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Through the Looking Glass: Male Characters & Sexuality
By Corvus | August 11, 2008
In the comments of my second post on strong female characters and sexuality, Denis put forth an interesting proposition.
One of the problems is that we rarely see males use [sexuality] because we seem to still be of the opinion (or at least the media would have us believe) that women are not as interested in sex as men are–therefore, sexuality is a tool women can use. Perhaps were we able to break from this trend we could see a broader use of sexuality to include men, whereby the use of a female’s sexuality would not seem so out of place.
I think what Denis is trying to say is that male characters aren’t often depicted using the seductive arts to attract a woman’s attention, or influence her behavior. But there are two traps inherent to this argument. The first is that not all female sexuality falls under the umbrella of seduction. To limit female characters’ sexual expression to manipulation of men through the application of, or withholding of, sex is a misogynist representation of women.
Yes, I do mean misogynist. To imply that women exclusively use sex to get what they want from men is a hateful and misguided accusation.
The second fallacy here is that for a man to use his sexuality he must do so overtly through the act of seduction, like we’ve come to expect from female characters. I would argue that there are very few male heroes in the sci-fi/fantasy/action genres that aren’t saturated with an equally misguided stereotypical sexuality–that of universal appeal.
Every woman wants James Bond. Even Dame Densch’s M wasn’t immune to the charms of Pierce Brosnin’s vapid man-whore of a spy. Every woman wants Conan. Oh sure, some of them have to be convinced by his inability to perceive their denials as anything other than playing coy, but they eventually come around. Every woman wants Captain Kirk. It doesn’t matter if they’re alien, human, married, or the childhood loves of his officers–none of them can resist his passionate approach to life and his come-hither eye-light.
The flawed portrayal of male sexuality in this media is the flip side of the coin from the flawed portrayal of female sexuality. Women must dress up, act nice, be tough (but not too tough), strong (but not too strong), be physically flawless, and blond if they hope to attract a man. That’s not all, they also have to work at it. Seduce them, go the extra mile to get their attention. Male characters, on the other hand, most often have to do no work at all. All they need do is settle their eye upon one of the many eager and willing women who breathlessly await their notice.
The bravado, the swagger, the total self assurance–these are all trademarks of the portrayal of male sexuality in these films. I would argue that this is equally as harmful as the portrayal of female sexuality, if not more so. Not just harmful to women either, harmful to women and men.
To see a dramatic interpretation of the sort of male behavior that results from saturation in such media, watch any episode of the first season of Mad Men. It seems almost like a parody that these men assume that any woman they care to notice will want them. They casually degrade any woman who isn’t tall enough, busty enough or thin enough, despite being short, scrawny or hefty themselves. It seems like a parody, but I have been expected to join in a great many conversations just like these over the course of my life. I have watched women react negatively to the arrogant sexual advances and listened as the men, moments after, brag about how impressed she was with them. I have spent more time than I care to think about in the company of men who were raised to believe this is how they need to behave in order to be considered men.
And I honestly don’t think any of them like acting that way any more than I enjoy watching it, or women enjoy being on the receiving end of it. There is a desperation and loneliness inherent in these attempt to live up to a ridiculously inflated self image. Most of them didn’t really believe their self-deception and the ones that did were a sincere danger–if not to the women around them, than to themselves.
So while we discuss the portrayal of women in media, and focus on the harmful portrayals of female sexuality, it’s important to realize that there’s a flip side to this coin. Male characters are being equally poorly portrayed, even if that portrayal makes them appear to be the victors of the “war of the sexes.” Because it shouldn’t be a war. It’s not a war and it’s not a game. It’s a conversation. It’s a partnership. It’s a cooperative venture. Both sexes are being disadvantaged by the dismal portrayal of gender and sexuality in the media.
Why then do we need to focus so predominately on the representation of women in the media, if men are also getting short shrift? Because, to be completely honest, they have received the short end of the cultural stick for generations upon generations. Theirs’ is the greater complaint and the greater harm. Young boys today may be somewhat disadvantaged by the grotesque musculature of male heroes in their media, but if you look at the physical variance of male heroes compared to the physical variance of female heroes, I think you’ll see a much wider range of features among the men. Plus, young men have been culturally encouraged to explore their sexuality, while women are expected to remain chaste until marriage. Men have encouraged to try their hand at any career, while women have been trapped in the role of homemaker and often actively discouraged from pursuing what have traditionally been masculine pursuits.
We start by healing the greatest hurt and righting the gravest wrong. In the process, we’ll learn more about both genders’ sexuality, both genders’ insecurities, both genders’ strengths. We’ll learn our point of commonality and learn to recognize and appreciate our differences. Stay open, stay honest, and great things will come of it.
Tagged:gender, male characters, sex, storytelling. |
August 11th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I do believe you hit the nail on the head, and it makes me wonder if my recent post on finding a lack of any convincing relationships of a romantic nature in videogames may be tied to this. Further food for thought at any rate.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:54 am
There is another angle to this argument as well.
While we do tend to see certain recurring archetypes among characters, since so many of the videogame protagonists seem to be male we tend to have more diversity among male characters.
The problem with female characters is not sex appeal, a little shallowness isn’t going to kill the industry. The problem is a lack of diversity. For every woman portrayed with any depth (I’m not talking cleavage here) there are perhaps a hundred or more that are just tarted up for the sake of ramping up adolescent hormones.
There is no balance in the portrayal of female characters, nor is there a real push to create female characters that a real woman would actually want to play. On the other hand, you do see a real effort to create male characters that men, or at least man-children, will want to play.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
The formula I always fall back on is “women are sex objects, men are success objects.”
That is, I don’t think that a Bond or a Kirk or a Conan do nothing to seduce. They do. They succeed. They’re “the best”. They win. No other man in the room is worthy of being desired or loved, unless maybe it’s the alpha-badguy-hottie. Is that the wrong message to send adolescent boys?
If it is, then I hope they can enjoy Pierce Brosnan in The Tailor of Panama, or Governor Schwarzenegger staying up all night talking to Mercedes Ruehl in Last Action Hero, or the Zoe/Wash relationship in Firefly.
Corvus: enjoyed your post as always. Sorry if I’m off on a tangent.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
@Denis, I firmly believe that truly compelling stories are all about compelling relationships. I’ve talked a lot about that idea and how it impacts game design here on the blog.
@JasonO Absolutely, and it’s not just video games that have this problem.
@caller#6 I don’t think that’s the best message for adolescent boys–particularly since that narrow spectrum of “best” is focused on being the most tough, the most cool, and the most insensitive. What about the smartest, most caring, or best listener? Women don’t just want the best, they want a partner and there are skills involved in being a good partner that have nothing to do with driving your car into a flying helicopter.
And great. Thanks a lot. Now I have to watch Last Action Hero, if for no other reason than you bracketed it with two excellent examples of non-traditional approaches to the genre.
Oh, and for the record–even I’m not immune to Mr. Brosnin’s scampish charms. I just didn’t care for his Bond scripts.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Oops. My sarcasm wound up on the editing room floor.
“Success Object” is exactly the wrong message to send to boys. Wrong and damaging. Or, I should say (both on its own merits and as the obverse of “sex object”) it’s the wrong message to send to humans.
As for Last Action Hero, well, I think it has its clever moments, mostly ruined by layers of re-writes.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
*eltrohc I thought it seemed like an odd question coming from you. I should have realized!