This Twitter Thread Discusses How Rare It Is For Female Characters To Be Disinterested In Men!
A lightbulb moment.
We live in the post-modern era where women are supposed to be equal to men. But alas, the world isn’t quite there yet. Women are still seen as baby-producing machines and asked to stay at home. Crimes against women keep increasing day by day and opportunities for aid and support are inadequate. Women are still treated like the second sex and we’re way behind the points where we expected to be. So, yes, women are still treated as side characters instead of protagonists in their own lives. Alas, much like the real world, the world of movies is also stuck in a place where they aren’t quite treating female characters equally yet. Sounds beyond awful, doesn’t it?
The truth is that the entertainment industry is still male-dominated and so, female characters are used as mere objects to just move the story along for the benefit of the male characters. Even now, they continue to show women as prizes that can be won. Furthermore, there is a massive lack of appreciation for women in movies.
It’s very rare to see female protagonists who are not sharing sideways glances with men, aren’t busy talking about romance or the lack of it, and aren’t hyper-sexualised. Most of us are still waiting for movies where female characters love their bodies and learn to be happy with their unique selves and existence. Why do they always have to look either very cute, sexy or pretty? Literally makes no sense, does it? Things like these are precisely why most movies around the globe still end up miserably failing the Bechdel test.
Also Read: What Is The Bechdel Test And How Does It Evaluate Female Representation In Entertainment?
In fact, let me ask you, how many times have you seen female characters choosing Independence instead of running in for their true love’s kiss? I’d love to see a movie where a woman chooses to be by herself and focus on her career. No kids, no romance and no family-based or societal pressure. It really sounds like a dream, doesn’t it?
Plus, these movies always end up setting up the most toxic standards of love for men and women alike. The whole love-at-first-sight deal with the serendipitous encounter would never really happen. Why do these movies teach men to keep chasing women to woo them and why can’t the female characters just say no for a change? Like, why do they ultimately have to end up falling for each other? This would never happen in real life and it makes us crave a type of romance that doesn’t really occur.
Why are we busy creating archetypical stories for men to follow and ignore the word ‘no’? What about friendship? Why can’t men and women be friends in movies? Nothing really makes sense in the reel life, huh? An astute Twitter thread was recently discussing this issue and the people involved in the conversation all made some truly valid points.
It began with a tweet by @RottenInDemark, who pointed out that we rarely see women in movies are not interested in men.
Female friend mentioned last night how rare it is in movies for a woman to just … not be interested in a man. If it happens it’s almost always treated as an obstacle that he eventually overcomes by wearing her down.
— Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) November 13, 2022
it’s weird because for most people this is what happens with the majority of people you’re romantically interested in! You’re not their type for one reason or another and that never changes. But we see it so rarely in pop culture, a man taking no for an answer.
— Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) November 13, 2022
In response, the user received comments from several men who spoke of being conditioned to think that woman would almost always have to have something going on with a male character. Exhibit A: Shuri and Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. People are already ‘shipping’ them, because why would a woman just have a diplomatic arrangement with a man, right?
I'm a man, and i guess I've been trained for this, because I was wondering if black panther: Wakanda Forever 's Shuri was interested in Namor or M'Baku and I'd it was something they were saving for a later movie
— Eric Robibaro (@robibaroe) November 14, 2022
More people wrote in about how we need movies or plots where there’s no sexual tension between a man and woman and their story evolves on other fronts, but not romantic.
I want more movies with a man and a woman that has no romantic tension whatsoever. No sideways glances, no looking at each other when the other isn't looking, no longing looks, no wistful sighs. It's not a will they or won't they, they just aren't. And they make 0 hints to it.
— AVixenK 💙💛 (@AVixenK) November 14, 2022
Bro this always bothers me so fucking MUCHH 😭😭 I could never describe it. I celebrate so hard when there’s a miracle female character who 1) isn’t about romance & 2) isn’t sexualized. They can only ever manage a 1D tsundere girlboss trope but I’ll take what I can get I guess 💀
— diane 🪦🪸🩻🛢 (@Artemis_Flowers) November 14, 2022
Someone went further and demanded that a female character who doesn’t want kids need not be shown to have had ‘a change of heart’, which is usually the case in movies and shows.
Yup. 💯
Something else I’d like to see normalised in film?
A woman deciding she doesn’t want kids, & for that to be ok.
Instead of being treated as a hideous moral failure, where redemption = “omg how could I have been so wrong, so selfish!”— WWCD (What Would Cthulhu Do?) (@DrHB_au) November 14, 2022
Also Read: The World’s Population Has Hit 8 Billion. Respecting Women’s Choices To Not Have Kids Is More Important Than Ever
https://twitter.com/slayernortyog/status/1592057800624332800?s=46&t=XsZDgr1MtPfNZNek1CTJUA
https://twitter.com/uneek_ness/status/1592248904405618689?s=46&t=XsZDgr1MtPfNZNek1CTJUA
Trying to woo a woman that has no interest in you is a sure path to heartache, and a waste of time.
— Douglas Fraser 🐀 (@middlefraz) November 14, 2022
A tweet that particularly caught my eye was by @SabraMBoyd, who pointed out, using a personal experience, how men perceive this ‘uninterested woman’ as a challenge, and this kind of mindset is responsible for men’s utter lack of understanding that no means no.
A coworker continued pursuing me even after I told him I wasn’t interested. He eventually assaulted me and told me he did it because it was a “love story like Han Solo and Princess Leia.” These are the archetypal stories men use to justify ignoring the word “no”
— Sabra Boyd (@SabraMBoyd) November 13, 2022
I think it’s really this dynamic that the Bechdel test was (satirically) invented to call out
— Max Henke (@maxshenke) November 13, 2022
We base our life experiences off of movies. We all think we will find someone and live happily ever after. That is so unrealistic. Real relationships be forensic files. They always look at the spouse first. We are territorial as people. Couples fight more that gang bangers lol
— Mike (@Randomnbafacts) November 14, 2022
Isn’t it about time that we tear apart the age-old concepts of movie romance and create movies that have an atmosphere or representation, appreciation, reality, equality and of course, entertainment? The world really needs this major makeover, doesn’t it?
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