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helena_chris's review
slow-paced
2.5
Editor's, please do your job.
While I enjoyed this book for what it is, it gets repetitive and is far from objective. The notes at the bottom of pages are often passing the line from feminist into man-hating territory. My favorite chapters were the ones on the bitch and the shrew.
While I enjoyed this book for what it is, it gets repetitive and is far from objective. The notes at the bottom of pages are often passing the line from feminist into man-hating territory. My favorite chapters were the ones on the bitch and the shrew.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Sexism, and Sexual violence
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
“And generally speaking, people are accustomed to judging women for the same bad behavior or traits that they accept in men. Hence why the phrase ‘unlikeable female characters’ has become a catchall that refers to any and all female characters, heroines, or sidekicks that dare to not give a damn what other people think about them.”
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC of Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate by Anna Bogutskaya!
I was immediately pulled in and I didn’t want to put it down, but tried to slow down and take my time with it. Interesting to read this especially after watching Daisy Jones and The Six, since they severely toned down Daisy to be more palatable/“likeable” on screen compared to how she’s presented in the book.
The book explores the nine tropes that make-up our unlikeable female characters on screen: the Bitch, the Mean Girl, the Angry Woman, the Slut, the Crazy Woman, the Psycho, the Trainwreck, the Shrew, and the Weirdo.
Accessible, easy to understand as a casual reader interested in the topic. I love books about media and sociology so this was right up my alley! It’s filled with plenty of research without being dry, and filled with the occasional funny footnotes that made me giggle. We see the evolution of the “unlikeable female characters” from old Hollywood to the present, and I learned a lot about the evolution of film! I also liked the list of movies at the end with each of the tropes discussed (I have a few new movies to check out)☺️
I was immediately pulled in and I didn’t want to put it down, but tried to slow down and take my time with it. Interesting to read this especially after watching Daisy Jones and The Six, since they severely toned down Daisy to be more palatable/“likeable” on screen compared to how she’s presented in the book.
The book explores the nine tropes that make-up our unlikeable female characters on screen: the Bitch, the Mean Girl, the Angry Woman, the Slut, the Crazy Woman, the Psycho, the Trainwreck, the Shrew, and the Weirdo.
Accessible, easy to understand as a casual reader interested in the topic. I love books about media and sociology so this was right up my alley! It’s filled with plenty of research without being dry, and filled with the occasional funny footnotes that made me giggle. We see the evolution of the “unlikeable female characters” from old Hollywood to the present, and I learned a lot about the evolution of film! I also liked the list of movies at the end with each of the tropes discussed (I have a few new movies to check out)☺️
I was glad that Bogutskaya provided an intersectional view when discussing the archetypes and how they’re usually for white women (also usually thin and rich). She briefly examines WOC and the different stereotypes they’re put into in film and media as variations to the main tropes discussed; she mainly focuses on the use of the “Dragon Lady”, “Angry Black Woman”, and “Spicy Latina” tropes.
I know I’ve used the term “unlikeable” about characters before when reviewing books, but I didn’t realize the negative connotations the word had behind it when applied to women so after reading this I’m going to try and be better in my reviews. It’s okay to not like a character but I’ll be trying to expand on what I didn’t like about the character rather than labeling them as simply unlikeable, especially because every reader is different in what they do or don’t like about the characters.
It’s hard to explain that I don’t mind “unlikeable” characters in books, and enjoy complex, flawed portrayals but I need something….unnameable I suppose that makes me want to keep reading (especially if the plot and/or writing style are not holding my interest) 😅
I highly recommend checking this out, whether you’re casually interested in the topic or if you’re like me and enjoy reading about media/pop culture influences on society and feminism. I’ll definitely be adding a physical copy to my shelves when it’s released!
TW/CW: all of them (usually referenced/briefly mentioned)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Racism
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