, TV Shows, and Video Games

[Drolefille]

Now that show I can actually recommend. Not related to feminism or misogyny though.

And it actually gets better as it goes- the earlier episodes have novice actors but they develop better into their roles as the show goes. And throughout the series, some individual villains are lame, but the main villains are well done. The show doesn't have the biggest budget, because the CW doesn't have a large viewership (although Arrow is quite successful by CW standards), but they work well with their budget.

The fighting choreography is great, imo. The guy that plays Arrow is cool, and for Black Canary who comes in during the season 2 premier, the actress has experience as a professional dancer, martial artist, and stunt double. But even for her, during really intense staff-fighting scenes or acrobatic scenes, they replace her with an elite staff-fighter or a professional acrobat, respectively, to make it about as good as it can get for choreography.

[youtube]F-Wm5lJJX4Q[/youtube]

[youtube]PIAyOkQhUb4[/youtube]

I'm sold. It's on Netflix so I'll be checking it out soon. Also John Barrowman is in it...

 

[Penumbra]

Also John Barrowman is in it...

:Googles John Barrowman::

Yeah he's kind of awesome and important in season 1. He's the Green Arrow's best friend's billionaire father.

 

[Debater Slayer]

WWE as in like, that wrestling thing?

Yes. It's more of a soap opera than a "wrestling" show, if you ask me, but the athletics involved in it would still be nice to watch if it weren't for the consistent misogyny and cliched way women are usually depicted in the show's episodes.

I guess if there was a place I'd expect to be rather on the misogynistic side, it would be pro wrestling.

Why is that? I mean, when the camera moves on to the crowd, there are often many women there, so it seems reasonable to think that the writers should at least try to make the shows less male-centric than they currently are.

 

[Drolefille]

:Googles John Barrowman::

Yeah he's kind of awesome and important in season 1. He's the Green Arrow's best friend's billionaire father.

Yes and you should watch Doctor Who if you don't know who he is.

 

[Penumbra]

Yes. It's more of a soap opera than a "wrestling" show, if you ask me, but the athletics involved in it would still be nice to watch if it weren't for the consistent misogyny and cliched way women are usually depicted in the show's episodes.

I used to watch it once in a while in middle school. I liked the Rock.

Actually I still like the Rock.

Why is that? I mean, when the camera moves on to the crowd, there are often many women there, so it seems reasonable to think that the writers should at least try to make the shows less male-centric than they currently are.

Two thirds of the audience is male, and it has historically been a rather macho thing, has it not?

I have done strength training to supplement my kickboxing and grappling, and over the years have googled a number of topics for research on weightlifting technique or other matters, and for example whenever I find myself in a thread on bodybuilding.com due to a search result, it feels like total Bro Central, with some misogyny and even more homophobia.

From some experience and from some speculation, I just wouldn't expect pro wrestling or other muscular types of activities and entertainment to be among the leading edge of positive portrays of women. I dunno, maybe that's a bit unfair.

 

[Debater Slayer]

I used to watch it once in a while in middle school. I liked the Rock.

Actually I still like the Rock.

Yeah, he's pretty cool.

Speaking of him, this is probably a bit off topic, but I really like this:

[youtube]4JZhGYrgCPg[/youtube]
Hercules Starring The Rock -- Exclusive Trailer - YouTube

He looks so fitting for that role. :yes:

Two thirds of the audience is male, and it has historically been a rather macho thing, has it not?

I have done strength training to supplement my kickboxing and grappling, and over the years have googled a number of topics for research on weightlifting technique or other matters, and for example whenever I find myself in a thread on bodybuilding.com due to a search result, it feels like total Bro Central, with some misogyny and even more homophobia.

From some experience and from some speculation, I just wouldn't expect pro wrestling or other muscular types of activities and entertainment to be among the leading edge of positive portrays of women. I dunno, maybe that's a bit unfair.

Well, that seems to be true for pro-wrestling shows, unfortunately. With storylines involving female performers, the focus seems to be on their appearance, weight, and sexual "scandals" (which are usually written so cheaply as to elicit a specific response from the crowd). So being big, overweight, etc., are viewed as desirable traits for male performers, who are supposed to look big and intimidating, but women are disparaged for having the same traits because of the kind of storylines the writers choose to create for them. There was even an "exposé" segment at one point that underlined this particular tendency to disregard most other things in favor of sexuality when it comes to how they portray women in the show.

I thought the show could change its approach toward portrayals of women because it had changed a lot in other aspects, but I pretty much stopped following it altogether after this segment:

[youtube]WXyfpUsutz0[/youtube]
John Cena and Eve Torres Segment( broski for a hoski) - YouTube

Their top "good guy," who wears a "Rise Above Hate" T-shirt every time he comes out to the ring and is shown as a perfect example of sportsmanship, respect, etc., was apparently told to make extremely misogynistic remarks toward a female performer per the script of the storyline, which seemed cheap and cliched.

I'm not sure if the show has changed since then, but I don't have high hopes that it has and don't really care about checking it out at this point. Well, at least not until whoever is in charge of hiring the writers decides to replace them with someone who can write a segment involving women without mentioning their appearance or supposed "sexual scandals" in every other line.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Lol, I'm actually watching Wrestlemania right now.

I've been a fan of WWE since middle school. I miss the older female wrestlers like Lita, Chyna, Jacqueline and Trish Stratus. Even Molly Holly. (Lol, I miss the Hollies.) Maybe it's because I grew up watching them, but I find the current crop of "Divas" to not be that good or entertaining. Lita, especially, was a very talented wrestler and I don't think many of the current female wrestlers in the WWE quite match up to that.

The women have been sexualized on there for a long time. It's not anything new. But plenty of people sexualize the men on there, too. I know I enjoy looking at the sweaty, nearly naked beefcake and so do many other gay/bi men and straight/bi women. (It actually helped me to discover my sexuality because Jeff Hardy was one of my earliest crushes on a guy.) The problem, to me, isn't so much the sexualization but the lack of in-ring talent that bothers me with the current "Divas". (Plus, calling them "divas" is annoying. They should've kept the Women's Championship as its name.) But it doesn't help that most of their ring attire looks like lingerie now. However, that's not to say that the current crop of female wrestlers on the WWE completely lack talent. Tamina has that aggressive style similar to Chyna. AJ is great at submissions and I rather like Naomi and Kaitlyn.

 

[Flankerl]

but it would be nice to see a Wonder Woman movie that is as well-done as Dark Knight

Quite impossible as Wonder Woman is simply a bad comic character. But its okay because she's an old character and Superman is also a bad character.

On a more positive note, Legend of Korra is great

Apart from her destroying the order of the world and dooming most of humanity. Yeah.
Its now quite the bad place to live in if you arent a bender.

Though i dont want her to represent women. Iam not as stupid as she is.

I think primarily the former is the concern. The show does have more problems than the book, and it COULD be argued that Martin's writing is itself misogynistic, but I think it's more balanced than that.

Uhm two of the three main characters are female. Just saying...

I know Marvel has been discussed and the marketing for Avengers fell into the "boobs and butt" category for Black Widow, but I do have to say that Joss did an excellent job with BW, IMO. She wasn't really a captive - but was using it to her advantage, she wasn't really breaking down in front of Loki - but was using the expectation to her advantage... and the one time she was really NOT in control was with the Hulk, which was kind of the point of his character. I may just be a fangirl though so, take with a grain of salt.

The Avengers is in the Boobs and Butt category?

I would say its in the half naked ripped guys category, like most american superhero movies. Also the most useless superhero in the movie is a guy.

Check out Anita Sarkeesian's Blog

Feminist Frequency

Oh look its the woman that knows nothing about video games and only lives on hate.

 

[Drolefille]

Quite impossible as Wonder Woman is simply a bad comic character. But its okay because she's an old character and Superman is also a bad character.

WW is a pretty interesting character these days. She has more depth than Superman, and although I sympathize I think the Superman hate is overblown.

I do highly recommend Red Son though for an AU Superman.

Uhm two of the three main characters are female. Just saying...

Uhm I'm aware of that. Also when you start a sentence with "Um" you'll notice it comes off as being an ***.

Anyway, I'm not sure what your point is. Bella is the protagonist of Twilight and that's a VERY misogynist book. I don't agree that Martin is a misogynistic writer, but I can see the claim.

The Avengers is in the Boobs and Butt category?

Yes. As in the poster manages to portray Black Widow showing off her boobs and her butt at the same time. Something that most of us with spines and ribs can't pull off easily, if at all. And yet it's required for female superheroes.
This pose:

I highly recommend the Hawkeye Initiative

It takes male characters and puts them in the ridiculous comic poses that female characters are placed in.

Spoilered for risque but not NSFW:

Spoiler: Click

Jim Hines also did a bit on cover poses - and again how silly it looks when it isn't defying physics:
Cover Posing
He even does "male" poses:

Another perspective from a martial artist here:
justsayins - This needs to stop...and let me tell you why!

 

[Penumbra]

Quite impossible as Wonder Woman is simply a bad comic character. But its okay because she's an old character and Superman is also a bad character.

Nah, a good writer can make it happen.

Her animated film was one of the better-received ones out of the series since DC began making them, and her current comic is selling alright. I think her comic is the third highest selling female lead after Batgirl and the new Harley Quinn series.

In the last issue which I read, which was several months ago, she killed Ares and became the new god of war. This whole current series is sort of a game-of-thrones type situation where Zeus is gone and the rest of the Olympians are fighting amongst themselves for the throne, with WW trying to protect the humans that get caught up in their squabbles.

Using the success of the Thor movie as a reference, they could make a good plot for a WW film with a decent writer.

 

[Penumbra]

Yeah, he's pretty cool.

Speaking of him, this is probably a bit off topic, but I really like this:

[youtube]4JZhGYrgCPg[/youtube]
Hercules Starring The Rock -- Exclusive Trailer - YouTube

He looks so fitting for that role. :yes:

The trailer doesn't appeal to me but the Rock is a good pick for Hercules.

I don't even really like his movies, I just think he's cool.

Well, that seems to be true for pro-wrestling shows, unfortunately. With storylines involving female performers, the focus seems to be on their appearance, weight, and sexual "scandals" (which are usually written so cheaply as to elicit a specific response from the crowd). So being big, overweight, etc., are viewed as desirable traits for male performers, who are supposed to look big and intimidating, but women are disparaged for having the same traits because of the kind of storylines the writers choose to create for them. There was even an "exposé" segment at one point that underlined this particular tendency to disregard most other things in favor of sexuality when it comes to how they portray women in the show.

I thought the show could change its approach toward portrayals of women because it had changed a lot in other aspects, but I pretty much stopped following it altogether after this segment:

[youtube]WXyfpUsutz0[/youtube]
John Cena and Eve Torres Segment( broski for a hoski) - YouTube

Their top "good guy," who wears a "Rise Above Hate" T-shirt every time he comes out to the ring and is shown as a perfect example of sportsmanship, respect, etc., was apparently told to make extremely misogynistic remarks toward a female performer per the script of the storyline, which seemed cheap and cliched.

I'm not sure if the show has changed since then, but I don't have high hopes that it has and don't really care about checking it out at this point. Well, at least not until whoever is in charge of hiring the writers decides to replace them with someone who can write a segment involving women without mentioning their appearance or supposed "sexual scandals" in every other line.

Yeah, that's pretty obnoxious.

I just don't really expect all that much from pro wrestling. Not to insult the fans but it's generally just sort of action/drama entertainment with an ongoing endless set of story arcs like a soap opera that viewers can jump into and out of at any time, without a whole lot of intellectual content. That kind of entertainment is fine sometimes, but like I said if they're misogynistic I'm not exactly surprised.

I remember thinking it would be cool to learn how to do aerial moves like the Hardy brothers or other of the more acrobatic wrestlers. They've now got a history of drug abuse, drunk driving, and domestic assault though. I just wouldn't expect a whole lot from most of the wrestlers and the organization as a whole, although some of them like the Rock seem pretty cool in real life too. I'm just not the target audience at all for this sort of thing.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

*SPOILERS*

I saw the new Captain America movie and overall it was amazing. The mysoginistic bit was brief and I don't want to pin the whole movie against it.

But the one scene that made me a bit irritated was during the scene in which Nick Fury died. Cap. America was being the typical strong male character without crying or getting upset. However two of the most ******, hardcore and unfeeling women in the Marvel Universe (Maria Hill and Natalia Romanova) both couldn't help but tear up a little bit in the stereotypical "womanly" reaction to loss and death.

This to me was an example of how even in modern times we have images of "weak" women. Even if those women are supposed to be strong and empowered.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I'm just not the target audience at all for this sort of thing.

Yeah, it's not for everyone. I love it, though. Will probably be a WWE fan until I die.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Yeah, it's not for everyone. I love it, though. Will probably be a WWE fan until I die.

I'll probably be occasionally checking out myself from time to time. I really don't like watching it anymore, unless it's something like a retro or old-school show, but it used to be a big part of my life. I even use to wrestle for awhile, in a former life.
And although not nearly as much, the men are sexualized as well. Shawn Michaels even appeared in Playgirl. There is usually a ladies man sort of gimmick (some more successful than others), and there have been plenty of men in uniforms. But going from Miss Elizabeth, to Sunny, to Lita and Trish, to what they have today shows the womens wrestlers have definitely become very highly objectified.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I'll probably be occasionally checking out myself from time to time. I really don't like watching it anymore, unless it's something like a retro or old-school show, but it used to be a big part of my life. I even use to wrestle for awhile, in a former life.
And although not nearly as much, the men are sexualized as well. Shawn Michaels even appeared in Playgirl. There is usually a ladies man sort of gimmick (some more successful than others), and there have been plenty of men in uniforms. But going from Miss Elizabeth, to Sunny, to Lita and Trish, to what they have today shows the womens wrestlers have definitely become very highly objectified.

I agree with this. I think it changed around the mid-2000s or so and this is reflected in the rebranded of the women's divisions as "Divas". Now they have their own reality show on E!.

 

[Poeticus]

Yeah, it's not for everyone. I love it, though. Will probably be a WWE fan until I die.

Do you remember when Stone Cold
Steve Austin stone cold stunnered
like ten dudes in a row?​

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Do you remember when Stone Cold
Steve Austin stone cold stunnered
like ten dudes in a row?​

Not off the top of my head.

 

[Poeticus]

Not off the top of my head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[youtube]n_r2heFDix8[/youtube]​

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[youtube]n_r2heFDix8[/youtube]​

Sweet! Thanks. I love how JR gets so beside himself in his excitement while offering commentary.

 

[Drolefille]

*SPOILERS*

Spoiler: Captain America 2 spoilers

I saw the new Captain America movie and overall it was amazing. The mysoginistic bit was brief and I don't want to pin the whole movie against it.

But the one scene that made me a bit irritated was during the scene in which Nick Fury died. Cap. America was being the typical strong male character without crying or getting upset. However two of the most ******, hardcore and unfeeling women in the Marvel Universe (Maria Hill and Natalia Romanova) both couldn't help but tear up a little bit in the stereotypical "womanly" reaction to loss and death.

This to me was an example of how even in modern times we have images of "weak" women. Even if those women are supposed to be strong and empowered.

I would add here that this is an example of how patriarchy/misogyny hurts men too. Men SHOULD be able to cry when they're hurting. They DO cry. Portraying Cap as shedding a tear shouldn't be verboten. And then it wouldn't be such a big deal that the women cry too.

It's only because crying is seen as womanly and therefore weak that it's insulting to have women cry, and ONLY women cry.

Spoilered the spoilers for people who don't want to be spoiled