LISBETH SALANDER - A ROLE MODEL? by ANTHONY HUMPHREYS

I’m sure that most readers are familiar with, or have at least heard of, the above heroine of the Steig Larsson Millennium trilogy. She seems to have risen to prominence after the recent Hollywood remake of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ film and is now claimed by a lot of women to be a role
model for the modern woman.  The purpose of this article is to question this and highlight how this view further deepens inequality against men in modern society.

Let us be clear about what characteristics the character has – she is an anti social, mentally unstable, a-sexual misfit with a deep distrust / dislike of most men. And let us not forget that she is also, most
sickeningly, a rapist.

I am fully aware critics of this view will point to the fact she has reasons for why she has turned out as above but that is the whole point. When a woman performs any heinous crime (such as rape, abuse, murder etc….) she is always able to successfully absolve all blame and responsibility
by claiming a valid reason.

However, a man in the same situation is not allowed this 'luxury' and this is what leads to the inequality this character embodies. As an example imagine, if you will,  the roles  were reversed in this film and it was the male character taking revenge on her – would people find this acceptable still? Would men be able to claim the male character as a role model as women do with the Lisbeth character now? I think not – he would still be (rightly so) denigrated for taking revenge and it would
be said there is never any reason to perform any such action (which is true).

LET ME BE CLEAR: LIKE ALL RIGHT MINDED PEOPLE I BELIEVE ANY
CRIME SUCH AS RAPE IS DISGUSTING AND SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN TO ANYONE.

But that is what I am trying to get across: whatever her reasons the female character in the film should not have done it and the fact that she did and it is celebrated shows that violence against men in the media and films is becoming acceptable.

As an example of this attitude (and this is 100% true) I discussed the film with a female colleague. She originally said that it was hard to watch due to the scene where the Lisbeth character is assaulted which made her feel sick and was disgusting.

However, when the subject of Lisbeths revenge came up minutes later she suddenly found this shockingly violent act acceptable and amusing. This in my view perfectly highlights the inequality in attitude between men and women on this subject – either this sort of act is disgusting and sickening or it is not, you can’t start picking and choosing based on subjective individual reasons.

 In effect what my colleague was saying was violence of this sort is acceptable as long as it’s by women against men.

I find it most worrying that, despite the above defects, the character is always referenced in positive overall terms in the media and the majority of women find her someone to aspire too because she is “badass”. Mark my words, if a generation of Lisbeth Salanders are allowed to grow up things
will grow steadily worse for men.

Posted by Anthony Humphreys

Comments

[Ian]

It is only the white knights, mangina's and old shed boys kinging their make believe castles that hang on to things.

There is a final solution to feminism, it is so simple. It is sitting right in front of you.

Men...DOWN TOOLS.

..it will be over in ONE week, think about it if you have the capacity to think on large scale social engineering terms.

The only men who would not support that move, are those who are not really in this for what matters..but for themselves and other motives.

[Dave]

Great article. The problem for men is that they're now stuck in a vicious circle where the media has taken advantage of male weakness i.e. homed in on their lack of emotion coupled with their sheer lack of capability to protect themselves and consequently launched a successful and lucrative onslaught of male bashing which men can't seem to collectively prevent and women smugly ignore because it doesn't affect them! And because there aren't significant numbers complaining, and because there are more and more women working in the media, it continues....

So it seems that male bashing sells. And that's why every other advert, film, music video, soap etc. is ram-packed with double standards like Anthony's example.

And it really doesn't help that most young lads of today's generation are so desperate to impress their girlfriends that they'll put up with virtually anything rather than risking being told to "man up" or some other shaming tactic that is designed to harden men even further until they crumple into mindless, emotionless beings who can only associate being male with all the negative aspects of life.

I have to confess that in some ways I blame men for allowing all of this to happen. It is the men in the audiences (along with the women) who laugh and cheer when a man gets hurt. It is those same men who charmingly sympathise when a woman gets hurt. The male audience is completely indoctrinated with the notion that inflicting harm upon women is bad whilst at the same time they fully support harm against men.

I could go on and on and on...but something needs to be done to stop this vicious circle before society completely breaks down. We need to change the behaviour of our young male population such that they learn to protect themselves by demanding some respect. Once droves of males actually start complaining, only then will the likes of ofcom, film directors, the Advertising authorities, the marketing directors of companies, TV soap directors etc. will realise that this vicious circle of abuse must come to an end.

So surely the ultimate goal is to change the behaviour of our young males such that they recognise double standard abuse aimed square at them and get them to start complaining.

[Ian]

An excellent comment Dave, one all should listen to and act on. Mine above may be a final solution, more to make a point of stark fact than anything, but I know it is one which won't happen because of Men and their inherent weakness.

I like you, also blame the men amongst us, without those weak men, feminism and misandry would have no fulcrum upon which to lever it's agenda.

[Ian]

If you wish to target the now well brainwashed young men, you have to do it in media, music, movies, games and TV. It is the core of all social brainwashing.

The Olympics should have made us all aware of that!!

[croi]

The character, Lisbeth, is a sexual abuse victim who, as a young child, killed the man who was abusing her and her mother. She spends years in a mental asylum where she is further abused. When she leaves the asylum on licence, the man legally responsible for her makes it clear she has to have sex with him in order to remain free. She tries to refuse and he forces her with violence. He's about to do the same to her a second time when she turns the tables. The torture/rape scene where she takes revenge isn't funny - in fact it's distressing and sick - but in her traumatised mind it's a case of 'taking the power back', not just on that one rapist but on all the men who abused her.

Trust me, very, very few women 'aspire' to be a mentally-troubled rape victim turned torturer. And can I just point out that these books were written by a man, with the apparent aim of highlighting systematic violence against women.

[John Kimble]

Good to see a new writer on the blog.