Sara Moeniralam
10384022
Dr. E.S. Martens (Thesis Supervisor)
Dr. M-A. Baronian (Second Reader)
MA Film Studies: MA Thesis
University of Amsterdam
29 June 2018
18880 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract 3
Introduction 4
Chapter I: Theoretical Framework 6
Chapter II: Representation of Females and Femininity in Game of Thrones: 16
The Illusion of Progressivism
II.I White Female Multidimensionality and Non-White Female One-dimensionality 18
II.II Progression of the Female Gender and White Race Through the Use of Slavery 26
Chapter III: Representation of Males and Masculinity in Game of Thrones: 31
Eurocentric View on Geographical Masculinity and Toxic Masculinity
III.I. The Validation of Manhood and The Culture of Entitlement 34
III.II Hypersexual Brutes 37
Conclusion 41
Bibliography 44
Appendix 50
2 ABSTRACT
This thesis problematizes the representation of gendered and racial identities within the American hit television fantasy series Game of Thrones. This thesis argues that the series provides a Eurocentric view on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, resulting in the unequal depiction and negative stereotyping of non-White people. This thesis tries to interconnect the concepts of gender and race by using the concepts of intersectionality, (geographical and toxic) masculinity, femininity, Eurocentrism, Orientalism, Whiteness and performativity as key concepts. Many academic texts have been written on Game of Thrones, however when it comes to gender the focus is mainly put on female characters and the debate whether the series can be deemed feminist or not. Masculinity is used as a tool to oppose and compete with femininity, while masculinity, and especially toxic masculinity itself is problematic. Furthermore, Game of Thrones has been researched thorough when discussing Orientalism and race, however interconnecting race and gender with the focus on masculinity and femininity has been done seldom. This thesis analyzes the fictional worlds through the use of discourse analysis and concludes that the series is racist, sexist, and works on White supremacy and White privilege, resulting in the series unequal depiction of non-White people.
Keywords: Postcolonial feminist studies, masculinity, intersectionality, Orientalism, Eurocentrism, Game of Thrones, discourse analysis
3 INTRODUCTION
Since April 2011 HBO has aired the television series Game of Thrones. The series became a worldwide hit and is deemed controversial, because of its content being shocking, vile, unexpected, and cruel (Frankel 2014, Gjelsvik and Schubart 2016, Hassler-Forest 2014). Game of Thrones is a fantasy series set in the Middle Ages and revolves around the Iron Throne. Whoever sits on this throne rules the Seven Kingdoms, making that person the ruler of an entire continent, Westeros. In the series there are two main continents, namely Westeros and Essos. Westeros is presented as the ‘White land’, the fictional Western world, representing the European and British world. The North of Westeros is a cold, snowy and dark place, while the south is a warm sunny place. Essos is a warm dusty place where non-White people live and where the architecture and ornaments reflect a Middle-Eastern world (Hardy 414, 2015). The types of buildings in Westeros, such as castles, towers and pubs use architecture of the Western world, while in Essos pyramid buildings, sand colored stones, bricks and statues use architecture of the Eastern world (Hardy 414). The settings are very distinctive of one another which is amplified by the languages spoken and the music associated with these places. Dan Hassler-Forest claims ‘[…] that the distinction between the ‘normal’ space of the kingdoms of Westeros, as a fantastical hybrid that fuses the British isles with continental Europe, systematically privileges the Eurocentric perspective over its available alternatives’ (23), especially because Essos is seen through the perspectives of White characters. The fantasy world of Game of Thrones resembles and reflects the present geopolitical world. The series lacks in its racial depiction of non-White people, resulting in a Eurocentric view where the Western world is the center, making those customs and cultures dominant.
Richard Dyer discusses the phenomenon of ‘Whiteness’ and claims that ‘As long as race is something only applied to non-white peoples, as long as white people are not racially seen and named, they/we function as a human norm. Other people are raced, we are just people’ (10, 1997). The idea of Whiteness being a norm suggests racial supremacy. Whiteness being seen as ‘neutral’ is a privilege solely for White people, making their race not ‘neutral’ or ‘normal,’ but supreme. White superiority can be challenged by equal representation of people, such as creating series on platforms like HBO, criticizing Whiteness instead of exerting it.
One of the problems of Eurocentrism, is that it reflects a world where White people are presented in positive stereotypes, such as the White hero and White savior/messiah (Hardy, Hassler- Forest, Young 2014). These archetypes reflect strong and fearful men and women who are admired. Multidimensionality of characters is connected to the White race, resulting in an unequal depiction of
4 races, where the non-White race is depicted one-dimensional through the use of negative stereotypes, such as savagery, barbarism, and unintelligence. Hardy addresses Orientalist tropes within television and film of the West. He claims that ‘Through the 20th century film and then television followed this path of presenting a standard set of Arabian fantasy tropes’ and that ‘the result of these generations of Orientalist interpretation is that the Westerner has little trouble associating certain motifs with an imagined Middle East – albeit a likely conflation of Arabic, Ottoman, Persian and Moghul cultures and locations’ (410). This conflation of cultures is problematic, because it results in a generalization of the ‘other.’
In an interview of July 2017 with Time’s Magazine, co-creator David Benioff said ‘This is Medieval times — it might not be our world, but it’s still the same basic power dynamic between men and women in this Medieval world,’ when asked about a controversial rape scene. Benioff and D.B. Weiss emphasize that inequality between men and women should not exist by exercising precisely this inequality to create controversial and horrific incidents where women and men are trying to survive in Game of Thrones. Benioff explains in this interview what their interest was in adapting the book series by George R.R. Martin:
The thing that drew us to George’s books and makes them so relevant whether the time they were written or now is that it’s about people, and power, and the pursuit of power, and how that affects those without power.
Benioff and Weiss conveniently leave the factor of race out when discussing power relations. By discussing gender and race as separate concepts, these concepts are not being interconnected, even though that through gendered identities, racial identities are represented in the series.
Intersectionality is key when drawing connections between social and cultural concepts, such as race and gender. Kimberlé Crenshaw coined this term in the 1980s and identifies herself as a Black feminist, meaning that this term originated in Black feminist studies. Since the concepts of race and gender are perceived separate, it discards the interconnections between them where gender has an effect on race and vice versa. Especially non-White people and females are marginalized, ‘Because of their intersectional identity as both women and of color within discourses that are shaped to respond to one or the other, women of color are marginalized within both’ (1244, 1991). Crenshaw focuses on the social position of the Black female, where intersectionality is key in order to reveal structural racism and sexism. By using the concepts of masculinity, femininity, and intersectionality the gendered identities of characters can be linked to their racial identities. This results in the unequal depiction of races, where the distinction between femininity and masculinity in Game of Thrones is striking within non-White cultures and blurred within White cultures. This thesis considers
5 interconnections between gender and race, by arguing that Game of Thrones (re)produces Eurocentric discourses on femininity and masculinity that sustain stereotypes of – and thus unequal power relations between – the East and the West.
To analyze interconnections between race and gender this thesis provides a discourse analysis of Game of Thrones. Discourse analysis provides analyses where multiple factors are taken into consideration, such as race, gender, stereotypes, setting, clothing and speech. This method is most appropriate for this thesis, because of the focus on several concepts and factors that are interconnected. I will conclude that Game of Thrones works on gender and racial inequality by analyzing a Eurocentric view that is supported by an Orientalist continent. This thesis seeks to fill a gap within Game of Thrones studies, by interconnecting gender and race and revealing the structural racism and sexism, and the illusion of progressivism in Game of Thrones.
This thesis is structured as follows. The first chapter is a theoretical framework where the thesis is positioned in several fields of study, where postcolonial media studies will be the point of departure. The second chapter of this thesis revolves around the representation of females in Game of Thrones where the distinction between females of Westeros and Essos is made by interconnecting gender and race. The focus on multidimensionality, White feminism, one-dimensionality and agency will be key. The third chapter focuses on the representation of males in Game of Thrones, where interconnections between gender and race are researched by analyzing the depiction of geographical masculinity in Essos and Westeros. Multidimensionality, one-dimensionality and toxic masculinity are key.
CHAPTER I
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
My claim that Game of Thrones (re)produces Eurocentric discourses on femininity and masculinity that sustain stereotypes of – and thus unequal power relations between – the East and the West, positions this thesis in several fields of study. My focus will mainly be on the concepts of masculinity, femininity, Eurocentrism and Orientalism, which is why this thesis seeks to be a contribution to postcolonial media studies, as well as masculinity and femininity studies. Apart from those studies, I situate this thesis in postcolonial studies and postcolonial feminist studies. Since this thesis interconnects gender and race, the focus on postcolonial studies is of the essence. I use this field as my starting point and will narrow my focus to postcolonial feminist studies, where the connection
6 between race and gender are most vivid. Lastly I will focus on postcolonial media studies where the genre of fantasy will be discussed.
In the 1970s postcolonial studies became an academic field of study focusing mostly on European and American imperialism and its consequences. This field centers around ‘European master discourses, resistance, identity, representation, agency, gender, and migration’ (Fernandez 59, 1999). The focus on representation of non-White people is what key thinkers Edward Said, Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, among others, conceptualize. Edward Said’s groundbreaking book Orientalism (1978) theorized a perspective often given to the so called Orient. In his introduction he claims that ‘Orientalism expresses and represents that part culturally and even ideologically as a mode of discourse with supporting institutions, vocabulary, scholarship, imagery, doctrines, even colonial bureaucracies and colonial styles’ (2). Orientalism results in the inequality of races and has a severe impact on the depiction of White people and non-White people. In his book Said explains the ideology of colonialism, namely:
Along with all other peoples variously designated as backward, degenerate, uncivilized, and retarded, the Orientals were viewed in a framework constructed out of the biological determinism and moral-political admonishment. The Oriental was linked thus to elements in Western society (delinquents, the insane, women, the poor) having in common an identity best described as lamentably alien (207).
By categorizing and labeling a world as ‘different’ and ‘alien,’ the hegemony, meaning the dominant ideology, of the West is applied. In their book, Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media (1994), Shohat and Stam focus on the depiction of minorities in Western popular culture and argue that Eurocentrism should not be seen as the norm. Shohat and Stam argue what they call ‘a burden of representation’ resulting from ‘the sensitivity around stereotypes and distortions largely arises, then, from the powerlessness of historically marginalized groups to control their own representation’ (182, 184). The subtext of images provide a reading of the hegemony of particular worlds. This hegemony, often Eurocentric, is disturbing since it results in unequal depictions of peoples, societies, and cultures outside of the Western world, meaning that the content produced can maintain or even enhance an Orientalist and Eurocentric view. However, by providing these perspectives, the makers of popular culture can reflect upon Eurocentric worlds by criticizing these perspectives through the use of visual and narrative elements.
Eurocentrism uses the hegemony of the Western world as the center for morals and values. This results in clashing with different parts of the world that do not have a Eurocentric perspective. In other words, because of the differences in morals and values the non-Western world is seen as
7 ‘other.’ Apart from viewing the Eastern world as ‘other’, a Eurocentric perspective also views the East as inferior.
By (re)creating codified images of the ‘superior self’ and ‘inferior other’ stigma’s are held in place, as well as producing stereotypical views on men and women in the Occident (the Western world) and Orient. Thus, the key concepts of Orientalism and Eurocentrism have a problematic effect on the discourses of masculinity and femininity. Even though postcolonial studies include the concept of gender, certain scholars believed that gender was neglected, while other concepts were highlighted. This resulted in the subfield of postcolonial feminist studies in the 1980s. These studies put the focus on female input and agency in the colonization period. According to these scholars mainstream theory on colonialism were actions of men, making colonization a ‘masculine metaphor’ (Pilcher & Whelehan 103, 2016). Reina Lewis and Sara Mills’ work on feminist postcolonial theory argue the same and claim that male scholars, such as ‘Frantz Fanon, Edward Said and Homi Bhabha, their contributions are key, while important work of female scholars are often overlooked’ (1, 2003). Lewis and Mills ‘suggest a different genealogy to contemporary thinking about colonial power and postcolonial relations’ (2), one where the mainstream male perspective is not the only perspective, but creates a platform ‘to racialise mainstream feminist theory and to insert feminist concerns into conceptualisations of colonialism and postcolonialism’ (3).
Intersectionality was missing in postcolonial studies, since gender and race were treated predominantly separate, and became prominent in postcolonial feminist studies. As a leading scholar of critical race theory who is specialized in law, gender and race, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality in her article ‘’Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics’’ (1989) and ‘problematizes the separation between the concepts of race and gender’ (140). In her article ‘’Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color’’ (1991) she considers intersectionality:
[…] a provisional concept linking contemporary politics with postmodern theory. In mapping the intersections of race and gender, the concept does engage dominant assumptions that race and gender are essentially separate categories. By tracing the categories to their intersections, I hope to suggest a methodology that will ultimately disrupt the tendencies to see race and gender as exclusive or separate (1244).
Crenshaw discusses, along with several other scholars, the concept of intersectionality in the article ‘’INTERSECTIONALITY: Mapping the Movements of a Theory’’ (2013), where they claim that this concept is ‘Rooted in Black feminism and Critical Race Theory, intersectionality is a method and a
8 disposition, a heuristic and analytic tool’ (Carbado et al. 303). Furthermore the scholars address both of Crenshaw’s article addressed in this thesis and claim that:
She exposed and sought to dismantle the instantiations of marginalization that operated within institutionalized discourses that legitimized existing power relations (e.g., law); and at the same time, she placed into sharp relief how discourses of resistance (e.g., feminism and antiracism) could themselves function as sites that produced and legitimized marginalization (Carbado et al. 304).
Intersectionality is a key concept in this thesis, since gender and race and their interconnections are the main focus of this research. Especially by addressing feminist readings of popular culture, such as television series, is what this thesis problematizes, since these readings can function as an illusion that is maintaining structural racism through the representation of gendered identities.
This illusion reflects the ‘burden of representation’ addressed by Shohat and Stam, however two other ‘burdens’ create unequal depiction of races and provide Eurocentric views on non-White people as well, namely the White man’s burden and the White woman’s burden. The concept of the White man’s burden originated as a poem written by Rudyard Kipling during the colonial period. During the Philippine-American war Kipling created the poem, conveniently titled ‘’The White Man’s Burden’’ (1899). This concept was created during a time where White supremacy was exercised through imperialism. Kipling believed that the task of White men to educate, care and help the Native peoples was a burden. Jawad Syed and Faiza Ali address Kipling’s concept briefly in their article ‘‘The White Woman’s Burden: From Colonial Civilisation to Third World Development’’ (2013). Syed and Ali claim that ‘[…] Kiplings illustration of the white man’s burden’ depicts ‘[…] other cultures as ‘childlike’ and ‘demonic’’ (349). Syed and Ali introduce the concept of the White woman’s burden and claim that ‘[…] mainstream theories and studies on gender continue to reflect the white woman’s burden, which seems to disparage the identity, voice and contexts of women of colour’ (349). They address the concept of White feminism and conclude that ‘white feminism—a feminism of assimilation, of gentle reform and of strengthening the institutions that are instrumental to economic exploitation and white supremacy, of ignorance and appropriation of the work of feminists of colour—is an oxymoron’ (361).
Akeia Benard addresses the symbolical colonial domination of Black women within popular media and advertising, that result in White feminism in her article ‘’Colonizing Black Female Bodies Within Patriarchal Capitalism: Feminist and Human Rights Perspectives’’ (2016). Benard claims that:
9 Black women are defined by their sexuality and as their sexuality. And thus, in the context of colonialism, the erotic is just another ‘‘exploited’’ resource appropriated for the benefit of the colonizer of women. As in the colonial era, White patriarchal capitalism relies upon the intertwined oppressions of women of color and White women as well as men of color (3).
She argues that ‘The popular image of the hypersexual Black woman arose with and was essential to the creation of the White, marriageable ‘‘lady’’ under colonialism—prostitutes and concubines within the colony who were women of color made White female virginity possible’ (6). The distinction between non-White women and White women is based on power. The concepts of White man’s and White woman’s burden create stereotypes based on White supremacy, resulting in implementing colonial ideas and structural racism into the media.
In feminist studies a shift has occurred in studying masculinity and the toxicity of it, where masculinity itself is problematized and researched. Robyn Longhurst provides a progress report on these concepts within several fields of study in her article ‘’Geography and Gender: Masculinities, Male Identity and Men’’ (2000). She concludes that:
In the past a great deal of the geographical literature on masculinities, men and male identity was published under the rubric of feminist cultural and social geography, and geographies of sexuality. More recently the field is extending beyond these realms into areas such as urban geography, geographies of disability and postcolonial geographies (443).
(Banet-Weiser & Miltner 2015; Connell 2001; Connell & Messerschmidt 2005; Haider 2016; Pascoe 2005; Wantland 2005). In feminist studies the focus is mostly on femininity and is continually linked to masculinity as to why femininity is an issue. However the focus on masculinity itself is one that is needed, because ‘In order to destabilize ‘masculinism’ […] it is necessary to engage not just with femininity but also with masculinity and the relationship between these binary constructs’ (Longhurst 439). In their article ‘’Placing Masculinities and Geography,’’ Longhurt and Lawrence D. Berg argue that we should not speak of a masculinity, but of masculinities, since ‘masculinity is both temporally and geographically contingent’ (352). They define masculinities as ‘[…] highly contingent, unstable, contested spaces within gender relations’ (352). The element of space is of importance, since the factor of race and gender are interconnected. Masculinities are represented not only through gendered identities, but through racial identities as well. Said addresses the geographical distinction in his book and claims that:
10 The boundary notion of East and West, the varying degrees of projected inferiority and strength, the range of work done, the kinds of characteristic features ascribed to the Orient: all these testify to a willed imaginative and geographic division made between East and West, and lived through during many centuries (201).
This Thesis links the concept of geographical masculinity to toxic masculinity by working on the concept of hegemonic masculinity, addressed by Robert Connell & James Messerschmidt in their article ‘‘Hegemonic Masculinity Rethinking the Concept’’ (2005). They argue that ’the concept of hegemonic masculinity, formulated two decades ago, has considerably influenced recent thinking about men, gender, and social hierarchy’ (829). They go on to argue that in the 1980s hegemonic masculinity was considered in terms of ‘gender hierarchies’ and claim that:
Hegemonic masculinity was distinguished from other masculinities, especially subordinated masculinities. Hegemonic masculinity was not assumed to be normal in the statistical sense; only a minority of men might enact it. But it was certainly normative. It embodied the currently most honored way of being a man, it required all other men to position themselves in relation to it, and it ideologically legitimated the global subordination of women to men (832).
Connell argues in his article ‘‘The Big Picture: Masculinities in Recent World History’’ that ‘the models of masculinity familiar in Euro/American discourse simply do not work for the realities of gender in other cultures, so far as these cultures can be reconstructed before colonial or commercial domination by the Euro/American world’ (603). Masculinity and femininity are rooted in society in order to create/portray/visualize differences between men and women. Kimmel discusses (toxic) masculinity and has coined the concept of guyland in his book Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men (2008). Kimmel interviewed approximately 400 American guys, mostly White, from the ages 16 to 26 from 2004 till 2008 (3). Kimmel argues that:
Guyland is the world in which young men live. It is both a stage of life, a liminal undefined time span between adolescence and adulthood that can often stretch for a decade or more, and a place, or rather, a bunch of places where guys gather to be guys with each other, unhassled by the demands of parents, girlfriends, jobs, kids, and the other nuisances of adult life (4).
Toxic masculinity is the extreme performance of traditional masculinity, where validation of manhood is key, resulting in toxic behavior towards the opposite gender, society, politics and men themselves (Kimmel 2008). Toxic masculinity is a performance where men seek to be ‘real’ men,
11 however this behavior is done at the expense of predominantly themselves. It withholds men from being vulnerable, emotional, and happy, since toxic masculinity entails the rejection of feminine traits (Kimmel 45).
John Beynon addresses geographical masculinity in his book Masculinities and Culture (2002). Beynon claims that ‘Studies of masculinity in other cultures are few, but are extremely valuable for the light they throw on masculinity as a cultural phenomenon,’ and ‘[…] that it is too easily assumed that contemporary western masculinity is the universal norm’ (62). This assumption is one that is still relevant today. Geographical masculinity focuses on cultural norms and values, where behavior and thoughts reflect the performativity of the male gender. This performance differs, because of geographical elements, such as cultures and hegemonies. As Butler claims:
Gender is in no way a stable identity or locus of agency from which various acts proceede; rather, it is an identity tenuously constituted in time -an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts. Further, gender is instituted through the stylization of the body and, hence, must be under- stood as the mundane way in which bodily gestures, movements, and enactments of various kinds constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self (519).
Gender is a social construct, resulting in that femininity and masculinity are too social constructs. The repeating of acts that are labeled a particular gender are linked with what Butler calls ‘social temporality’ it is the gender construction of the here and the now, where men and women act a certain way. It is a performance that depends on which era we are in, since it is a ‘stylized repetition’ (519, 520). She argues that:
Gender is made to comply with a model of truth and falsity which not only contradicts its own performative fluidity, but serves a social policy of gender regulation and control. Performing one's gender wrong initiates a set of punishments both obvious and indirect, and performing it well provides the reassurance that there is an essentialism of gender identity after all (528).
In the 1980s another subfield emerged, namely postcolonial media studies. The focus on representation in the media of race and gender is of the essence (Fernandez 66). Concepts of postcolonial scholars are linked to the media, making them relevant in the modern day media landscape. In this subfield several topics such as, identity, ethnicity, stereotypes, colonialization, as well as genres, can be analyzed when considering media representation.
12 The genre of fantasy is of importance in this thesis, since this is the main genre Game of Thrones is labeled as. The fantasy genre is a genre where fantastic worlds are partly based on the real world. This is relevant to Game of Thrones, because of the setting being a historical period that resembles the Middle Ages and having the obvious reference to the East and West by naming the fictional worlds Essos and Westeros (Hardy 2015; Jones 2012; Schubart 2015; Young 2015). In the book Women of Ice and Fire: Gender, Game of Thrones and Multiple Media Engagements by Anne Gjelsvik and Rikke Schubart (2016), Helle Kannik Haastrup claims in her chapter on ‘’Power Play and Family Ties: Hybrid Fantasy, Network Narrative, and Female Characters,’’ that ‘One of the central characteristics of Game of Thrones is that although fantasy is its core genre, it possesses elements of several other genres, as well’ (133). Haastrup uses John G. Cawelti’s concept of ‘literary ‘’formulas’’ where the genres of ‘[…] adventure, romance, mystery, melodrama, and horror’ all involve a ‘[…] moral fantasy, understood as a kind of logic within the fictional universe’ (133). Haastrup argues that ‘In terms of genre and formulas, Game of Thrones presents a diversified and complex generic hybrid in which adventure and melodrama are central, and the fight for power, family, and survival is key’ (134). However, Haastrup argues that because of Game of Thrones being a hybrid of genres, the series presents different formulas than that of Cawelti (134). The series is complex, because of it being categorized into multiple genres, instead of one, creating its own rules and conventions.
The genre of fantasy is, as Helen Young claims in her book Race and Popular Fantasy Literature: Habits of Whiteness, ‘[…] more diverse than generalisations can admit; nonetheless, it works with pseudo-medieval settings and a largely White cast of characters featured in a very large proportion of Fantasy marketed to mainstream audiences for decades’ (64). Young claims that whenever Whiteness is central to the fantasy world they become a ‘[…] habit – convention – through repetition’ (41). Making positive tropes for white people, such as the White savior, possible. Taking into account that this is a fantasy series that takes place in the Middle Ages, does not excuse the lack of diversity when trying to portray a ‘realistic’ historical depiction of that period. The introduction of White Westeros and Brown/Black Essos is problematic, because of the ‘segregation’ between races where White Westeros is the center.
Having positioned the series in postcolonial studies, postcolonial feminist studies and postcolonial media studies, this thesis aims to problematize the Eurocentric view of Game of Thrones by problematizing the representation of gender and racial inequality in Game of Thrones. By using these subfields and through interconnecting gender and race, the gap of intersectional representations within Game of Thrones will be filled, problematizing both the concepts of femininity and masculinity, resulting in the exposure of a Eurocentric view. Through the gendered identity of
13 men and women, masculinity and femininity are maintained to keep not only a fantasy of gender hierarchies alive, but define racial identities as well.
The dominant academic reading of Game of Thrones that address masculinity and femininity focus on the (un-)progressiveness of female characters (Jones; Schubart; Tasker and Steenberg 2016; Eidsvag 2016; Frankel 2014; Hassler-Forest; Larsson 2016; Phillips 2016) whereas when analyzing masculinity the focus is put on male characters’ disabilities (Ellis 2014; Donnelly 2017; Hovey 2015; Lambert 2015). The claim that females can be seen as progressive in Game of Thrones is what scholars like Rebecca Jones, Rikke Schubart, Yvonne Tasker and Lindsay Steenberg nuance, but agree with. They argue that White females in Game of Thrones are represented as progressive, because ‘Game of Thrones is intriguing and atypical, not only for its diverse portrayal of violent women, but also for its acknowledgment of gender hierarchies as a fundamental feature of the fictional world’ (Schubart 171). Schubart argues that:
While Game of Thrones has proved controversial for its portrayal of a pervasive sexual violence and the concomitant devaluing of women, the show persistently and powerfully draws attention to what feminism has long termed the double standard by which women are commodities effectively exchanged by men (171).
Benioff and Weiss create a world where inequality is of the essence, so that powerful and strong female characters can arise, however the use of gender and nudity should not be of the essence for a progressive series, since ‘[…] the show’s nudity is more sexist: Female characters spend too much time stripping in order to manipulate the male characters’ (Frankel 7, 2014). In the genre of fantasy this recurrent image of men being the protagonists and women being secondary characters reflects the male gaze, where female characters are passive and only present for their ’to- be-looked-at-ness’ (Mulvey 4, 1975).
Even though Game of Thrones is a fantasy world, ‘It still connects with our perceptions of history in order to maintain a sense of verisimilitude’ meaning that ‘[…] ideas of gender equality, mutual pleasure, consent, and romantic love color the reception of the sex scenes in Game of Thrones, but also sexual positions, virginity, female and male sexuality, submission and dominations, sex work, and so on’ (Larsson 21). Larsson uses the concept of ‘[…] sexual script theory, which stipulates that sexuality is socially conditioned rather than biologically determined’ (18). Larsson argues that through the depiction of sex(ual) scenes a contemporary understanding from another period of time can be researched with prejudices we have of those times. The problematics of the (violent and sexual) depiction of females in Game of Thrones is that it creates agency and a sense of progressiveness exclusively for White women.
14 In the introduction of their book Rikke Schubart and Anne Gjelsvik claim that ‘The heated debate is not over female characters’ visibility or agency, but instead over how these factors are interwoven with sex, sexualized violence, and nudity’ (7). According to them females have agency, because in Game of Thrones the debate is not on ‘’female autonomy,’’ since both males and females have autonomy (7). Saba Mahmood addresses the concept of agency in her article ‘’Feminist Theory, Agency, and The Liberatory Subject: Some Reflections on The Islamic Revival in Egypt’’ (2006) and considers agency ‘[…] the capacity to realize one’s own interests against the weight of custom, tradition, transcendental will, or other obstacles (whether individual or collective)’ (38). The individual actions one can take and their freedom of choice is an interpretation Mahmood questions, especially when applying this concept to the non-Western world, where she claims that the definition of agency excludes practices of the Eastern, and especially the Islamic World. Mahmood’s interpretation of agency is what this thesis considers agency to be, because even though characters have agency, it differs between White people and non-White people. Agency results in female characters being multidimensional, whereas this is predominately the case for White women. The illusion of agency that is created for non-White people, is that of one-dimensionality. I problematize agency in Game of Thrones by arguing that Non-White male and female characters are not provided the same sort of ‘progressive agency’ that results in their character becoming/being multidimensional.
Timothy Laurie discusses the racial politics of Game of Thrones in his paper ‘’Serialising Gender, Breeding Race: Biopolitics in Game of Thrones’’ (2015). Laurie’s paper is the only published academic text on interconnections between gender and race in Game of Thrones, making this thesis of relevance. In his article he specifies in ‘[…] how sexual violence is incorporated into a narrative about racial reproduction’ (1). Laurie analyzes two main White female characters and their sexual abuse, and concludes that ‘The sexual politics in Game of Thrones is a racial politics’ (6). Laurie argues that there are no mixed race characters in the series, ‘Instead, the program reproduces a now well-worn narrative about globalisation, as a sort of stateless cosmopolitan utopia that is propped up on flimsy cultural archetypes: the European body, the Eastern body’ (6). This thesis addresses the illusion of progressivism that is created by a Eurocentric view and an Orientalist world, where racial supremacy is translated into White feminism.
Masculinity in Game of Thrones is problematized only when connecting it either to femininity or disability. Ellis, Donnelly, Hovey and Lambert write on characters and disability and how the series provides a positive view on disability, instead of stereotypical fantasy characteristics. The authors all discuss one particular character of Game of Thrones, namely Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) a character with dwarfism. Because of this character being portrayed a complex and multidimensional
15 character Game of Thrones refuses to ‘[…] exploit disabled people by presenting them as embodiments of terror and evil’ (Donnelly). Because of complexity and multidimensionality of characters, the concept of structure of sympathy by Murray Smith is of the essence. Smith explains in his article ‘’Altered States: Character and Emotional Response in the Cinema’’ (1994) that ‘As the ultimate "organizer" of the text, the narration is the force that generates recognition, alignment, and allegiance, the basic components of the structure of sympathy’ (35). Murray explains each component of the structure of sympathy, he argues that ‘Recognition describes the spectator's construction of character, the perception of a set of textual elements, in film typically cohering around the image of a body, as an individuated and continuous human agent’ (40). Recognizing yourself in a character can be established regardless of race and gender, however when representing certain worlds and peoples, these are key concepts. Murray argues that alignment creates understanding towards characters and the reasoning behind actions are shown/explained, whereas allegiance ‘[…] pertains to the moral and ideological evaluation of characters by the spectator’ (41). Murray argues that there is no such thing as identifying with a character, however, allegiance can be understood as what we mean when stating that we ‘identify with’ someone, meaning that we can identify with that persons moral and values, behavior, gender, ethnicity (41).
This thesis addresses the concept of masculinity as well as femininity, since masculinity is brought up when discussing femininity, 1 - because of the relationship between these genders and 2 - mainly because masculine behavior is used as a measurement of how feminine a character are. This thesis considers masculinity to be equally as problematic as femininity, by analyzing racial identities in Game of Thrones through the lens of gender.
CHAPTER II
REPRESENTATION OF FEMALES AND FEMININITY IN GAME OF THRONES The Illusion of Progressivism
‘You know I’ve always considered women to be people.’ – George R.R. Martin (Stroumboulopoulos Tonight Show)
The dominant mainstream reading of Game of Thrones is that the series is progressive in their depiction of women and is positively received. Headlines of online articles such as ‘How 'Game Of Thrones' Became One Of The Most Feminist Shows On TV’ (Bustle), ‘Fight Like a Lady: The Promotion of Feminism in Game of Thrones’ (WinterisComing), ‘Drama Queens: Why It’s All About Women and
16 Power on Screen Right Now’ (TheGuardian), ‘My Feminist Opinions Ruined Game of Thrones for My Boyfriend’ (HuffingtonPost), show a progressive and feminist view on the series. These authors share the same perspective Rebecca Jones has on the depiction of female characters, however exclusively for White women. Then again, many critics of the series do not agree with it being progressive, making Game of Thrones a huge subject of discussion.
Academically, the overall reading of the series is not that positive when providing feminist readings. Scholars like Hassler-Forest and Frankel argue that the series is not feminist or progressive, but ‘[…] at the same time, the series makes sure that it caters to progressive tastes and female viewers by including many women characters in non-traditional gender roles’ (Hassler-Forest 26). It is precisely these characters that maintain a viewership of approximately two million female viewers and a massive female online contribution (Frankel 1). Academic sources that argue that Game of Thrones is progressive, focus on female empowerment and agency of White women, since they are the only women that can profit off of their agency (Jones; Schubart; Tasker and Steenberg). As mentioned before the dominant academic reading is that Game of Thrones’ portrayal of women is not as progressive as mainstream media argues, however Rebecca Jones concludes in her article, ‘’A Game of Genders: Comparing Depictions of Empowered Women between A Game of Thrones Novel and Television Series’’ that:
Martin has already established strong and empowered women in his novel, yet in the show adaptation these women have often gained more strength, as fifteen years later he is now catering to a society whose standards for television have changed and is now able to have leading women who are strong, without objectifying them (20).
Jones analyzes five main female characters and concludes that ‘Cersei, Catelyn, Dany, Sansa, and Arya all exhibit different archetypal traits and all face unique trials and obstacles and threats to their positions and power’ (20). When facing these difficult situations, these women are not passive and create a more realistic character by being active. Jones uses literary archetypes and the switch in gender norms in recent years to argue for the portrayal of active female characters. Similar to Jones, Frankel’s book Women in Game of Thrones: Power, Conformity and Resistance, categorizes female characters by literary archetypes and tropes. However, Frankel questions the progressiveness of these characters, since she argues that female characters are still being objectified. The problem with the male gaze is recurrent in the series, where ‘[…] sex scenes are biased towards men and do not appear designed to appeal to women’ and ‘It’s that men are treated as characters and controllers of the scene, while the women range from exploited to ignored barely-people’ (16).
17 George R.R. Martin, the writer of the novels on which the series Game of Thrones is based, answered the question of how he is able to write female characters so well and diverse with the quote this chapter begins with. Martin considers women to be people who are not solely identified by their gender, something David Benioff and D.B. Weiss try to aim for as well (Frankel 1). The writers acknowledge women as people, however they also acknowledge the period these characters live in as it not being ‘our world,’ even though they do have ‘the same basic power dynamic between men and women,’ making it a reflection of the present geopolitical world (Time’s Magazine). With Martin, Benioff and Weiss portraying women as people, the impression can be given that the series is progressive in their representation of women. In this chapter I argue that this is false, because the execution of the series does not reflect female progression.
The dominant academic reading of Game of Thrones within gender and feminist studies is that of White female empowerment, where intersectionality is briefly addressed. Even though intersectionality is addressed, the bigger picture is deemed positive, since there is a case of progressiveness. However, I argue that what is seen as progressive is problematic, since Game of Thrones portrays a world of gender and racial inequality. However, racial inequality between White women and non-White women creates a stepping stone for White women where they thrive off of this inequality, resulting in the illusion of progressivism. White women thriving can be seen as the ‘lesser’ gender ‘progressing,’ however, this progress is exclusively for White women which is why I consider Game of Thrones not progressive at all. White women develop into rulers within Westeros and Essos, which can be seen as progress to abolish gender inequality, however it is because of their race that they have this privilege. The narrative develops in a particular way, making it possible for White women to excel, while non-White women are represented by an Orientalist trope.
In this chapter I argue that the assumed progressiveness of female characters in Game of Thrones is nonexistent, because of the progressiveness being an illusion, since it is created solely for White women (and men), resulting in unequal racial depiction.
II.I WHITE FEMALE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY AND NON-WHITE FEMALE ONE-DIMENSIONALITY
Game of Thrones creates an illusion of progression by depicting White female characters as multidimensional, while using an Orientalist trope when representing non-White female characters, resulting in their one-dimensionality. The factor of race in the representation of gender in Game of Thrones portrays how the series works on gender and racial inequality, by using White privilege as a key factor to the storyline of Game of Thrones. This is supported by implementing a Eurocentric view where the White race is supreme. Even though White women are not equal to White men, they are supreme to non-White people.
18 The series provides opportunities for White women by creating female characters with ‘progressive’ agency and multidimensionality. This privilege is given to White women to excel and create an illusion of progress resulting in White feminism, while non-White women are excluded in their ‘progression.’ In her article ‘’Can the Subaltern Speak,’’ (1988) Gayatri Spivak argues that ‘Between patriarchy and imperialism, subject-constitution and object-formation, the figure of the woman disappears, not into a pristine nothingness, but into a violent shuttling which is the displaced figuration of the 'third-world woman' caught between tradition and modernization’ (102). Non-White women and White women are put against each other, creating ordeals resulting in the victory of White women, such as the quest for power, love, friendship and romance. The reason White women ‘win,’ is because of their characters being ‘advanced,’ meaning that these characters are depicted as smarter, sharper, and better than non-White women. I will analyze how the series creates an illusion of progression for White female characters, by analyzing their multidimensionality, agency, White privilege, and White feminism.
Gjelsvik and Schubart have argued that the question should not be whether or not characters have agency, since men and women are both provided with agency (7). I agree with characters having agency, to a certain extent, however agency of White women and men are supported by the narrative, helping these characters to become dominant characters and resulting in their multidimensionality. Agency of White female characters are women who can be deemed unruly women, a concept by Kathleen Rowe Karlyn. Karlyn lists in her article ‘’Unruly Women’’ (2017) eight traits which make up an unruly woman. Within the series White women are diverse in their portrayal. White women can reject their gender by dressing, acting, behaving and thinking like the opposite gender. These ‘manly’ women do not emphasize their sexuality, which is translated in predominantly their appearance. Their clothing resembles menswear, which does not ‘suit’ their female bodies as ‘well’ as feminine clothes, such as gowns (see figure 1). Several traits of Karlyn’s list apply to these characters, namely:
1. She creates disorder by dominating, or trying to dominate, men. She is unable or unwilling to confine herself to her proper place. 5. She may be androgynous or hermaphroditic, drawing attention to the social construction of gender as a binary category. 8. She is associated with dirt, liminality (thresholds, borders, or margins), and taboo, rendering her above all a figure of ambivalence. She is charged with a kind of power derived from her very refusal to ‘‘fit’’ familiar categories of meaning (28).
These unruly women are perceived as heroes and especially ‘manly’ women are seen as progressive and heroic, since they adopt what Mary Beard calls in her book Women and Power:
19 A Manifesto ‘[..] the androgyne route,’ meaning these women are ‘[…] consciously aping aspects of male rhetoric’ (Beard 39). The fifth trait of Karlyn addresses this ‘route’ as well, where women become ‘manly’ women. Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) is one of these women who adopt this ‘androgyne route.’ In Game of Thrones ‘manly’ women do not shy away from violence and are not afraid to speak their minds, such as the character of Arya Stark. Arya is introduces as a young girl who is a ‘tomboy.’ From the beginning of the series she is compared to her feminine sister, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). Arya is ten years old in the first season and her journey of becoming an adolescent is one different than the rest. The series avoids objectifying Arya, because she is a child who does not identify as a ‘girly girl,’ especially when being compared to her sister. Her body is not one that is emphasized like that of her sisters, because Arya’s performativity reflects that of traditional masculine features, such as her clothing, manners/etiquettes, appearance, and behavior (see figure 1). Noble women generally do not behave like Arya, because of their upbringing, which is why her journey of becoming a woman is one that is not the same as that of feminine women. Arya is an unruly girl that becomes an unruly woman by relying on her masculine traits, while at the same time becoming immune to the male gaze, because of her ‘boyish’ behavior and physique making her not sexually appealing. The only time Arya comes in touch with her feminine side, is when she has a crush on a character who is much older than her at that time. She starts ‘behaving’ like a ’girl’ and realizes this by becoming aware of her ‘irrational’ behavior. The storyline ends quickly, when he rejects her as a potential love interest, by treating her like a little sister and not taking her feelings serious.
The series reject romance for ‘manly’ women, resulting in a stronger ability to reject the male gaze, since these women are not taken serious enough to pursue a romantic relationship with. Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) can be deemed the most masculine woman, since she reject her gender completely, by not wanting to be referred to female (and male) pronouns. The character of Brienne is introduced in a battle between her and a male character. Brienne’s gender is at that moment is unknown, because of her height and armor (see figure 2). It is not until she defeats her opponent that her gender is revealed when showing her face. Brienne is in no way sexualized or objectified, because of her looking and behaving like a man. It is the moment that she is punished for thinking and feeling like woman, by developing feelings for a male characters, that her gender is used against her. The series rejects the idea of Brienne as a character that can have a romantic relationship, because even though she is a multidimensional character, she is not allowed to progress into a gender fluid character. Brienne is either a ‘manly’ woman or no woman at all. An illusion of progression is what the series depicts, by
20 portraying ‘strong manly’ women as characters that cannot escape their female genders, however the series perceives ‘manly’ women more serious, resulting in their storylines becoming more prominent. The series creates characters that thrive off of their agency, making these women strong-willed, active, fearless, and multidimensional, however these women cannot progress as women or men, because they are women behaving like men, while the series does not treat them as men by referring to their female gender, resulting in false progression of characters.
Not only ‘manly’ women rely on their agency and multidimensionality, White feminine women rely strongly on this as well. Women of Westeros are very diverse in characterization, resulting in no generalization when referring to White women, since they are not defined and restricted by their race in the series. The series portrays White women as clever people who are aware of their strong suits within the world they live in. The depiction of women as sexual beings is predominantly where the male gaze is applied. Even though female characters are aware of their sexual behavior and use it consciously, they are actively objectified, making the depiction of sexuality problematic.
White women of Westeros are presented respectable, for the most part. They do not flaunt their sexuality, unless they are prostitutes. Feminine female characters are often young girls that are a ‘forbidden fruit’ and are physically pleasing, because of their resemblance to the Western ideal of beauty, namely: young, female, innocent, thin, white skin, small nose, pink cheeks, and rosy lips. Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) is the epitome of a Western beauty. She dresses modest, is a noble born posh ‘girly girl’ and her tall lean figure and young fresh face is considered pretty, especially when compared to her ‘manly’ younger sister, Arya Stark (see figure 1). Sansa’s character develops from a young naïve innocent lady to a young woman who is realistic and knows her position as a female in this cruel world of men. She becomes aware of her sexuality and the effect it can have on men. Frankel claims that ’The character most seen looking at herself in mirrors is Sansa. This suggest that she’s considering herself as an object’ (100). In exchange for these women to be heard they need to grab men’s attention, which is usually done by presenting their body or presenting an idea of their body.
This trading of sexual behavior to gain power is recurrent in the series. From small characters like the prostitute Ros (Esmé Bianco), who climbs her way up by literally selling her body to move to the city, a place full of opportunity and becoming an assistant from the owner of the brothels, to main characters like Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). It took Margaery three princes but eventually she became the queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Margaery is a woman who stands by her man and will
21 do whatever it takes to make him happy, so she can have what she wants. Her goal to become the queen will make her go through any lengths to achieve it. She is a young woman who is extremely aware of her sexuality and of the opposite gender. She shows some skin in her dresses and does not shy away from using her sexuality to make the men in her life that can provide her with what she wishes, feel superior. The reasoning behind a characters behavior like Margaery’s is presented through the narrative, making her motives clear from the beginning. Women in Westeros do not escape the male gaze, but use this gaze for their benefit. They are portrayed as clever women who play the game of power as well, or even better than men. White feminine characters rely on their femininity to gain and exert their power, where their sexuality becomes a tool for women to ‘progress.’ Non-White women do the same and use their sexuality as a tool, however they do not succeed as well as White women.
Stereotypes of the Orientalist, dangerous, exciting, beautiful, sexual/sensual woman is one that has no substance, meaning that characters like these are not prominent in the narrative and are killed off easily, unlike female characters from Westeros. Hassler-Forest claims ‘[…] and even as the series’ narrative critiques institutionalized sexism, it continuously fills up the screen with naked female bodies subjected to the male gaze’ (27). This constant display of nudity of predominantly females is one that is hard to see as progressive, especially when they are not in control of it. Western women have a certain amount of control when using their sexuality, but the irony of using sexual power to gain any other amount of power is striking. Females rely solely on their objectification or on their masculine traits. In Essos the division between men and women is made very clear, which is why there are no non-White ‘manly’ women.
Women of Essos are an Orientalist trope of a dangerous sexual fantasy that cannot survive in a world of White privilege. Said addresses this in book Orientalism and provides examples of ‘Oriental clichés: harems, princesses, princes, slaves, veils, dancing girls and boys’ (190). Game of Thrones implements these clichés, making the stereotype inescapable for non-White women. This results in their downfall, since Eastern women are no good and dangerous, because of their uncontrollability. In Orientalism Eastern women have been subjected to a fantasy of the White man, which is what Game of Thrones works on, instead of questioning these practices.
These women are heavily generalized and sexualized and cannot exist without their sexuality. If they do, they are either old, scary or irrelevant, which is why the lifespan of those characters are short. White women’s hyper-sexuality is different than that of Non-White women. Non-White women are exotic creatures that move seductive and bare their skin and are responsible for the behavior of males, since this type of behavior is not associated with ’white female virginity’ (Benard
22 6). Because of Black women being defined by their sexuality, makes it inescapable for non-White women and especially Black women to be seen as more than their sexuality (Benard3).
Essos women are condemned to be punished for their ‘outrageous’ behavior where the reasoning is usually spite and/or jealousy. Essos women are traitors, selfish, and rely on their cunningness, by utilizing their bodies. They are publicly enjoying sex, masters of seduction and tricksters. They are easily killed off, because of them being bad, weak and not as clever as White people. Said addresses this idea of White supremacy in his book and claims that women in the Orient ‘[…] are usually the creatures of male power-fantasy. They express unlimited sensuality, they are more or less stupid, and above all they are willing’ (207). The behavior is translated into their appearance. Women of Westeros their clothing, hair color, hairstyles, shoes, accessories are elaborate, while in Essos the women ‘look’ the same, by dressing the same (see figure 3). Their costumes are very primal and revealing, resulting in emphasizing the body. Whenever Essos women are shown in a group, they are domestic, submissive, naked or celebrating a fight/wedding/hero. Individually, women are not multidimensional and do not survive. The character of Doreah (Roxanne McKee) is an example of a one-dimensional characters with a short lifespan. Doreah is a slave purchased by Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) her brother, to teach Daenerys how to please Dothraki men (see figure 4). It is the ultimate trope of the exotic hypersexualized woman. The male gaze is the dominant gaze when female characters of Essos are portrayed (see figure 3 and 4). Apart from hypersexualizing these women, a sense of alignment is created through familiarizing Doreah through her speech. Her British accent makes her identifiable because of her sounding like someone from Westeros. However, this does not mean that she is not dangerous, she is still an Eastern woman who cannot be trusted, something Daenerys made a mistake in doing. Daenerys punished her after Doreah killed her men and servant, by locking her up in a vault with the man she betrayed Daenerys for. Doreah’s narrative contribution was creating more fear for Eastern women by being a sexual, selfish, power hungry woman and creating more alignment with the character of Daenerys who gave Doreah a ‘chance.’
Apart from Essos women being sexualized in their own continent, they are also sexualized outside of it. When not being swallowed up by the stereotypical surroundings of the Orient, they bring the stereotypes to the West. The only way these females are seen as individuals, is when they are outside of their continent and fall into the hands of White characters. Female characters of Essos that are residing in Westeros are exotic women who can only bring trouble. Essos women are good in pleasuring and pursuing men. Eastern women are not stupid, they know what they want and how to get it, usually by persuading men, since men are the ones with the most power. However, these women never succeed whether they are in the continent or outside of it. The character of Shae (Sibel
23 Kekilli) made herself familiar in Westeros. As a prostitute she has traveled and has chosen to reside in Westeros, after fleeing from Essos. Her ‘foreign’ accent emphasizes her being an ‘outsider.’ Shae ‘slithers’ herself into the heart of a powerful man, however when he cannot give her what he promised she is portrayed as a scorned woman. Humiliated by him, she gets her revenge by using her profession and body to sleep with his father. When caught, her immediate response is to kill him. Her depiction of scorned prostitute who is selfish and cunning gets her killed by the man she supposedly loved.
Women of Westeros that have a different complexion than White women resemble the continent of Essos and depict the behavior of Essos women. The Sand Snakes, several young women who live in the south of Westeros, in Dorne, the most Essos looking place in the West. The reason non-White people live there, is because the people descent from Essos. Even though they are part of Westeros they are treated differently. One could say that Dorne is a mini-Orient in Westeros. The most well-known women from Dorne in the series are the Sand Snakes. These young women are very present, vocal, active and unruly. They are scary exotic looking women that are intimidating towards men (see figure 5). With their weapons and fearlessness they are a threat.
The Sand Snakes are not afraid to use their body and to tease people for their own pleasure. When the Snakes are imprisoned next to a male character who sings about his imprisonment, Tyene Sand (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers) tricks him by providing him with a striptease as a distraction to poison him, where she touches and exposes herself in a seducing manner while being caged. She is in control and has control over the situation, making her the active character and the male character the passive one, however, there is still the active presence of the male gaze through the use of cinematography. The camera pans, takes close-ups of her body and shows point of view shots from the male character where he objectifies her (see figure 6). Tyene enjoys this display of power and gets a kick out of it. ‘Exotic’ looking women are objectified and murdered. The Dornish people with their Essos origin are too exotic to survive in Westeros.
Eastern women do not have the luxury of becoming multidimensional, because of the series not providing them with the tools, such as agency, screen time and individuality. These women are used and their sexuality is exploited to translate an Orientalist trope for mainstream media. The lack of Eastern female characters that obviously adopt masculine traits does not fit in an Orientalist myth/dream, where the women are solely sexualized and objectified. The difference in racial depiction is striking when analyzing the performativity of non-White women in Game of Thrones.
24 The fact that White women can reject their gender and take on that of the opposite gender shows the privilege they have in their performativity and rejection of the male gaze. This is only possible because the series allows and provides these developments for those characters. These masculine characters are portrayed by females that become ‘off-limit’ for the male gaze, in other words they are de-sexualized because of their (non)-activeness, sexual preference, age and physical appearance. Game of Thrones is known for not shying away from full female nudity, however when it comes to female characters with masculine traits, they are treated differently. It does not mean that these women are not seen as less than men, their gender is still used against them, however in a less sexualized way in opposition to non-White women. Furthermore, non-White female characters are nothing more than an Orientalist trope where expectations and prejudices are maintained. Non- White women are expected to portray either a sexual, cunning, dumb, naïve, woman, resulting in one-dimensional characters, since there is no character development or growth. The difference of character development between White women and non-White women are so striking, mainly because non-White women are killed off easily and are not prominent characters.
White women are represented as individuals with a backstory, resulting in the structure of sympathy by Murray Smith. Strong, fierce, unruly, sexual, beautiful, modest, funny, and intelligent women are depicted in Westeros. Older women are treated respectable, motherly, clever and dangerous, making White women, regardless of age, height and weight, multidimensional. Because of White women being able to express/exercise their agency, their individuality is emphasized which results in their storyline becoming prominent. Seeing their struggles, feelings, thoughts, ideas, apart from only the actions they take, makes it easier to align with characters and understand the reasons behind their actions. This luxury of the structure of sympathy is one that can only be done when characters are provided with enough screen time. Without this, sympathy is difficult to have and results in characters becoming disposable, because of the emotional separation. This is accurate with characters of Essos. The reasoning behind the motives of Essos characters remain superficial. Assuming why a character does something and actually seeing a character thinking/speaking/doing the act, can result in aligning with that character. This is the biggest difference between White women and non-White women. Non-White men and women do not have a long lifespan in Game of Thrones. The reason is because of the Orientalist portrayal which results in the lack of individuality and multidimensionality.
Game of Thrones is Eurocentric, which is reflected in that non-White men and women are not highlighted as much as White characters, even though these men and women can tell us a lot about being a female and male in the East seen through a Eurocentric view. Because of the lack of Eastern characters and the generalization of them, there is no diversity in characterization. Eastern
25 characters are one-dimensional, leaving almost zero to none characters to diversify. There are characters that can be considered unruly women, but their unruliness is dominated by their sexuality, leaving those characters heavily objectified. The fact that there are few female characters that are diverse, provides a concerning image the West perceives of the East. It is an Orientalist image that the Western world maintains, which Game of Thrones does not step out of, but enhances. This results in Essos is being nothing more than a place of enchantment, where nothing good can come out of. This place of enchantment resonates with the behavior of people of Essos. Essos is one and the same, whereas the series has taken the effort to distinguish the continent of Westeros. The series provides a type of progressiveness for White women, resulting in recognition, alignment and allegiance. These women become heroes because of them being multidimensional, resulting in the structure of sympathy, which in turn results in White positive tropes, such as the White hero, or in the case of Daenerys, the White savior.
II.II PROGRESSION OF THE FEMALE GENDER AND WHITE RACE THROUGH THE USE OF SLAVERY
Apart from agency, multidimensionality and the structure of sympathy, Game of Thrones creates an illusion of progression of female gendered identities at the expense of non-White people and the practice of slavery. The most prominent character thriving off of her White privilege and White feminism and results in her having and exerting her White supremacy is Daenerys Targaryen. Slavery in Game of Thrones is connected to this character and the continent of Essos. A Eurocentric view makes it possible to project certain ideas, behaviors, actions, thoughts and feelings onto certain worlds, making the world they prefer/reflect the ‘normal’ world. Westeros is not a clean world and is not a paradise, it is a depiction of a multidimensional world, however the East is a world full of stereotypes that is unfairly depicted comparing to the Western world. ‘Abnormal’ behaviors, customs and cultures are discarded to the East, such as the practice of slavery. It is a practice that has built a huge part of the Western world we live in today, making it offensive to un-contextualize the entire subject of slavery onto the Orientalist continent. The barbaric idea of holding slaves is something problematically done in Game of Thrones where Westeros has nothing to do with such practices. It is historically false that exclusively White people handled in slavery, but the series relieves the White world from the burden of it in real life.
The series works on stereotypes of the mythical East, where slavery is deemed a foreign practice, and presented as an idea that it despicable to a young innocent White woman. Daenerys is the White savior whose heroism:
[…] stems from her attempting to erase the cruelty and despotism of the eastern cultures. As a young, blonde, pale skinned woman with (somewhat inexplicable) progressive
26 liberal values, she contrasts dramatically and heroically with the darker and older eastern males she conflicts with (Hardy 414).
Said addresses this type of White supremacy in his book, where he claims ‘[…] real – that is, European – civilization. Everywhere, one encountered Orientals, Arabs whose civilization, religion, and manners were so low, barbaric, and antithetical as to merit reconquest.’ However, ‘[…] a Western conquest of the Orient was not a conquest after all, but liberty’ (172). Hardy argues that ‘For Daenerys, dealing with the slave cities and their mulish inhabitants is a fantasy genre version of the "White Man's Burden"’ (416). Daenerys her actions reflect that of Orientalist and colonial thinking, resulting in superior thinking where the ‘other’ is in need of help from ‘our’ superior manners. The series portrays Daenerys as a woman who wants to do well and provide aid to people in need. Non-White people are depicted through the perspective of Daenerys who translates the social and cultural norms of Essos, as well as femininity and especially masculinity, as ‘abnormal,’ since their femininity and masculinity are performed for her. In their article Syed and Ali conceptualize the White woman’s burden, working on the concept of the White man’s burden. They address White feminism and critique this type of feminism, by arguing that:
White feminist saviours continue to endorse themselves as authentic representatives of the Other women. Thus a ‘mood of selfcongratulation as saviours of marginality’ visibly runs through all the operations involved in the representation and development of the subaltern, whose voice remains conveniently ignored by her white feminist benefactor (357).
Game of Thrones works on White feminism, meaning that the series creates the illusion of progressivism for White women, because of their racial superiority within the series. Daenerys Targaryen murders and conquers Eastern cities with such ease that the unsympathetic leaders are not taken serious, making them no match for her White power. In his article Hassler-Forest addresses this as well and claims:
The fact that Daenerys happens to be a female white messiah whose naïve actions produce unexpected complications should not be interpreted as especially progressive in terms of the series’ fundamental Orientalism: the key point is that the civilizations outside of Westeros, populated by people of color, are once again shown to be unable to control their own destinies, requiring the intervention of a ‘more advanced’ outsider (24).
Non-White characters are props for White characters to exert their power, resulting in their ‘individuality’ connected to a White character. These characters are dependent on White characters the moment they are introduced, such as Missandei of Naath (Nathalie Emmanuel). Missandei was a
27 former slave and was freed by Daenerys Targaryen. She has been ‘given’ her freedom by Daenerys and was provided with the choice to join her or pursue her own way. Missandei, being forever grateful for her freedom, chose to follow Daenerys and join her. The character of Missandei has built herself up from being a translator and handmaiden and was offered the position of advisor by Daenerys. Her trustworthiness, selflessness and kindness has gotten her to where she is now, which is depicted most vividly in her appearance (see figure 7). Missandei leaves her raggedy clothes behind when following Daenerys, resulting in her becoming her own person and developing her own storyline, however this could only be the case when being freed by her White savior.
Game of Thrones gives non-White people no opportunity to excel in their world, by depicting their world as rotten, despicable, disgusting and barbaric. This is especially the case with leaders of Essos. When Daenerys liberates the so called Slaver’s Bay, by conquering three dominant cities, slavery is abolished in that bay and is renamed Bay of Dragons honoring their savior. What is striking is that the conquering of the cities is not referred to as conquering, but as liberating. Especially with season three ending with her ‘liberating’ a second city in that season where the previous enslaved people carry her on their arms while chanting ‘mhysa,’ meaning mother (see figure 8). Apart from being called mother, Daenerys’ title becomes impressively long, as Missandei of Naath introduces her in the most recent season, seven, as:
Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, rightful heir to the Iron Throne, rightful queen of The Andals and of The First Men, Protector of The Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains (7x3).
Especially the last title is remarkable, where she is deemed the ‘breaker of chains,’ because of her freeing enslaved people, resulting in another title to her position of power. The leaders of these three slave cities are all men who are not afraid of a woman and patronize her. They are vicious and cruel and, in the little screen time they get, difficult to sympathize with. Essos people are no match for the White race. The fact that the leaders are no competition for Daenerys has to do with racial inequality, where the ‘other’ is depicted as weaker and inferior.
Geographical masculinity provides an approach to differentiate between masculinities globally. Through a Eurocentric view of the East and Eastern men, Daenerys gives them what they ‘deserve.’ Every culture has its own traditions, norms and values, especially when connecting gender with culture. Geographical masculinity is seen through the perspective of a Western discourse. Daenerys outsmarts them, because they are no more than dumb brutes. The leaders are depicted as barbaric, nasty and hateful men, which results in relief when they are brutally murdered. Daenerys being called mother makes her not a conqueror, but a protector and liberator. She provides a racially
28 supreme perspective on Essos, which is disguised by the series as emancipation and progression of White women, resulting in White feminism. This feminism works on White supremacy and White privilege, however, when analyzing the intersectional workings of race and gender, the progression Game of Thrones implies is nonexistent.
Through a Eurocentric view of the White Western character of Daenerys, geographical masculinity is translated into barbarism, which is, due to her conquest of Essos, generalized throughout the entire continent. The army of Unsullied, which Daenerys sets free, are a great example of what geographical masculinity in the East entails. In order to become an Unsullied, one has to go through extreme lengths. Unsullied men are all slaves and have no choice whether or not they become ‘pure’. Purity here means loyalty and discipline. The training starts at the age of five where they are drilled from dawn to dusk. Only one in four boys survive, leaving those boys to become incredibly disciplined and loyal. These men fear nothing and have nothing to lose, which is demonstrated by cutting off a nipple of one of the Unsullied (see figure 9). Furthermore they must stand in the sunlight in full armor, with no water or food until they drop. Last, but not least, they have to complete the training by killing a newborn before its mother’s eyes to make sure that there is no weakness left in them. After all of this is done, they are castrated, leaving them focused and obedient. 8000 of these Unsullied are suddenly freed when Daenerys ‘liberates’ the city.
One of these Unsullied is the love interest of Missandei of Naath, who has become a prominent character. Greyworm (Jacob Anderson) becomes a character after he is introduced as the spokesperson for the Unsullied. Both provide a different perspective of the generalization of Eastern people. The trials and tribulations of toxic masculinity Greyworm had to go through did not make him a zombie or an awful person, but rather someone who finds his own voice and sees potential in the future. However, this is done because of the freeing of the Unsullied by a main White character. Daenerys gave both of these Essos characters the ability to develop into multidimensional characters.
The generalization of the continent of Essos can further be seen in the depiction of male characters of Essos. This will be elaborately analyzed in chapter three. Generalization of characters of Essos is done through the casting of Essos characters. Apart from their barbaric and sexualized depiction, the men playing these characters are predominantly European. This does not mean that there are no Middle Eastern actors in Game of Thrones, but the role they play is of no importance. In his article on Salon.com fantasy writer Saladin Ahmed argues that ‘HBO has nudged Martin's creation fully into racial caricature by casting a seemingly random variety of colored people’ when portraying Dothraki men. These men are portrayed by Hawaiian, New-Zealand and European men, while the rest of the East is mostly portrayed by European actors. Shohat and Stam address this type of casting
29 in their book, they argue ‘[…] ’realistic’ casting is hardly sufficient if narrative structure and cinematic strategies remain Eurocentric’ (190). The perspective is that of Daenerys’ when the series introduces these men. Narratively Daenerys is the only reason why Essos men are relevant in the series, which itself is problematic.
During the entire series, Essos is only on screen whenever White characters reside there. The foreign and mythical world is seen through their eyes, stereotyping the East, since the characters consist of a Westeros/Western ideology. Geographical masculinity is translated into the cultural practices/customs and spaces which in turn depict toxic masculinity. The fact that a certain look is enough to be selected to play a one-dimensional role is striking to the casting of White characters that have to be ‘more’ than a look. As mentioned before, Eastern characters do not have a long lifespan in the series, making it impossible for characters to develop their characters beyond superficiality. A way to depict racial equality in Game of Thrones, is by implementing Richard Dyers claim, namely that ‘Whiteness needs to be made strange’ (12).
Slavery being decontextualized and positioned as a practice of the Eastern world, results in the White race benefitting off of discarding and problematizing this practice. The series profits off of slavery by having a White female character freeing enslaved people, resulting in White female progression at the expense of non-White people. Characters of Essos have no diversity in characterization, meaning that their thoughts and feelings are replaced with Orientalist myths and tropes, depicting them as ’enchanting and seductive, yet foreboding and deadly, and these characteristics co-conspire to render the region feral, primitive and menacing’ (Shaw). Eastern characters have no chance to become characters of their own, because of the ‘danger’ they possess. The series is not progressive in any way, since the interconnections between gender and race reveal structural racism, sexism, White privilege, and White supremacy.
Masculinities in Game of Thrones reveal the problematics of the series when interconnecting gender and race, revealing similar power dynamics between White and non-White women. White males are complex characters that are presented multidimensional and have prominent storylines resulting in the structure of sympathy, whereas non-White men are limited to an Orientalist trope. A Eurocentric view can be confirmed, since White characters are prospering, thriving, failing, hurting, loving, realizing, traveling, while non-White characters are restricted to one-dimensionality, resulting in their failure and death. The final chapter analyzes the Eurocentric view on masculinities.
30 CHAPTER III
REPRESENTATION OF MALES AND MASCULINITY IN GAME OF THRONES Eurocentric view on Geographical Masculinity and Toxic Masculinity
This thesis claims that the hegemony of the Western world is implemented in the world of Game of Thrones, resulting in a Eurocentric view of the fantasy world of Game of Thrones. The series works on this hegemony, by creating a world full of ‘others,’ making the Western world in the series easily recognizable. The issues Westeros men deal with, namely the validation of their manhood and the culture of entitlement, portray a different masculinity than the issues Essos men deal with, namely being hypersexual brutes. In this chapter I argue that because of geographical masculinity being depicted through a Eurocentric view, toxic masculinity differs between Westeros and Essos, where Essos is portrayed Orientalist.
The Western world is the main world in Game of Thrones, which is elaborately introduced in the series. The continent is geographically diverse, meaning that the cities and kingdoms in the West are distinguishable. The elaborate introduction of the continent and its people contribute to the ‘normalizing’ of the White race. Dyer claims that the White race does not view itself as a race, but as a norm, resulting in a supreme idea of Whiteness (10). Because of the White race not being ‘considered’ a race, Westeros is prevented from being generalized. Young claims in her book that ‘In Martin’s novels and HBO’S Game of Thrones, a significant proportion of the action takes place in the North and West of the imagined globe’ (66). Young argues that ‘The idea of the ‘’real Middle Ages,’’ how it is defined, and how it is attached to discourses around race and Whiteness is central here,’ especially because ‘What matters here is not what the Middle Ages were like, but what they are thought and said to have been in the popular imagination of the twentieth century’ (66). According to her research on authors and readers of ‘Gritty Fantasy, medieval times were violent, misogynist, and White; mud, blood, and rape can be added to the Fantasy mix, but racial and cultural diversity cannot’ (66).
The series reflects and depicts the Western world as dominant, making the perspective of the West dominant as well, resulting in a Eurocentric view on masculinities. The performance of masculinity differs in every culture. Kimmel gives an example of male performativity in an article of ‘Ask a Feminist:’
31 First of all they were telling me that the real man is the performative part. The real man is the part that has to perform for others, to validate their masculinities. The real man is homosocial. The good man is abstract. It's not necessarily interactive.
‘Real’ and ‘good’ are separated, where the ‘real’ man performs masculinity that may result in toxic masculinity, since toxic masculine behavior is expressed through extreme performances, resulting in what is deemed as a ‘real’ man instead of a ‘good’ man. Next to masculinity being a performance, Kimmel compares masculinity in his book to ‘[…] a constant test – always up for grabs, always needing to be proved’ (51). These tests are recurrent in Game of Thrones where battles, war and hunting are main themes. Friendships between men exists almost always out of these tests, whether it is how many women one can get or how many men one can kill. These tests are culturally bound to the Western world in Game of Thrones, familiarizing this world with what Young mentions as ‘popular imagination.’ The world of Westeros is made familiar through the use of language, accents, names, setting, and costumes, resulting in the world of White people being easy to understand.
The use of tropes within Game of Thrones portray geographical stereotypes. Geographically, stereotypes are implemented, where through prejudice the people of those places are connected to either positive of negative stereotypes. Hardy claims:
The further west, and often the further north a character hails from (i.e. paralleling the Anglo-Celtic zones of our own world), the more honourable, heroic, straightforward and down-to-earth they tend to be depicted,’ and that ‘the people of Essos are diverse, but tick off the range of Arabian fantasy stereotypes, from nomadic Mongol warriors, through Ottoman slavers to cunning Levantine merchants (412, 414).
The words honor, hero, noble and hardworking are linked to the spaces of Westeros, implicating that of strong White men. The series portrays these men not as flawless, creating interesting storylines where character development is of the essence for characters to establish their multidimensionality. White male characters are provided with multiple selections in the narrative to create their own development, while non-White male characters have no choice, since the series does not create storylines relevant, deep and strong enough for those characters to become multidimensional. Furthermore, the culture of entitlement of especially White men treat White women, the continent of Essos and the people of Essos as less. Western men are heroes, anti-heroes and antagonists, resulting in their masculinity containing certain toxic behavior, which gets resolved through narrative elements. Eastern men do not have this privilege, since their behavior gets them killed off soon, resulting in one-dimensionality.
32 Kimmel addresses toxic masculinity in his book, where he explains that ‘Guyland rests on three distinct cultural dynamics: a culture of entitlement, a culture of silence, and a culture of protection’ (59). These cultural dynamics protect the toxicity of masculinity. Kimmel explains:
I’ve asked young men what it means to be a man. I’ve asked guys from every state in the nation, as well as about fifteen other countries, what sorts of phrases and words come to mind when they hear someone say, ‘’Be a man!’’ (44).
Kimmel summarized the responses in a list he calls ‘’’Real Guy’s Top Ten List,’’’ namely:
1. Boys Don’t Cry, 2. It’s Better to be Mad than Sad, 3. Don’t Get Mad – Get Even, 4. Take It Like a Man, 5. He Who has The Most Toys When he Dies, Wins, 6. Just Do It, or Ride or Die, 7. Size Matters, 8. I Don’t Stop to Ask for Directions, 9. Nice Guys Finish Last, 10. It’s All Good (45).
What is most problematic about this code is ‘The unifying emotional subtext of all these aphorisms involves never showing emotions or admitting to weakness’ (45). It is how a man should behave when dealing with any problem, where ‘[…] kindness is not an option, nor is compassion’ (45). Guys are holding up masks in order to survive guyland where they follow this guideline since the code is:
The collection of attitudes, values, and traits that together compose what it means to be a man. These are the rules that govern behavior in Guyland, the criteria that will be used to evaluate whether any particular guy measures up (45).
The motto of guy code being ‘bro’s before ho’s’ once again portrays how this guideline is a problematic one, especially towards the opposite gender. Women are fully objectified and used in the game of becoming a man, because men perform their toxic masculinity not for females, but ‘[…] they do it because they want to be positively evaluated by other men’, ‘[…] while women often become a kind of currency by which men negotiate their status with other men, women are for possessing, not for emulating’ (47).
Referring to Kimmel’s cultural dynamic, the culture of entitlement is one that is accurate in Westeros. Several characters in Westeros project their sense of entitlement differently, since Westeros provides multidimensional characters. This culture of entitlement is an aspect of toxic masculinity within the geographical masculinity of the West. Whereas the quest for manhood reflects White privilege, since these characters are developing into stronger, more complex characters that are able to grow out of their need for validation. The concepts of guyland and
33 hegemonic masculinity can be addressed globally, however these concepts have been originated in the West by researching the Western world. Geographical masculinity is used in Game of Thrones to maintain (and not challenge) stereotypes and provide a Eurocentric view on male characters, resulting in the depiction of toxic masculinity.
III.I THE VALIDATION OF MANHOOD AND THE CULTURE OF ENTITLEMENT
The father-and-son bond is of the essence in the series, because ‘[…] the one person who has the power to validate your manhood or dissolve it in an instant: Dad’ (Kimmel 130). As Kimmel argues, it is their ‘male authority figures’ that they have to prove their masculinity to, because they are the ones validating it. To make that figure proud, means that you are doing well in becoming/being a man. It is this insecurity and fear of failure that most men in Westeros deal with. Men like Samwell Tarly (John Bradley-West), who are kind, compassionate, overweight and book smart rather than battle smart, are a disgrace according to his father. To be ashamed of your son is recurrent, since the fathers in the series are cruel, old, White men who do not tolerate anything less than they command.
Apart from fatherly shame, the competition between siblings for their father’s recognition is of the essence. Every character dealing with ‘daddy issues’ has a sibling that excel them and are preferred by their father. Identical to Samwell, whose brother is exactly the opposite of him and does his father proud by being physically fit, battle smart, handsome and well-spoken. He is the one that will be the heir to the family-sword, a symbol of manhood within house Tarly. Samwell steals the sword, because he feels entitled to it and rebels against his father, who he despises. Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) has been shipped off at an early age to work for another family. When returning home years later, he is the only living son of his father, but has to deal with his sister being in command. Theon’s father is not pleased with his son and does not believe in him being the heir. It is the ultimate insult for Theon that a woman is preferred over him. Another character who yearns for his father’s acceptance is Tyrion Lannister. Tyrion is constantly compared to his ‘perfect’ brother Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and has to deal with his father blaming him for killing his mother during his birth. It ends with Tyrion killing his father on the lavatory with a crossbow, after finding his lover in his father’s bed. These men take drastic measures when they decide that they do not need to be validated anymore, leaving these men ‘unaccomplished’ in their manhood. The series criticizes certain toxic validations by portraying strong White men of all body types who do not need their father’s validation (see figure 10). The radicalism of the events happening to these characters provides them with an opportunity to redefine their manhood, where they do not perform toxic masculine behavior. However, toxic masculinity withholds men to express their emotions through empathy and sympathy, resulting in violent expressions.
34 The phenomenon of bastards in the series are predominantly young White men longing for recognition from their fathers. In Westeros bastards, illegitimate children, are very common. A bastard is a son or daughter who is not recognized by a parent, usually the father, with the consequence of being named differently, since they do not ‘deserve’ to carry their name. Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) is allegedly the ultimate villain of the series who wants nothing more than his father’s acceptance. When he receives his acceptance, by receiving his father’s last name and recognizing him as his ‘real’ son, Ramsay’s stepmother gets pregnant and births a legitimate son, resulting in this baby being already fully recognized by his father. Full of jealousy and rage Ramsay kills his entire family. The series portrays multidimensional characters in Westeros, where villains such as Ramsay need their father validation and rebel even after they have it. Multidimensionality of characters yearning for their father’s validation can result in the structure of sympathy.
Men in the series want to hear that the world is theirs and that they are entitled to it. There are several characters where entitlement is obvious and create arguably the most hated characters of Game of Thrones, namely Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) and Ramsay Bolton. These characters are the epitome of toxic masculinity and White privilege. After Ramsay officially became a Bolton which increased his sense of entitlement. He forced himself even more on women, found more pleasure in torturing people and had such a huge ego believing that he could win any battle. It is because of him believing that he earned it all, that he is entitled to all of this, because of him becoming a Bolton. Any competition must be destroyed, which results in him murdering his entire family. Ramsay saw a baby as a threat, revealing a lot about his character. The character of Ramsay Bolton is one so vicious, however his yearning for his father’s attention and validation is one that can make one sympathize with him. His actions are fueled by toxic masculinity, because of the social stigma on bastards. Ramsay will go through any lengths to get this stigma off of him, however he uses this anger and rage as an entitlement, since he is not accepted by society, he is entitled to behave this way.
White men who feel entitled are depicted similarly, namely arrogant and obnoxious, however their characters differ enormously. Joffrey Baratheon is the heir to the Iron Throne, making him a prince. He is heavily aware of his power and his privilege. Joffrey uses his position of entitlement to behave in preposterous ways. He is cruel, spoiled and a brat which he feels he can be, since he will be king one day. The moment he becomes king is the moment he does his first unforgivable deed, namely beheading a beloved character and leader. Joffrey set the tone for his reign and feels indestructible. Getting a kick out of killing people and being in charge is what makes him disrespectful towards everyone, especially his mother. Beard addresses the power of speech and silencing of Western women in her book and quotes Telemachus: ‘[…] Speech will be the business of men, all men, and of me most of all; for mine is the power in this household’ (4). The shutting up of
35 women is one that is constantly done by Joffrey where he discards their ideas and thoughts. He as a man is entitled to his superior position and, according to him, he is the voice of the household and of the people of Westeros.
Gender inequality is of the essence here, as only men are allowed to feel and behave entitled. As Kimmel mentioned, women are possession, meaning objects that men own. Entitlement is recurrent during the series where men force themselves onto women, resulting in rape. Laurie addresses rape in Game of Thrones and argues that ‘The reconfiguration of political power is inscribed directly on women’s bodies, and rape serves to dramatise the violence of sexual contact outside the prescribed familial order. Rapists are either incestuous, illegitimate, or from outside the noble order of Westeros’ (3). Men feel entitled to a woman’s body, because they possess her. Rapists dominate their victim and use them as pawns in their quest for validation and power. This is seen when Daenerys is raped by Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) on their wedding night, Jaime Lannister forces himself onto his sister next to the coffin of their dead son, and Sansa raped by Ramsay after their arranged marriage. No noble men in Westeros are rapists, meaning that White men can be defined as rapists due to their actions, such as if they are bastards, criminals, or sinful. Essos men are not given this distinction, since they are violent men and rape is ‘normalized.’ Male characters who are protecting Westeros from intruders in the North are mostly criminals, a lot of them rapist, who are provided a choice, either get castrated or join the so called ‘Night’s Watch.’ These men are ‘punished’ for their deeds by serving and protecting Westeros, where they hopefully learn their lesson. This ‘punishment’ shows that the series does not condone this type of behavior, however the punishments between Westeros men and Essos men are striking. The series execution of rehabilitation is one that is possible in the West, however rehabilitation in the East is nonexistent. There, men are punished so severe it results in either death or torture. The savage behavior of non- White men is not questioned by the series, but uses it and punishes them severely, leaving no room for development, since that sort of behavior is portrayed as being in their nature. The narrative works suggest that toxic masculinity is inevitable with non-White men, while creating multiple narrative options for White men to overcome their toxic behavior.
The notion of racial entitlement is one that the series tries to argue, by depicting a despicable White character as a racist. However this is not the case, since the character is made despicable in order to create the structure of sympathy for a main White character. Daenerys Targaryen and her brother Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd) are both in exile in Essos, since their father, the previous king, was murdered. Viserys feels entitled to the throne, since he is his father’s son. Next to that he feels entitled to his sister her fate and has no problem using her to get what he wants. He is the one who arranges his sister’s marriage to the Dothraki in exchange for their allegiance. With the Dothraki
36 army Viserys hopes to get what he believes he is entitled to. Being in Essos, Viserys is despised and in awe about what he sees. He likes their savagery and their customs, especially that of sexual women. He believes that he has given the Dothraki what they want and expects that they give him what he is entitled to, namely the crown. Viserys is vocal and wants to take over the power by using the people of Essos. He wants to own them, since he gave them his sister and since he is the next king of Westeros. Viserys his behavior of entitlement caused him a brutal death by Khal Drogo. The domination of a White man who whines and moans is not respected by the Dothraki’s, resulting in his failure of dominating the ‘lesser’ people. The series does not argue that racial entitlement is bad, since the entire storyline of Daenerys Targaryen will work on this entitlement, but had to create an antagonist for the narrative of Daenerys to condone her White supremacist behavior.
The series does not agree with the behavior of entitlement which is why they make these characters one-dimensional and put them against characters that are multidimensional. However, these characters are pawns in the narrative, making it easier to align with the characters these antagonists have hurt. Such is the case with Viserys and Daenerys. It is Daenerys who will excel in what Viserys failed to do, namely dominating the people of Essos.
Geographical masculinity highlights certain cultural aspects of Westeros. What is most striking is the relationship between the men themselves, especially with their fathers. Masculinity is validated by the most masculine and important man in their lives. The relationship between siblings and the competition they have for their father’s acceptance reveals a troubling dynamic that is not only accurate in the fantasy world of Game of Thrones, but reflects the way masculinity is culturally perceived in the Western world. The multidimensionality of these characters and the diverseness creates different perspectives of masculinity, one that is culturally bound, making space crucial. Space is one that reflects cultural practices and customs, as well as toxic masculinity. Men are performing their masculinity for other men, since they are the ones validating manhood. Seeking their approval is done by performing toxic behavior, since older White men in the series depict this type of toxic masculinity as what it means to be a man. Men of Essos have no depth in their performance of masculinity, since they are depicted as superficial hypersexual brutes. What is deemed wrong in Westeros is normalized in Essos, creating different geographical masculinities, resulting in masculinity in Essos being toxic masculinity.
III.II. HYPERSEXUAL BRUTES
Essos is a continent with many cities all of them inhabited by non-White people. Unlike Westeros White people reside in Essos, whether by choice or exile. Essos is not elaborately introduced, but is slowly introduced throughout the seasons by following the White character Daenerys Targaryen. The
37 introduction of Essos is easily recognizable as an Orientalist trope. Essos is ‘[…] identified as regions of immorality, cruelty and inhumanity. Slavery, sexual servitude, assassination, espionage, black magic, nomadic warriors and barbaric punishments tend to be part of these cultures’ (Hardy 412). I argue that Game of Thrones portrays Essos men as one-dimensional hypersexual brutes.
The Eurocentric view of the continent itself results in a Eurocentric view of non-White people. Shohat and Stam address in their book what they call the ‘ethnic perspective’ (209). In Game of Thrones the ‘ethnic perspective’ is missing, especially in Essos, since everything is translated by Western characters. Even the switch between worlds is done through the perspective of White people. Shohat and Stam argue that ‘When we as spectators accompany the settlers’ gaze over landscapes from which emerge the sounds of native drums, the drum sounds are usually presented as libidinous or threatening’ (209). This is applied to Game of Thrones whenever we switch to the people of Essos the sound of drums and horns emphasize the contrast between the worlds. In his book Said explains how ‘The geographical space of the Orient was penetrated, worked over, taken hold of. The cumulative effect of decades of so sovereign a Western handling turned the Orient from alien into colonial space’ (211). Through the gaze of White people of Westeros Essos is translated, resulting in the ‘understanding’ of an ‘alien’ world that Daenerys Targaryen will colonize/conquer or as it is presented in the series, she will become the ‘breaker of chains.’ Essos is observed through the perspective of White supremacy. Said explains the effect of division on the depictions of people:
The culturally sanctioned habit of deploying large generalizations by which reality is divided into various collectives: languages, races, types, colors, mentalities, each category being not so much a neutral designation as an binomial opposition of ‘’ours’’ and ‘’theirs,’’ with the former always encroaching upon the latter (227).
The inequality of races and continents do not provide an equal perspective, creating an imbalanced world where non-White people are not treated serious. They are the lesser and weaker opponent whose culture is ‘backward.’ The similarities between the depiction of men and women of Essos is huge. As mentioned in chapter two, women of Essos are negatively stereotyped and are one- dimensional, making them easy to kill off. This is exactly the case with Essos men. Said explains how males in the Orient were depicted and claims that:
The oriental male was considered in isolation from the total community in which he lived and which many Orientalists, following Lane, have viewed with something resembling contempt and fear. Orientalism itself, furthermore, was an exclusively male province; like so many professional guilds during the modern period, it viewed itself and its subject matter with sexist blinders (207).
38 Eastern men were described with disrespect, hatred and fear, reflecting how one- dimensional they were seen, which is reproduced in Game of Thrones. They did not fit in the heterosexual fantasy of the Orient, so they were feared and deemed dangerous, yet not dangerous enough to be taken serious. Game of Thrones depicts these men similarly, because not only are these men brutalized in their depiction, they are also sexualized.
The few Eastern men we get to meet are depicted similar to Eastern women, they are exoticized, sexualized, dangerous, selfish, untrustworthy, and not taken serious. Their bodies are on display and if they are not sexualized, they are either portrayed, mysterious, vicious, cruel or as savages. Mostly Essos women reside in Westeros, however there are a few Essos men as well. Just as the Eastern women, Eastern men are connected to the storyline of a White character. In the series only two individual characters of Essos are seen in Westeros, where they fulfill their goal of being mysterious and exotic. The character of Syrio Forel (Miltos Yerolemou), a swordfighter, teaches an ‘exotic’ way of sword fighting and sacrifices himself by protecting the White character, Arya Stark, who was his student. The other character, Jaqen H'ghar (Tom Wlaschiha) is a mysterious foreigner who crosses paths with Arya Stark as well, and provides her with a foreign sentence full of mystery before returning to Essos, the appropriate place for his mysteriousness. The connection with a White character is crucial, since these men cannot stand on their own.
The barbarisms of the Orient is presented the moment the Orient is introduced. The Dothraki king, known as Khal Drogo, meets Daenerys to see if he is pleased with his new bride. Without any verbal communication he rides off on his horse with his fellow Dothraki’s. When asked if he is pleased, the answer is ‘If he didn’t like her, we’d know’ (1x1), meaning that otherwise he would have killed her on the spot. Furthermore their cultural practices, […] exuded dangerous sex, threatened hygiene and domestic seemliness with an excessive ‘’freedom of intercourse’’’ (Said 167). This depiction of non-White people as sexual beings is displayed during the Dothraki wedding, where an orgi is formed (see figure 11). Apart from Dothraki people being hypersexual(ized), they are also extremely violent. During the wedding men are fighting, apparently a custom, since a White Westerner explains that ‘A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair’ (1x1). The entire ceremony is full of barbarism, stereotypes and sexism, all seen through the eyes of White Westerners and the male gaze. The actions of Essos men, and especially Dothraki’s, portray the culture and its customs, which is generalized by depicting all Essos men as either dangerous, sexual, mysterious, or vicious. This portrays the geographical masculinity of Essos which results in toxic masculine behavior, because of Eastern men being generalized as predators, rapists and murderers.
39 Essos men, and especially Dothraki men, are racially sexualized which in turn keeps the sexual fantasy of the Orient alive. Men and women from Essos are both victimized by this. They live merely in an ‘alien’ world which is not only emphasized by their customs but also through femininity and masculinity. Their bodies are constantly on display, objectifying and fetishizing them (See figure 12). In his lecture ‘’On Marginality: Blacks and Queers in La Dolce Vita,’’ Richard Dyer addressed the issue of using non-White muscular bodies as ornaments. According to Dyer black people in the film La Dolce Vita are used as ornaments, where the muscular bodies of males are put on display, resulting in their clothing becoming a spectacle. Dyer argues that diversity is divisive when connecting diversity to politics. In his lecture Dyer addresses the concept of masculinity and claims that Black men can have ‘envy’ masculinity, where these men are more masculine in comparison to White men. This results in White men fearing and envying Black men, especially because White women find these ornamental bodies more attractive, according to those White men. The fetishizing and ornamental use of these huge and muscular men translates Dothraki’s into sexual beings that show off their physique, which is presented as part of their culture. The normalizing of objectification of non-White people is also addressed by Gail Dines in her article ‘’The White Man’s Burden: Gonzo Pornography and the Construction of Black Masculinity.’’ She claims that ‘One theme that undergirds the dichotomous portrayal of blacks is the notion of the controlled versus the uncontrolled sexualized body’ (288). Dines argues that:
Whiteness as an identity is a meaningless concept outside of the constructed notions of blackness that whites have produced and circulated in popular culture. Thus, in this wholly mythical world, to be white is to be the opposite of black: hardworking, law abiding, intellectual, rational, and sexually restrained and controlled (295).
This racist notion is reflected in Game of Thrones, where non-White men are either a sexual fantasy or a threat that needs to be dealt with.
The fact that non-White men are depicted as the ‘bad guys,’ makes it easier to dislike them and more difficult to create the structure of sympathy with. The racial depiction is translated into the gendered identities of these men who are presented in extreme manners, creating characters that are not ‘serious’ enough for the storyline. Because of these men being depicted as one-dimensional characters, they do not have the luxury of developing into multidimensionality, because of a Eurocentric view, where generalizations of non-White people result in White privilege and White supremacy.
The series does the most to depict Eastern men alien and toxic, by working on Orientalist tropes which are translated into their looks, speech, actions, thoughts and feelings. The fact that
40 there is not a word for ‘thank you’ in Dothraki gives a sense of how ‘uncivilized’ they are. These cues are Eurocentric cues where the translation is being done by White people in a foreign country. Shohat and Stam address this practice as well and explain that ‘Inscribed within the play of power, language becomes caught up in the cultural hierarchies typical of Eurocentrism. English, especially, has often served as the linguistic vehicle for the projection of Anglo-American power, technology, and finance’ (191).
The barbarism is reflected in the masculinity of these men. The Dothraki’s are a prime example, however where Westeros men have a multidimensional personality, these Essos men have a one-dimensional personality, with the exception of Greyworm (see chapter 2). The rest is generalized and marginalized, especially with the help of costumes. Dothraki men look quite alike, with their facial hair, braids, muscular bodies and behavior (see figure 13). They look so alike that Vanity Fair wrote an article with the headline ‘’Game of Thrones: A Guide to Recognizing the Hunky Dothraki of Season 6,’’ portraying perfectly how these men are hyper-sexualized as well. To portray the East, and especially the Dothraki’s, as a place of sexual beings who do not speak the English language and live very much like cavemen and cavewomen, does not reflect the Middle Ages of Westeros.
Essos men are non-White men who portray one-dimensional characters that are difficult to have sympathy for in comparison to men of Westeros, resulting in an imbalanced depiction of race and masculinity. Non-White men do not have issues that are family related, but are represented as men who are violent, power hungry, and sexual. Their culture remains superficial when comparing it to cultures of Westeros. The series does not represent non-White men and White men equally, but depicts non-White men superficial and stereotypical. This creates not only racial inequality, but also an unequal depiction of masculinity. The series uses geographical masculinity to emphasize the inequality between Westeros and Essos, creating an imbalanced world that results in White privilege and White supremacy, where Westeros is a reflection of the Western world, while depicting Essos as an Orientalist world.
CONCLUSION
This thesis has argued that Game of Thrones is Eurocentric, because the series creates a narrative where White characters are depicted multidimensional and one-dimensional and flourish into complex characters who transcend their race, while non-White characters are marginalized and stereotyped through racist depictions, making it unable to define these characters outside of their
41 race. Non-White characters do not have the luxury to transcend their race, because of them not being able to develop any further in the narrative. Non-White people are props in the world of White people and in their own world, resulting in their superficiality. They are no more than ornaments that visualize the difference between a White world and a non-White world, resulting in a Eurocentric view and in White supremacy. White people thrive off of non-White people because of the series’ depiction of cultures, where femininity and masculinity are key in the understanding of non-White cultures.
Game of Thrones creates an illusion of female emancipation by depicting White female characters as multidimensional, while depicting non-White female characters as their lesser competition. White women are clever, strong, ambitious and overcome their struggles, because they can. While non-White women who share the same goals are provided zero opportunity in the narrative and are depicted Orientalist. This illusion of progressivism is an illusion, because the progression of the female gender is not intersectional, but excludes every non-White woman. White women are able to progress, because their race does not hold them back. They are presented as women battling against gender inequality, while non-White women are precisely that, non-White. Their racial depiction is not one that is emphasized positively, but is used to stereotype non-White women negatively. It is not until the entire female gender can progress that we can speak of progression, especially if the ‘breaker of chains’ is a White woman who collects her power by dominating marginalized people and exert her power through colonizing their continent.
Racial supremacy is exclusively for the White race in Game of Thrones, where White power is undefeatable. Non-White people can become undefeatable as well, however they have to be under the reign of White people, resulting in racial inequality. Daenerys Targaryen is a prime example of the White woman’s burden, she did not ask to be in exile in Essos, but she progresses into a ‘savior’ that becomes the ‘mother’ of enslaved people. This idea that non-White people are not strong enough to fight their own battles is a colonial idea that supported imperialism. Game of Thrones is a White feminist series that is based on White supremacy and White privilege, resulting in Game of Thrones being progressive for White people. However, this thesis argues that this progression is nonexistent, because of Game of Thrones working on racist, sexist, Orientalist and Eurocentric ideas.
Multidimensionality and one-dimensionality is of the essence in the unequal depiction of White and non-White people. The structure of sympathy by Murray can only be applied when provided with enough information of characters and their situations. Non-White people lack this, especially non-White men who are, just like non-White women, hypersexual and a threat. This thesis reveals how one-dimensional these men are represented, by summing up their depiction as
42 ‘hypersexual brutes.’ White men are multidimensional and deal with issues that need to be dealt with in depth, instead of superficial. It is their struggle with their manhood and the validation of it by their father that is striking in Westeros. These men are all different in their appearance, while the series does not make the effort to differentiate between non-White men, resulting in a generalized depiction. Non-White men are summed up by their masculinity and race. Furthermore, White men deal with issues such as entitlement, where this is deemed problematic in the series and are provided with options to help them assimilate. Even though these are in the form of punishments, they are still honorable punishments, since these are White man that are privileged. Non-White men are narratively not provided this, implying that there is no need to be punished, since their ‘punishments’ are so drastic resulting in their deaths, because of toxic behavior being in their nature.
Through the lens of gender, structural racism and sexism is revealed within Game of Thrones. Interconnecting race and gender is of the essence, since these are concepts that should not be seen individual from one another. Game of Thrones exposes this as well, since the White race is able to transcend from their race while focusing solely on gender inequality. The factor of race is not of the essence within the White race, however within the non-White race the factor of race is emphasized. Clothing, languages, customs and cultures of Essos reflects an Orientalist world to maximize the alienation of non-White people and their lifestyles. Game of Thrones portrays the world of Westeros as the ‘normal’ world, where nothing needs to be questioned, resulting in understanding the White world without any translation. Essos is never seen through the perspective of a ‘native,’ but is constantly translated through White characters of Westeros. From the beginning of the series, till the end of the series, the continent of Essos will be a tool used by White characters from the West to exercise their White power and will never be an individual continent with zero connections from White characters.
Game of Thrones reaches millions of people and is one of the most successful television series of HBO, with a huge fan base and huge impact on popular culture. The way the series is received says a lot about the quality of a series, however the quality of Game of Thrones needs to be problematized by focusing on intersectionality within the series. Academically, the series has been problematized through the perspectives of Orientalism, Eurocentrism and feminism, however through the perspective of intersectionality possibilities for broader and more in depth analyses are created, revealing the problematic racial and gender issues Game of Thrones contains. By interconnecting these concepts it becomes clearer that race and gender have an effect on each other, because of them relating to one another. Popular culture, such as television series like Game of Thrones, should be analyzed routinely through the lens of intersectionality, revealing the problematics of (re)productions of Eurocentric discourses on representations of gender.
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49 APPENDIX
Figure 1. Left, Sansa Stark in Gown. Right, Arya Stark in masculine attire (Source: Google (Se4)).
Figure 2. Brienne in full armor, revealing her gender after winning a battle (Source: YouTube (Se1)).
50
Figure 3. Dothraki Women and their clothing (Source: Google (Se6,Se1,Se2)).
Figure 4. Left, Doreah teaches Daenerys how to seduce. Right, Doreah seduces Viserys (Source: Google (Se1)).
Figure 5. The Sand Snakes and their weapons (Source: Google (Se5)).
51 Figure 6. Tyene Sand seduces a male character and puts her body on display (Source: Google (Se5)).
Figure 7. Missandei of Naath’s transformation (Source: Google (Se1,Se7)).
52 Figure 8. Daenerys carried by the enslaved people she freed, while they chant Mhysa and praise her (Source: Google (Se3)).
Figure 9. The cruel and barbaric leader cuts of the nipple of an Unsullied (Source: Google (Se3)).
Figure 10. Samwell Tarly, Theon Greyjoy, Tyrion Lannister, Ramsay Bolton (Source: Google (Se6,Se7)).
53
Figure 11. Dothraki orgi during the wedding of Drogo and Daenerys (Source: Google and YouTube (Se1)).
Figure 12. Dothraki men and their appearance, where their bodies are on display (Source: Google (Se1,Se6)).
54