Female empowerment or the opposite?
- ciecheesemeister
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Re: Female empowerment or the opposite?
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I agree with your point, I detected the same undertones, every woman was perfect, even in their imperfection. It put too much highlight on the exterior, and while the author was explicitly claiming that there is more to it, by trying to differentiate Zia and Jazz, I didn't feel like it was justified with their actual actions.Karlee Berrios wrote: ↑04 Aug 2021, 11:50 I actually felt like the book had misogynistic undertones throughout. Every single woman was talked about with sexual undertones. Even the future MIL, “Her smooth golden thighs wink from underneath her dusty rose tennis skirt, complete with a white spaghetti-strap shirt”. And Makayla is portrayed as a caricature of a person, as if being successful and still being a good person wasn’t possible for women. To me, this book felt written by someone who sees women as one-dimensional and doesn’t have a very high opinion of them.
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Embracing everything about one self, not just sexuality, is true empowerment.
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I believe so as well. Zia came across as formidable capable, and self-assured in who she is. It's an empowering portrayal to me.
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I actually searched to see if the author was indeed a woman: every female character described was seen through the renowned "male gaze" in my opinion.
On the whole, I really wouldn't define this novel as feminist.
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I agree with your conclusion. Focusing on the female characters' appearance and sex appeal is a clear giveaway that the author doesn't understand what most of us that identify as females consider empowering.Karlee Berrios wrote: ↑04 Aug 2021, 11:50 I actually felt like the book had misogynistic undertones throughout. Every single woman was talked about with sexual undertones. Even the future MIL, “Her smooth golden thighs wink from underneath her dusty rose tennis skirt, complete with a white spaghetti-strap shirt”. And Makayla is portrayed as a caricature of a person, as if being successful and still being a good person wasn’t possible for women. To me, this book felt written by someone who sees women as one-dimensional and doesn’t have a very high opinion of them.
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I dont quite agree. Zia trying anything and everything to make the male character like her does not come across as zia being a strong women. She just feels as if she wants what she wants anyway. And not in a positive way. Even after she notices strange things about her lover she does not let go. Which is not healthy.
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Hi! I think you have a point; the author objectified women although attempted not to. I think the romance genre probably will have sexist and feminist undertones (or outright be part of the book's theme) regardless of the story.Chiwelite O wrote: ↑05 Aug 2021, 18:32 I think the author intended to portray some female characters as strong, ambitious and formidable however, this did not seem to have been achieved as the book could be said to very minor sexist views or a sexist undertone. The description of female characters erroneously left them objectified instead of focusing on the content of their behaviours and characters.
I don't think wearing five-inch heels or mentioning sexy clothing is either stereotype. Personally, I would be terrified of wearing five-inch heels anywhere because of how tall that is for a shoe. (I'm such a clutz I would trip and break my ankle is what that reminded me of when I read about her shoes, not sexism). Also, it does not seem appropriate to wear those shoes to the office but as long as Zia is following office dress code policies, it does not bother me. I do wonder if she is taller than the men working at the office when wearing high heels or if she is a short woman and five inches makes her feel "normal" about her appearance. They never said anything in the story beyond focusing on her race, hairstyle and eyes.
While I could see Bryce's logic regarding how he found her shoe size (she took her shoes off in front of him), it seems odd he would know her dress size unless he saw a tag sticking out and just didn't mention that. It strikes me as stalker behavior or he is just lucky that what he bought fit and she liked it enough to wear the outfit. Is buying that sort of expensive outfit for a first date too much or is it just my opinion? The stereotype of "women like pretty expensive things" might be considered sexist. Zia expecting he wants sex on the first date and he declined is realistic. Some people probably behave that way, I just thought it was foolish to expect something exciting when you barely know someone. It makes it sexist her thinking that is clearly what he wants if he is going to go through so much trouble.
Regarding the characters, I think that there should be some variance between traits in each character but he should have been more thoughtful in the way he expressed additional traits. I think the primary objectification of female characters was that the women who were apparently killed off died quickly and completely helpless. Women are not always helpless (even if they do lose their lives because of sickening circumstances). The fact that people loved reading about a serial killer and helpless victims when it turned out to be non-fiction is the most offensive/sexist part. People are getting joy from reading/wanting to film about their weaknesses/helplessness is almost as sickening as the crimes themselves.