As a person who is obsessed with
Game of Thrones and can’t wait for the next season, it is defeating to see the
sexist and misogynistic views in which the show portrays women. From the way
Daenerys comes to terms with her inner power and her inner dragon to the way that
she changes the great Khal Drogo, the series sexualizes women and tries to play
it off in a positive light. Many people view the show as empowering women
because it emphasizes the strength and courage that is possessed by Daenerys
and paints her in a positively powerful light. However, they fail to
acknowledge the way she came to recognize that strength and the way in which
she came to terms with her power. In Game of Thrones, Daenerys realizes her
true power only after marrying an important and powerful man. She learns to
stand up to her brother only after she realizes that her brother can no longer
hurt her because she has Khal Drogo’s bloodriders to protect her. It is only
after this that she learns to embrace her status as a Queen and the power that
comes with being the “dragon.” Although later in the series Daenerys gains more
strength and power on her own, after the death of Khal Drogo, the book
originally portrays the strong Daenerys rising as a result of her marriage to
Khal Drogo.
Another instance is when Daenerys
changes the feelings of the all mighty Khal Drogo through the power of sex. The
series illustrates Daenerys using sex as a tool to make Khal Drogo less “animal-like”
and more civilized towards her. At first he only takes her from the back, more
in the show than the book, however, once Dany learns how to properly please a
man she makes him have sex with her face to face. Why does Dany have to use sex
in order to obtain respect from Khal Drogo, her husband? And why is that quickly
overlooked by most of the people who watch GoT?
More upsetting than these instances
of sexism and misogyny are the ways in which the series has tried to downplay
them and use them to further the plot. The scene in the show/book where Dany
forces Drogo to have sex face to face is meant to show the change in their
relationship; it is the moment when Dany manages to soften the Khal Drogo and
change his ways. However, it is overlooked because it was common back in the
time period from which the series is influenced. Many people say it is okay
because it is just part of the world that the is created within the series by
George R. R. Martin. But this does not make it okay. Why is it okay to be
sexist within a fantasy world in a TV show, movie, or book, when it is not okay
in real life?
Daenerys discovering her innate leadership abilities and embracing an authoritative role in relation to her peers through her connection with Khal Drogo—finding the courage to stand up to others with the power she gains from commanding his soldiers, as well as learning to get what she wants from him via intimate manipulation—definitely undermines the idea that she represents a feminist icon. Perhaps even worse, her assumption—one most prominently exhibited by her brother Viserys—that she deserves to rule her contemporaries, particularly Khal Drogo’s technologically primitive people, due to her royal Targaryen bloodline means she presents a figure not of an independent, equivocal queen, but a male-dependent, racially justified dictator. Strength derived from gender- and race-biased sources hardly qualifies as strength at all...and hardly makes for an effective, much less admirable, hero.
ReplyDeleteI am...unsure as to the purpose of this post. You seem to be applying 21st Century Western liberal mores onto a society analogous to several ones from our own world's medieval past. And a fictional one too. I don't think anyone has ever tried to say that what is shown on GoT is something to be copied. Are you trying to suggest that authors shouldn't write about these topics? Why?
ReplyDeleteAs for your 'criticism' that "Daenerys realizes her true power only after marrying an important and powerful man", you do realize that she was only 13 or so when she was married *off* by her own brother, right? Who among us at 13 was so secure in his or her own capabilities as to be able to stand up to a man as virile and dangerous as Khal Drogo? In fact, who among us could even say that we could stand up to him now?
You criticize Daenerys for learning to "stand up to her brother only after she realizes that her brother can no longer hurt her because she has Khal Drogo’s bloodriders to protect her." Do you realize that she was raised by him her whole life? Viserys is her only remaining kinsman, the only one who she could ever trust, and the only one who ever loved her, in his own way, even if, or perhaps especially because he abused her physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Lastly, you ask why Daenerys has to "use sex in order to obtain respect from Khal Drogo, her husband". Again, here you appear to trying to superimpose 21st Century norms onto a medieval, tribal, nomadic culture which clearly does not live in the same way as we do. Romantic Love is, in some ways, an invention of 19th Century Europe. Before then (and even afterwards for a large portion of the West and the rest of the world) marriages were arranged to strengthen alliances– not for the sake of mutual love. Drogo learns to love and cherish Daenerys throughout the course of their relationship. I think this is something worthy of celebration, not disdain.
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