La Femme Nikita makes mainstream cultural criticism

[nell65]

For Reals. I'm reading Susan Douglas's latest Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism's Work is Done (2010, Times Books), and our gal gets several shout outs in the chapter, "Warrior Women in Thongs."

The bulk of the analysis in this chapter is actually for Xena and Buffy -- but Nikita, Max and Sydney get a paragraph each (so do Lara Croft and Charlie's Angles, turn of the millennium flavor.) The argument in the chapter is that these women were at once truly kick-ass, and yet lot was done to make sure that emotionally and in everything but hand to hand combat, hyper feminine and very definitely NOT LIKE MEN.

I haven't finished the whole book yet, but so far I'm enjoying it -- if you know it, it's like the sequel to her book Where the Girls Are about media culture and feminism 1950s-1980s.

Comments

[nell65.livejournal.com]

I think Douglas would point out that, among other things, in Xena's case she wears a double d cup breast plate/boob and waist enhancer and a mini skirt, right up until she wears a bikini, while in the very first episode of LFN Madeline tells Nikita that it is femininity that is her greatest weapon; she is "A woman with your looks who can kill in cold blood." ;-) And, well, Peta Wilson's Nikita was many things - but a classically beautiful woman was/is definitely one of them, and was regularly referenced as one of her most effective tools for disarming men. She also likes decorating, cut flowers, fashion, cats and children.

The point isn't that they aren't great fighters, though, or awesome complex characters who defied (or couldn't have) a traditional female role caring for hearth, home, babies and men, because they are both in every way - but rather that whatever they are, and whatever they are becoming --- the way they are juxtaposed to the men in their respective universes (and this goes for all the shows she was referencing) highlights just how *different* they are from 'men-as-a-class' , even as they acquire the strength to go hand to hand and toe to toe, literally, with the men with whom they do battle.

Which is part of her larger point/argument about 'enlightened sexism' - sure, we have Xena and Nikita and Buffy, and now, Nikita again!, and all the women cops/doctors/lawyers/judges etc.... so, it's okay that we also have 'Girls Gone Wild" and "Sweet Sixteen" and "Jersey Shore" because, see, these are all empowerful choices that girls make, just like Xena did. Yay! Feminism won! Let's all go party!

Only, you know, not.

And that all of this works to hide the actual day to day struggles of regular women who aren't tough cookies at the top of their professions and also beautiful *or* white twenty something girls who take their shirts off just because a penis owner asked them too. That most women in the US need equal pay, better access to health care, reproductive and otherwise, and for those who are mothers (which NONE of these women are!) better childcare options, better schools for their kids, and a way to be mothers that doesn't derail their careers and dramatically decrease their lifetime earnings. And that these are political battles that need to be fought, and aren't being fought because, hey! look over there! We already have Xena!! Buffy! Nikita! Sookie! Paris! Angelina!, or, for those who want a little more substance, Oprah! Hillary! Nancy! Sarah! What more could you possibly want/need?