Pandas with Purses

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falulatonks:

thequietworld:

ten reasons why castle is fabulous fucking tv | oh shit, gender politics

Okay, let’s talk feminism.

I would be lying if I didn’t mention explicitly that the treatment of gender on this show is one of the reasons why it continues to capture my attention every week. Castle is a show that has no political agenda whatsoever. It exists to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. In this manner, the characterization and development of gender relations comes off as completely naturalistic. I think it’s rare that one finds a show that is so organic in its treatment of gender and the particular arguments that come with it. Castle just has characters. That’s it. Characters who possess both weaknesses and strengths, without credit to sex. The character of Richard Castle is one unlike any other I have seen on TV, a metrosexual who has surrounded himself with strong and varied women. He does not need masculinity to make him feel particularly masculine, but rather, he finds strength through the women in his life, from his mother, to his daughter, to Kate Beckett. In his relationship with Beckett, there is rarely an alpha, they are simply two people with separate backgrounds who are both portrayed as flawed people who come to balance one another out. Not one possesses an upperhand in the relationship, not one seeks to change the other for the benefit of their own self. Though they are caught in a tried will-they-won’t-they formula, one does not guide the other, but they move together in an orbiting pattern. Castle always relishes in the strength of Beckett’s character rather than being occasionally repelled by it, it is shown to be what initially draws him to her in the first place. Beckett is not drawn to him by his lure of fame and riches, but she is tied to him on an emotional level. It is truly an instance in which the writers have found a way to balance the femininity and masculinity in both characters, i.e. Beckett possessing the typical trope associated with masculinity—- the role of the logical cop, even though her character is allowed to be extremely conventionally feminine. It is truly an instance in which the writers have found a perfect equilibrium between two people of the opposite sex. The treatment of feminism in the workplace comes across in a similar manner. Beckett is allowed to have general authority over Espo and Ryan, but it is a factor that is never addressed as particularly revolutionary for Beckett, or particularly problematic for Ryan and Espo. It just is. Espo and Ryan never undermine her authority, and she never abuses it. They are just strong characters with strong positions because they are good at their jobs.

My favorite part of the way this is played out is just the manner in which the writers set out in telling this tale. There is no feminist agenda, nor are there any significant misogynistic undertones. It’s almost as if the writers are just asking ‘well, shouldn’t characters just be written this way?’

Which, for me, is what the aim of any feminist agenda really should be. Naturalism.

My favourite thing about this is the second paragraph - all of this comes so naturally to the show, so it’s not taught or forced, but an easy quality to all of these people, which is fantastic.

(Source: formerlythequietworld)

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