One of the hard-to-watch aspects of the show is how some of the women are treated. As we were watching episode 2, Princess Daenerys, who had recently been married to a brutish warrior-leader, was obviously being raped by this new husband of hers. They definitely made this clear in the scene--she was crying and clearly didn't want what was happening to her--and I commented on how her husband was obviously raping her.
And then I heard it, Undesirable Myth No. 1: "You can't rape your wife."
It was said by my boyfriend's friend. Of course, this launched me into a thoughtful and measured rebuttle of said myth.
First of all, you can most certainly rape your wife. Just because two people are married does not mean the woman consents to having sex with her husband whenever he wants. Obviously, if she is crying and saying "no," that constitutes rape. Up until the 1970s, marital rape was not considered a criminal act and many men actually did believe "you can't rape your wife." I suppose the logic is something like this: She consented to marrying me, therefore she consented to everything that entails at all times. Fortunately, marital/spousal rape has now been criminalized, largely because rape within marriage is a form of physical abuse which accompanies other abuses. The unfortunate part is that, from his comment, I realized this myth is still floating around.
However, it got me thinking about the feminist aspects of the show. Several issues relating to women or to gender roles are portrayed in the series, and all of these have thus far opened up conversation between my boyfriend and I (or whoever else we watch it with).
In the scenes where a woman is being touched in a sexually unwanted way, her pain and emotion is made quite clear. There is no romanticizing it. Also, the women of the series have quite powerful and important roles--even despite abuse or hardship they are already rising above and show just as much cunning as the men (usually more).
One of the most interesting gender aspects of the show lies with the character Tyrion Lannister, who happens to have the condition of dwarfism. But, as the character bio cleverly states, "What Tyrion lacks in height he makes up in wit." Tyrion is a character who never lets his "disability" hinder him, and he also doesn't over-compensate by being overly macho--he's so interesting to watch. So confident, but never in a fake way. I think that makes him a fantastic male role-model.
Also, there are moments that depict a young man openly worried about his younger brother, and despite the violence in the show (which is actually not as much as I thought) it also shows a comparable number of scenes where men are shown displaying emotions--worry, hurt, familial love (no, i'm not talking about the incest) and regret.
But, the thing that most makes me love this show is the character Arya Stark. She is the youngest daughter of Lord Ned and Lady Catelyn, and she is one fierce, tough girl. She is regularly shown ditching "feminine" activities to upstage the boys, whether it be in archery or fencing. At the end of the third episode, Arya is shown learning from a master how to properly fence, and she actually beats up the young prince at one point.
Although the show can be sexually graphic at times, I consider it a good thing that it tackles some difficult topics like marital rape and unwanted pregancy, as well as disability and how that affects men, or what it's like for little girls wanting to be warriors like the little boys.
To find out more about "Game of Thrones" and the cast of characters, visit HBO.com
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