1. McDougall begins her essay with the statement that she hates strong female characters. However, she adds that this might seem odd and says that she loves women character that is portrayed as brave and courageous. This she terms as an odd statement to say because when a woman says something like she hates strong women characters it is always shocking to others. Which is precisely why though Sophia McDougall begins stating how she dislikes strong characters but quickly acknowledges that it might be an odd thing to say because she loves many female characters that show bravery and resilience.
2. McDougall’s dislike for strong female character has a deeper meaning then it looks on the surface. She explains in the later paragraphs how it is always the female character who are especially emphasized to be strong. However, a male character does not carry that description ever. She further explains that a strong female character is emphasized because it is considered that it is exceptional for a woman to be strong since they have usually been viewed as timid and weak. However, a man is always thought to be a superior stronger race, which is why they do not need further emphasis on their strength.
3. Sophia McDougall goes on talking about few characters like the princess in Shrek and Angelina Jolie in Salt who are depicted in ways that shows these women to be stronger than other normal women. Thus these characters are portrayed to prove to be everything, which a normal girl cannot be. The author further writes about the modern day princesses who are all presented in a certain stereotypical depiction who have all mastered the art of self-defense with heavy punches, one liners they go out to march among the group of men around them. That is how they become strong women characters.
4. In the first paragraph the author keeps saying I love and I hate whereas in the last two paragraphs she changes her tone to I want. This signifies the change that she wants to see onscreen. She explains instead of these characters who are either strong or extremely weak, she wants to see women characters that are more realistic. Characters more humane, more complex who are both quiet and shy at the same time capable to fight their own battles. Then the author concludes stating the women characters should not be restricted to only heroes but to every kind of roles like comedians, villains and mentors.
5. Sophia McDougall moves from one paragraph to the other with ease never digressing or moving away from the flow of writing. She connects each paragraph with clever use of words and techniques with the help of which she never loses her sight. At the start of each paragraph she forms the sentence in a way which would complement the structure and thought of the previous paragraph. She ends her first paragraph saying her love for female characters who are humane and brave at the same time. Thereby she begins the next paragraph with “but” indicating the continuation of her thought.
6. The author in her essay refers to the character of George from Enid Blyton’s Fantastic Five. The author says that strong women onscreen mostly have something to prove in life or a mission to execute. This is similar to the character of George from fantastic five who gets angry whenever anyone refers to her real name Georgiana or calls her a woman. She acts and dresses up like a boy and is strong and haughty and goes on adventures. She is like those women who are afraid to own up their feminine side hence to hide that side of them they portray qualities that are traditionally linked with masculinity.
7. Sophia McDougall ends her essay emphasizing on equality, which she wants. She says that equality is not achieved by the way these women characters are portrayed onscreen because that is not what reality is. Abandoning their feminine sides and adopting the manly qualities like strength, ambition, ruthlessness does not bring equality between the genders. Equality would be when the ratio of male and female stars would be 1:1 instead of 3:1. Equality according to the author would be visible when apart from the heroine side characters too would be females. When women would be both strong and weak depending on the circumstance she faces.
Reference
Siegel, L., 2015. Why I defaulted on my student loans. New York Times, p.4.
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