Are Women Better at Representing Women?

'Twilight' has been the most hugely popular vampire series since probably Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ itself. With four books, an apparent spin–off book (which is still in the cans), two movies and millions of dollars, it has managed to create a hype and hysteria. One can argue that it has importantly got teens and tweens into picking up actual copies of books and not just e–versions of it or even waiting for the movie. The books have been a sold out in many places even including the pirated ones.

With all the phenomena that surrounds Twilight, there are enough discourses about its representation of women especially the protagonist Bella Swan. As a Twilight fan myself, I would definitely agree that at many times throughout the four books, Bella is too dependent on her vampire lover Edward’s approval, safety and love. You really wish that for once Bella be smart and take her own decisions. You wish she would be more like Alice or Rosalie two other prominent female leads who have independent streaks, are mean fighters and decision makers in their clan apart from being sexually active.

Feminists and pro women activists have argued much how a woman herself, author Stephanie Meyer, allow her protagonist to be so weak and in constant need of saving. Meyer has justified saying that she definitely sees herself in Bella’s shoes and it’s every woman’s fantasy apparently to be with The One Guy. So if she has written about what she believes is who she wouldn’t mind living as, should other women agree too?

Here let me take you some other women who have been in spots for representing women in pop culture. Everyone who has seen Juno praised the director as well as the writer Diablo Cody for scripting a strong character like Juno. The story in fact is about the pregnant teenager helping her boyfriend through her pregnancy. One could ask here whether Barbara Brocolli’s presence as the producer of James Bond flicks has done anything to salvage the reputation of Bond women. I could say yes.

For one thing, Bond women have been independent, ambitious, at the top of their professions and sexually active too. They do not depend on mushy romances with spy James Bond to define their roles in the movie. The women mean business and they also have fun in bed along with it. So in a pro feminism website, an author feared that since the new Twilight movie, New Moon was being directed by a guy (Chris Weitz), would Bella Swan’s low self esteem fall even lower? Twilight had been directed by a woman, Catherine Hardwicke, and Hardwicke along with actress Kristen Stewart, worked upon improving the character by a notch at the least.

Hardwicke has previously directed the skateboard movie Lords Of Dogtown. It was basically an all guy’s movies that had shades of grey, black and white. It was not just about the art or fun of skateboarding but extended out to the male characters’ emotional, familial, social and sexual struggles. They had greater range of emotions when comparing it to other popular sports based movies. The main male character took care of his druggie mother by winning in skateboarding competitions, while another wanted to win the heart of a girl and fighting cancer at the same time. In a simple story about what seemingly look like a couple of punks, the presence of a female director at the helm did change perspectives a bit.

Most women and men who read chick–lit agree that a woman’s perspective on relationships is more analytical and thought out of about than a male writer’s depiction of the same. Even the character development is different and women tend to get more personal to the readers. Not implying that male writers are in any way inferior in studying human psyche, emotions or relations, but there is just something that gives women an edge. Maybe it is centuries of being unemployed housewives, or being persons with time to mull over life and hence, able to observe their surroundings more.

But as I watch episode after episode of the popular American comedy series ‘How I Met Your Mother’, which is again directed by a woman, Pamela Fryman, I am rethinking my words. One of the main characters, Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), is a die–hard playboy who uses and disposes women. Sex for him is a list of mere numbers of women who have been conned by his outrageous claims to get them in bed. The one character who respects women and is not ashamed of admitting that he lets his wife be the ‘man of the house’, Marshall Erickson (Jason Segel), is a sissy in front of his friends. The two lead female characters however, have been etched strongly but are not immune in playing upto the stereotypes that are reestablished in the show.

Sure popular television has been instrumental in conditioning the young men and women of our society into believing in certain clichés and stereotypes. With women being involved in the same destructive representation of women that men have already been doing, are we really a progressive lot? Ekktaa Kapoor managed to get concepts like marital rape, suppression of women in patriarchies, honour killings etc. in urban and rural households at once, but did she really do all that great? Audiences remember the female villains more than the male ones just because their schemes seemed more devilish and were unbecoming of an obedient wife, sister and daughter as opposed to the lead women.

Where do we go from here? More women or better (albeit fewer) women to lead society and represent it justly apart from providing alternate voices in the mainstream? Let the audience decide!