A House is Not a Home

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Comments

[imelda72.livejournal.com]

Gender imbalance, yes. There were no women leading the resistance, which is ridiculous. That's why I'm saying that I'm bitter Lauroslin wasn't more involved in it. My point was that you're saying that you think the Kacey storyline is sexist because you wanted Kara to be in the resistance. But those are 2 separate issues that shouldn't be causal.


And don't you think there's a bit of misogyny in the fact that they used a motherhood storyline to basically "break" Kara and have her accept Leoben's brainwashing to some extent (what with the handclutching in the hospital)? .... I can't imagine them, for example, using Lee's fear of parenthood (as explored briefly in Black Market) against him in a similar scenario to this

Hm, I do see your point. But it's a good storyline. Am I missing something if I suggest that perhaps Lee's character is the one that loses out in this gender bias, rather than Kara's?

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm not saying the Kacey storyline is sexist simply because Kara wasn't in the resistance. I find it kind of distasteful/annoying that they used Kara's nurturing side against her in a way they wouldn't be able to do or dream of doing for a male character. Does that make sense?

Like, the writers thought, well, of course, she has to take care of the kid AND come around and let Leoben have some of his happy family fantasy fulfilled, because she's a woman and that's what they do... blurgh. I mean I just can't envision them coming up with this storyline for a man.

I think it depends on how successful you think the storyline is. I go back and forth and honestly tend to see it as just torture/pain for her WITH NO FOLLOW THROUGH (after the hug in Torn), so I'm not a huge fan of it. I mean Maelstrom happens pretty soon after this, but it's hard to say Kacey changed Kara at all, other than furthering her PTSD.

And yes, I'd agree that Lee misses out on a lot of good storylines, but I still dislike the fact that they brought the kid into it. It seems a bit cheap to me somehow. The execution of it all.

[imelda72.livejournal.com]

I totally see where you're coming from.

I guess for me, for something to bother me as sexist it has to be harmful, or unfair, somehow. And while you could argue that this storyline furthers the "women are only important as mothers" stereotype, I don't think anyone saw Kara that way, even after Kacey. It didn't define or limit her character in any way-- like you said, it was just an experience that contributed to her trauma.

It's a fine line to walk, and I hesitate at the implication that maternal-ish storylines should be taboo for strong women, just because it's not done with men.

Lee misses out on a lot of good storylines,

He sure does. For me the defining aspects of his character are his rocky relationship with his dad, which was largely resolved in the mini, and his lifelong chase of Kara. Not much else about him seemed to be consistent, or sticks in my mental image of him. (I think even with all the fail, and the fact that Lee lives and Kara dies [twice], the writers did a better job with her character. Or is that just my Kara-bias rearing its forceful head?) ;-)