Gender Representation In Game Of Thrones: Gender Stereotypes

Gender Representation in Game Of Thrones

Media surrounds an individual in the form of platforms including television, advertisments and film. These are accessible in the majority of places in current culture. As a result it plays a large role in creating social norms, as they are so wide spread. Gender roles exist soley because society as a whole chooses to accept them, however, they can be encouraged by the media. Gender representation in television is an important aspect in encouraging or discouraging these roles. An example of gender roles, in terms of femininty and masculinity, is men who are generally expected to be strong showing little emotion; whilst women are more submissive and are expected to stay at home attending to household

The context in which the show is set is argued to to have an influence on the depiction. It takes place in Medieval Europe, although a fantasy version. Martin detailed on how the book and series reflects the patriachal society, "The Middle Ages were not a time of sexual egalitarianism. It was very classist, dividing people into 3 classes. And they had strong ideas about the role of women." The argument in relation to sexism in Game Of Thrones is not simplistic. The show has been widely critisized for its frequent nudity and sexual violence against women. Despite the critique, some of the strongest characters on the show are female. In the sense that they are often rebelling against the systematic and hegemonic abuse of the society. Brienne of Tarth defies the typical gender roles in the society. When introduced to the series, it is not made immediately obvious what gender Brienne Of Tarth is; she is a skilled swordsmen, having bested Jamie Lannister and self admitted rapist Sendor Clegane, who perfers chainmail to silk. Arya Stark is similar in taking up an interest in sword fighting from a young age and despite later losing most of her family, she is nobodys ' victim. In addition to that, Danerys Targaryean is one of the most iconic characters on the show, who is female. She was first introduced as a victim as she was sold into a warlord 's marriage bed, but however, she ended up outliving him and conquering numerous cities that were previously involved in slave trade. Cersei Lannister is a complex character that also challenges the patriachy. She is incredibly power but being female seems to stand in her way at every turn. She tells Sansa once that she could not understand how when she and Jaime were children, he got to go off and be a knight whilst she was stuck learning how to sing, curtsey and please. It is interesting as to how she responds to this; Cersei