So this is something that's always puzzled me about female characters in entertainment, whatever the media.
Women that I've known, or seen mention the subject online or whatever, tend to heavily gravitate towards the "*****" character of some ensemble cast.
The only example I can think of offhand, though I know there are others that are slipping my mind, is Buttercup from the Power Puff Girls.
When that show was a huge pop culture thing, I would see tons of girls and women who were fans of it. And as a personal curiosity, I started polling them on why they liked the specific character.
And almost without fail, the answer was to the word. "Because she's a *****"
Not "Because she's a strong independent woman" not "Because she's clever and creative, and solves her own problems"
Just "Because she's a *****"
I don't understand this.
I don't really see a parallel of this in male characters, where people like them "Because he's an asshole" or "Because he's a dick" If they happen to like a character that is abrasive, it's usually because of his other traits.
So why the ***** Attraction for women? And to clarify I'm not asking why they are portrayed this way in media, I get that trope and why it's the unfortunate way to portray a female character. But I don't get the appeal to the audience of it. Now granted, this is mostly colored from my personal dislike of asshole/***** characters of either gender, so I might be biased I guess, but I don't see the appeal of liking a character, whoever they are, because of their negative qualities. Unless we mean an Antagonist, liking a badguy because of how bad/evil they are is fine, because you can enjoy a good villain, but to me there is a difference in liking the character, and cheering them on and hoping they succeed.
I mean when you call someone a *****, they usually don't take it very well xD I know in my experience it's always garnered a negative reaction to calling a woman a ***** (even when it was an accurate description of her). So then why do women seem to embrace it? It seems a very strange disconnection to me, and I really don't understand it.
The closest explanation I've heard was basically "because they say what they are thinking, and don't take shit from anyone." Which I guess could be seen as female empowerment? But there are examples of female characters who could fit those qualifications, without being labeled as "a *****".
So why the ***** Attraction?
Thoughts?
Women that I've known, or seen mention the subject online or whatever, tend to heavily gravitate towards the "*****" character of some ensemble cast.
The only example I can think of offhand, though I know there are others that are slipping my mind, is Buttercup from the Power Puff Girls.
When that show was a huge pop culture thing, I would see tons of girls and women who were fans of it. And as a personal curiosity, I started polling them on why they liked the specific character.
And almost without fail, the answer was to the word. "Because she's a *****"
Not "Because she's a strong independent woman" not "Because she's clever and creative, and solves her own problems"
Just "Because she's a *****"
I don't understand this.
I don't really see a parallel of this in male characters, where people like them "Because he's an asshole" or "Because he's a dick" If they happen to like a character that is abrasive, it's usually because of his other traits.
So why the ***** Attraction for women? And to clarify I'm not asking why they are portrayed this way in media, I get that trope and why it's the unfortunate way to portray a female character. But I don't get the appeal to the audience of it. Now granted, this is mostly colored from my personal dislike of asshole/***** characters of either gender, so I might be biased I guess, but I don't see the appeal of liking a character, whoever they are, because of their negative qualities. Unless we mean an Antagonist, liking a badguy because of how bad/evil they are is fine, because you can enjoy a good villain, but to me there is a difference in liking the character, and cheering them on and hoping they succeed.
I mean when you call someone a *****, they usually don't take it very well xD I know in my experience it's always garnered a negative reaction to calling a woman a ***** (even when it was an accurate description of her). So then why do women seem to embrace it? It seems a very strange disconnection to me, and I really don't understand it.
The closest explanation I've heard was basically "because they say what they are thinking, and don't take shit from anyone." Which I guess could be seen as female empowerment? But there are examples of female characters who could fit those qualifications, without being labeled as "a *****".
So why the ***** Attraction?
Thoughts?