spookyhouse:

widowsting:

on the character of Black Widow and misogyny

When the movie still wasn’t out in theaters, there were a lot of people complaining how Natasha was just going to be “the token girl” and how “useless” she’s going to be and how she’ll just be eyecandy for the male users while the Main Dudes save the day.

Now, the movie’s out and a lot of people were convinced that she was a great asset to the team. Her character was well-written, fleshed out and had depth. She was badass and confident but at the same time, she felt like a real human; she has things that affect her and is obviously troubled by them but she hides that well. She has her strengths and weaknesses. Well done, Joss!

But at the same time people are stillgoing on about how she shouldn’t have been included, how the movie would’ve been better without her and actively leave her out when talking about the movie. They only talk about her boobs or ass or how hot she was, completely stripping her of any other features except the token eye-candy. I honestly cannot explain it to myself in any other way: society has taught us that women are useless, weak, only exist so that guys can have something to look at and exploit, have no distinct characteristics and should let men save them.

Take a look at Hawkeye, for example - he spent most of the movie being possessed by Loki and afterwards had some snarky lines to deliver. Yet people are creaming their pants over him; how awesome he is, etc. Men aren’t prejudiced against, people always like male characters without much thought. But when it comes to women, people always judge first. Is she too weak? Too strong? Too unfeeling? Too feeling? Society has set these impossibly high standards for us to upholds but truth is: we, as women, will never be able to reach them.

In the same vein, Scarlett Johansson has been asked mainly about her tight suit, interview after interview; not about what her character is like or how it’s been developed, no no, she’s a woman who’s wearing a very tight catsuit and obviously that’s her main point. Captain America and Hawkeye also wear very tight suits but they’re rarely asked about them; Thor and Hawkeye show more skin than Natasha does, yet she’s regarded as the “sex object” because her zip is a little unbuttoned and hey guess what! She has boobs!

It’s 2012, the 21st century and misogyny is still rampant; sure, there’s some progress but it’s painstakingly slow. Black Widow is the only (non-powered!) female superhero in a team full of superpowered guys and she still holds her ground. Yet people are ready to hate on her immediately. Because she’s a woman and what is a woman doing in a superhero movie? Don’t you know superheroes are for guys only?

It’s disgusting.