The Problem With The Woke Feminism Trope

When characters lack character.

Growing up as a queer person of color, I rarely saw any representation on screen which reflected who I was as a person. But now that some of that representation is here, I’ve seen it fall short too many times. Recently, there has been a surge of what some call “Woke Feminism” not to be confused with “Traditional Feminism” or “Intersectional Feminism”. In my own words, Woke Feminism - in media - is the representation of inately perfect women who exist on the basis of reflecting an ultimate agenda; that women are entitled to respect and success because they are women. To truly understand this phenomena, we must first take a closer look at the word “woke”. Johnny Luk of Al Jazeera.com writes, “In its original use, it meant being alert to the specific discrimination and systemic harm suffered by African Americans.” As you can see, the word “woke” had important implications. Its main focus being to bring awareness to the discrimination against a group of people. Unfortunately, because of overuse of the word, it has taken on a new meaning. Now it comes off as a sort of joke, not to be taken seriously. It’s been used in conversation about SJWs, tokenism, and tropes like the Woke Feminist trope.

Before going further, I should note that my pronouns are she/they. I personally believe that “Gender Identity” is a gray area rather than purely black or white. In this article I will be referring to women as a societal construct as well as what the word means to me (which is much more than just a gender). There are many things I’ve noticed in this increase of female-led blockbusters. The overarching theme? Women have no flaws. Any female identifying person would tell you that this isn’t true. A big part of navigating self are the ups and downs that come with it. So, when I saw films like Mulan and The Force Awakens I was left completely puzzled. They felt unauthentic. 

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Recently, I watched the entire “Star Wars'' franchise from beginning to end. And if I’m honest I didn’t understand the appeal at first, but when I got around to “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Revenge of the Sith,” I was completely enthralled. George Lucas had a way of building worlds which felt as real as they were magical. And his characters, complex. When I heard that Princess Leia was almost cut out from the original film - I was not surprised. There has been an obvious lack of female presenting characters in tv and film. The problem is although more exist on our screens; they have become so superficial, so unrelatable that the women no longer feel like real women. They have become caricatures of what Hollywood thinks we are and want.

I was excited to see the first female Jedi. Instead, I felt detached from her. Personally, I did like Rey in the first few minutes of the movie. She had to work for what little food she could get. She came from the streets, like an Aladdin or Katniss Everdeen character, but instead of going through a series of trials and tribulations, she was without effort, plucked out of her luckless situation. She could pilot the fastest ship in the galaxy, already knew how to mind control, and could effortlessly use a lightsaber without ever having touched one before. Rey is perfect.

And this is the problem. She is what we call a “Mary Sue” (a term used to describe a fictional character, usually female, who is seen as too perfect and almost boring for lack of flaws). If representation is meant to empower girls, what is this telling them? That they should be perfect? That success isn’t earned and that you are entitled to it? Writing unrealistic female characters feeds a narrative that women should be a certain way and if they aren’t, something must be wrong with them. The greatest thing a young girl can hear is she isn’t meant to be perfect. That her flaws are what gives her strength. 

Another example of the “Woke” Feminism train, presents itself in the Hollywood remake of “Charlie’s Angels”. The movie starts off by introducing each character as a certain archetype. Sabina being the humorous type, Elena being the smart one, and Jane being really good at punching people in the face. But the lines begin to blur very quickly. Later on in the film we find out that Jane, the “athletic one”, is also capable of doing the science related things we’d imagine Elena would do. All three angels are also exceptionally good at fighting, even Elena who is supposed to be inexperienced handles herself perfectly fine.

People can possess plenty of attributes, abilities, and hobbies - we know this. But when the only traits presented in the film are reflected in every main character it diminishes each one’s individuality. In this case, a woman’s individuality. The film’s toxic message - all men are evil - all women can do everything. All the women are born with these innate abilities. All the male characters are sexist, villain archetypes and the only two men that aren’t portrayed this way have subservient roles in service of the women. When the only hurdle a character has is other people, what are they learning? 

There are many more examples of this saturated market in “Ghostbusters” (2016), “Batwoman” (CW), “Doctor Who”, and even Disney’s new “She-Hulk”. These characters (although superheros) do not feel real. Even Wonder Woman, who is a demi-god, was knocked off her feet a few times. She evolved into the person she is through harsh training and tough love. What makes the first Wonder Woman film and others like it so great is best quoted by Youtuber, Baggage Claim, “They don’t feel threatened by the men around them, instead they form bonds with them and work with them shoulder to shoulder (as equals). And their own power is not diminished in comparison. They are not here to destroy the patriarchy, they’re here to do what’s right.” If you think of fictional characters which have truly affected you, I can almost guarantee that they had depth, they made you laugh or cry. Something all these “woke” shows share is that they lack emotion. It is all just a missed opportunity. 

Creating female characters that feel real is not difficult. There are plenty of films and shows that do this. Notably - “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Alien”, “The Color Purple”, and my personal favorite “Fried Green Tomatoes.”. A recent film that I was particularly surprised by is Emma Seligman’s “Shiva Baby”.

You wouldn’t think a movie about a young woman, her sugar daddy, and a funeral would be empowering - but it is exactly that. She’s a bisexual, Jewish woman who has to face different aspects of herself through the lens of her anxiety. Throughout the “shiva” she is bombarded by family friends and relatives asking the question many of us know too well, “So what do you plan on doing with your life?” It is the perfect balance of funny, tense, and relatable. Another show worth mentioning is Alena Smith’s TV show “Dickinson”. A comedy-drama based on the real-life poet Emily Dickinson. It puts a modern spin on classic literature without feeling forced or ingenuine. It pushes boundaries and remains honorable. Needless to say, this show made me feel heard. Remarkably I felt understood when often I feel the complete opposite. It’s educational, unapologetically queer, and insanely underrated. 

The show “The Wilds” does a great job of capturing young women too. (Trigger Warning) It touches on subjects like eating disorders, religion, sexuality, and survival. It’s overarching theme being the power of sisterhood. The characters feel like people you know. The plot was intriguing. The girls were flawed, but grew overtime. So of course I was sad to hear that the show was canceled. Unsurprisingly, it met the same fate as its counterparts, other queer inclusive shows like, “Everything Sucks” and “I Am Not Okay with This”. It’s hard to say exactly why great female-led shows keep getting canceled. Is it entirely the fault of streaming companies? Or is it the domino effect Woke Feminism has had on the public. It is only a theory, but it’s possible most people avoid giving these shows a chance because of the less impressive female-centric entertainment they’ve already seen. 

 Saving the art of female characters is incredibly important. And that’s an understatement. Simply looking at our current political climate and the US Senate’s decision to ban abortion rights is proof of this. The media’s power to influence is so strong and we have the potential to control whether this is a positive thing or not. The best thing humans can do is transform and learn from our mistakes, but only then do we become the best version of ourselves. We have this ability to create, so why not use our platforms to promote change? 

“The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.” - Rent (2005)