Women in Game of Thrones

It always kind of disturbed me how the women are treated in Game of Thrones.  As objects really.  As sex toys.  In the show there are countless gratuitous scenes with prostitutes, naked women, and degrading remarks about women.  On the surface, it seems like Game of Thrones is pretty grossly sexist. 

But let's take a step back.  Game of Thrones takes place in a setting that very closely resembles Medieval Europe.  The way women are treated in the show is probably a pretty accurate portrayal of the lives of Medieval women in general.  After all, in those times, women were essentially property, just as they are in Game of Thrones.   Saying that Game of Thrones is sexist is kind of like saying that 12 Years a Slave is racist.  It completely misses the point.

Not that Game of Thrones is expressly trying to spread awareness of the abuse of women or anything like that.  It is still, primarily, just a great fantasy adventure story.  But when it really comes down to it, what saves Game of Thrones from being sexist is that fact that every prominent female character in the story is strong, intelligent, and has such a depth of character that you can't help but empathize with her.

Even a character like Cersei, who I think we all can agree, is a Grade A Bitch, has moments where you really feel sorry for her, and she definitely has reasons for being the way she is.  The scene where the women are hiding in the Red Keep during the Battle of Blackwater and her conversation with Tyrion in the final episode of season three do a great deal to humanize her.  You'd have to be cold as stone not to pity her when she talks about her son Joffrey.  So sad. 

What I really love about the women in Game of Thrones, however, is the fact that they are all strong, and yet all so different.   When I was an adolescent, I read a great deal of fantasy novels, and after a while, it really annoyed me that the only women who were portrayed as "strong" were the ones who completely rejected their traditional feminine roles.  They were the tomboys, the sword-wielding women who dressed in men's clothes and took on a man's role.  When I read Game of Thrones in high school, I was overjoyed to discover Catelyn Stark--a noblewoman who remained completely within the bounds of her traditional gender role, and yet whom no one could deny had nerves of steel, was smart, brave, and fiercely loyal.  How could anyone not respect Lady Stark?  She was the ultimate strong, feminine, dutiful woman.  A true noblelady. 

Catelyn Stark was the one who struck me the most in high school, but after watching the show, I am reminded of how the strong female characters in Game of Thrones really fill the spectrum of possibilities.


You have Cersei Lannister.  She pushes her feminine bounds a little more than Catelyn does, but not much, and her ambitious and independent nature doesn't allow her to accept theses confines as gracefully and dutifully as Lady Stark.  The rage and bitterness of it twists like a knife in her heart. 

Shae and Ros are prostitutes--traditional feminine roles in a sense--but with wiles, wit, cold cunning, and genuine compassion, they win your respect as surely as any lady in the series.

Lady Brienne of Tarth is the closest character to your typical sword-wielding super-woman of many fantasy books, and yet she demonstrates a more sensitive character than most of these.  This sense of her inner vulnerability makes her infinitely more endearing and more real.

Arya Stark is the quintessential tomboy--but with a vengeance.  You have to admire something about an author and an actress who can make a little girl who is charmingly tomboyish and clever, and gradually turn her into a steel-hearted, chubby-cheeked little time-bomb of retribution.  If that girl grows to adulthood, she will be a force to be reckoned with.

Sansa Stark is the closest to being the stereotypical, flaky, helpless, pansy-ass noblewoman: the lovely (but stupid) damsel in distress!  And yet, to Martin's enormous credit, she also develops in a very realistic way.  That moment at the end of season one, where you know she's thinking about pushing Joffrey off the wall...I'm pretty sure everyone was leaning forward with wide-eyed, morbid anticipation, thinking, "Do it, do it, DO IT!!!"  She didn't do it--but I still think that is a watershed moment for her character.  She is no longer the innocent, helpless little girl.  What's awesome about her, is that even though her innocence is crushed repeatedly in horrific ways, she retains her lady-like gentility, and her sense of who she is.  No matter what Joffrey does to her, he never succeeds at crushing her spirit.  What's more--she actually becomes less of a bitch the more she suffers.  She's like a reverse Cersei--no wonder Cersei hates her so much!  (Anyone remember the scene during the Battle of Blackwater, and Cersei, her voice dripping with venomous contempt, saying "You're perfect, aren't you?"  Ooh!  That sent shivers up my spine.) 

Lady Melisandra (aka The Red Woman) probably has the least depth of all the main female characters, but that might be just because we really don't know much about her.  Where did she come from?  How did she become the Priestess of the Red God?  What are her real goals and motivations?  We have no idea.  But I suppose the point of Lady Melisandra, thus far, is to be dark, sinister, and mysterious.  You're not supposed to understand her, and you're definitely not supposed to like her; but she is a powerful woman, none-the-less.  

And of course!  How could this list be complete without Daenerys Targaryen?  She starts out as a blank, passive, horribly repressed little girl, terrified into submission by years of living under the psychotic whims of her brother, and was sold into marriage for his political gains.  Since then, she has been pregnant, widowed, walked through fire unscathed, led her people through the desert on foot, overcome warlocks through sheer audacity and strength of will, sacked several cities, freed thousands of slaves, commands an army of 10,000 elite warriors, has three dragons, and is intent on taking back the Throne of the Seven Kingdoms.  Any questions?

There are, of course, other prominent women that I could talk about--but, let's face it, Game of Thrones has a gajillion characters.  That would take forever.  I just wanted to illustrate my point: yes, the women in Game of Thrones are used and abused in every way possible.  They are all victims of a cruel, dog-eat-dog patriarchal society, but the things they go through take them to very different places.  The beauty of it is that they are all very real people.  You can admire, respect, and to some extent, empathize with pretty much all of them.  Now that is an achievement in story-writing.