DEAD WOMEN are thematically distinct in fiction from the idea of dead men. The women are assumed were helpless victims whereas men are assumed slain in battle.
Traditionally, when the woman who dies is an important character, she is the true love of the protagonist. She succumbs to a disease or is murdered by the villain. Her death or pending death sets the story in motion either way.
When the man who dies is an important character, it is as the villain paying for his villainy or the hero sacrificing himself to save the day. His end ends the story either way.
When the woman who dies is unimportant, it is typically as the easy victim of a murderous stranger. She may be shown cringing and screaming, even if the violence itself is not actually shown. Her death is eroticized, probably by having her killed while naked or half naked.
When the man who dies is unimportant, it is typically as one of many slaughtered in a confrontation. If not, he is the victim of some threat or accident. His death is to be instead of main characters, villains or heroes.
A man as the true love of the protagonist is only manly if he dies protecting her. He is considered a weakling otherwise, even if the killer can kill most people quite easily.
A woman dying as the villain paying for her villainy is no different than when the antagonist is male, except that sensibilities make her demise tragic for no other reason than she is female. If she is the heroine sacrificing herself to save the day, she is deemed especially heroic.
A man as the easy victim of a murderous stranger is dismissed as a weakling, especially if he is shown cringing and screaming. People are more apt to be amused than horrified, even if the man is supposedly an innocent victim.
A woman as one of many slaughtered in a confrontation is rather unexpected, especially if she is one of the combatants. A nameless woman as the victim of a threat or accident is mourned as a matter of principle, even if she is a baddie.
Why is the idea of women being dead different than men
being dead? How are these imaginary corpses any different as figments of
imagination? SEX! We understand that men wage war and women are often the
spoils of war. With such in mind, we expect the expected combatants to perish.
We expect the expected spoils to be taken alive. We expect our fiction to ring
true accordingly.
Indeed the natural rings true, SEX inspires! As a victim a deceased comely woman is a waste of a natural work of art. It is a shame when the spoils of war are spoiled.
ReplyDeleteYes. It is not a waste when a body no one wants is dead. We are horrified or indifferent on a selfish level.
DeleteSex has always had a particular theme to is and when that theme is thwarted, it comes across as forced. And there are people who go out of their way to force it, knowing full well that they are forcing it.
ReplyDeleteYes, and the fruit they bear is tasteless, no matter its prudish sanctimony.
Delete