Gender in Once Upon a Time

 

Early in Once Upon a Time’s second season, there’s a multi-episode Enchanted Forest subplot that involves four people on a quest.  As I was watching this arc play out, I had to stop for a moment at marvel that all four of these characters are women.  How often on non-Sex and the City shows do you even see four female characters together at once, let alone making them all heroes?

 

Now, I’m not saying that Once Upon a Time is without gender problems.  The female villains have a greater tendency than their male counterparts to be spurred on by petty motivations, and some of the Storybrooke versions of the season 1 women are pretty painful.  (I realize it’s intentional – since the curse was designed as Regina’s revenge against Snow, it makes sense that, under the curse, the tough and capable Snow becomes the rather wan and milquetoast Mary Margaret – but it still bugs.)  Nevertheless, from a gender perspective, this show does a tremendous amount right.

 

For starters, there are scads of strong women, and the strength of each is characterized differently.  The basically-just-men-with-boobs Strong Women archetypes are avoided, and we instead get a fantastic mix of women who bring different skills to the table and present their gender in different ways.  Not all of them have to kick butt, those who like to wear flowy dresses aren’t in any way diminished by their femininity, and being girlfriends, wives, or mothers don’t take away their qualities as individuals or make them any less strong.

 

I already mentioned Snow, who, in addition to being an excellent fighter, exudes indefatigable warmth and strength of character (I get that the writers have let her drift from what she was in season 1, but I’m talking about all of these characters at their best.)  Red has had to face up to incredible darkness within herself and has learned to use it to help her friends.  Mulan is an undaunted warrior who uses brusqueness to mask her vulnerability.  Belle attacks problems by doing research and searching for hidden answers.  Ariel crosses worlds to find the human she loves.  Aurora stands up to a sorceress against whom she’s clearly unmatched, because she refuses to be made a pawn.  And from our world, Emma is guarded and damaged but perceptive, smart, and brave. 

 

It really reminds me how excellent most of the Disney princesses are.  There’s a tendency to think of Tangled, Frozen, or Brave as a new era of strong princesses that young girls can look up to, but the girls in those movies don’t spring from nowhere.  Disney has a long list of female characters who use their minds, their determination, and their bravery to accomplish their goals.  Once Upon a Time does well to draw from these characters, and it does a fabulous job building up those like Snow, whose source material do them no favors.

 

And generally, the show does a fine job gender-wise with their male characters as well.  Heroes like Charming and gradually-reforming black hats like Hook are allowed to be emotional and strong, and they recognize that their emotions don’t make them weak.  Charming is also one of several devoted, involved fathers on the show, and the men who love these heroic women don’t feel their masculinity threatened by their wives’, friends’, daughters’, or girlfriends’ awesomeness.  Sad as it is to say so, that’s incredibly refreshing.