There have been several films and television shows that have come out in the last year that have women and men alike conflicted.
Why are we conflicted? We don’t know how to feel about the heroes of the films.
Several that come to mind immediately are Hanna in Hanna, Hit-Girl/Mindy Macready in Kick-Ass, Lisbeth Salander in The Dragon Tattoo series and Emily Thorne in Revenge.
What do all of these women have in common? They are strong, independent, aggressive – and vengeful.
I think the reason some women feel so connected to these characters is because they like how they portray women has strong, feared and able to take matters into their own hands. These women do not get taken advantage of, they do not need someone to take care of them – they are trained and able to handle whatever situation comes before them.
But at the same time – they are vengeful. They live their lives on the run with a lack of close relationships and a hardened outer shell. This is the price they must pay for the life they want to lead: never having to answer to anyone and placing themselves in a prominent place to be feared.
Is that really what women want? Is this how we want to be portrayed in the media? Is that why we feel connected to these women in these movies?
Or what about the classic “Sex and the City”? We each want our group of friends that we can call at any time, eat brunch with, have cool gay friends, buy expensive shoes, dress weird and go to awesome parties. Everyone argues over who is most like Carrie – who has such great perspective on her life and love and relationships. And we don’t NEED men, cause we have each other.
Perhaps you prefer “Cougar Town” since it lets you know that you can get pregnant as a teenager, hit on boys half your age, manage to afford a gorgeous house in California close to your other alcoholic friends and live comfortably selling real estate about once a month all while being best friends with your ex.
And don’t even get me STARTED on "The Bachelor" or "Bachelorette" where it is possible to have more dead than alive brain cells and fall “in love” with someone while trying to build a Hollywood career for yourself by making out in a hot tub.
So we’re either vengeful badasses or shallow hormones that think of little more than men, shoes and drinking.
I would like to suggest a different character that I feel more closely connected to and the reasons why: CJ Cregg from “The West Wing." Sure, this show has been over for a few years – but it is timeless, and a show that many of us come back to time and time again.
Why do I want to be CJ Cregg? She is confident, educated and intelligent. She is not afraid to speak her mind and not afraid of conflict that may come her way. But in all of this she is respectful and elegant. And in turn she is esteemed and one could even say feared in some situations.
Don’t cross her or you’ll get “sucker punched” – not in any literal physical sense, but with her words, intellect, wit and determination. But she is also compassionate; she has such a soft core. She makes the president pardon two turkeys cause she couldn’t bare to kill one of them.
The C.J. Cregg’s are the models that we need in television and films. We should all be running out buying pantsuits, reading the New York Times and getting a political science degree.
Women don’t need to overcompensate for historical oppression and abuse by becoming those very things ourselves. We need to compensate for those things by becoming the beauty we want to see in the world. By becoming women who are intelligent, confident, outspoken and in turn respected.
Vengeance isn’t a good color on anyone.
[This post originally appeared via ThePublicQueue.]
Julia Speck enjoys going on dysfunctional dates so she can blog about them later. She is a passionate activist for the oppressed and vulnerable of society. She is a captive of hope. In people. In love. In the church. In justice. In herself. Follow Julia on Twitter @Spejul.
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