Now that all the brouhaha over Avatar is dying down, I wonder if anyone else is feeling like I do, that Director James Cameron was just fooling us again. He used what both my male and female friends agree were strong female characters. But wait. Before I give him any gold stars, maybe we should consider if the characters were more stereotypical than realistic. The biologist played by Sigourney Weaver was the token superbrain, reminding me of how women have to be geniuses in order to get the credit average men get. The combat pilot played by Michelle Rodriguez was the token superathlete, reminding me of how women have to be fast-reacting, musclebound, and self-sacrificing where men only have to be soldiers. Yawn. (Last week I met a real young woman who had just completed a tour of duty in Iraq, and she was interesting in many ways, but not the least bit butch.) And then there was the Na'vi princess love interest. All love interest characters seem to need to have impossible bodies, just in case any teenage girls might not have gotten the message yet that they have to be thin to be loved. Cameron must have believed he was being understanding and sympathetic to women's issues by making use of these characters, but he was just making further contributions to a society that keeps women down.

Avatar was embraced overwhelmingly by young men as the best sci-fi story ever, largely I suppose for the wonderful special effects in 3-D. But I cringe when I think of boys watching these images of women, and not even noticing what they are seeing. The second-class treatment of women is so entrenched in our society that it's invisible to them. Boys absorb the idea that their ideal mates must be thin the way they absorb the idea that pink is sissy. Yesterday, at my workout, an episode of The Simpsons was on the gym TV, so I watched it for ten minutes and counted the male characters to female. It was twelve to one. Even in other Simpsons episodes when Lisa goes on her intelligent crusades, where you'd think we can applaud the treatment of females in fiction, she fails to make a lasting impact. The male characters give a nod to her righteousness and go back to their vacuous pursuits as before, while still somehow remaining the leaders. Our boys are learning that no amount of appalling behaviour will prevent men from carrying the story! No wonder our girls feel such a disconnect.

There is a a real danger of the women's movement losing ground because the younger women think all the battles are over. And it is more difficult to fight the more subtle messages that you have pointed out. Complaining about blatant discrimination, for example help wanted ads that designate men or women back in the old days was so much simpler. Also I think except for so-called "chick flicks", movie makers think young males are the only worthwhile audience. But I don't know how we can change that.

I agree this is a huge issue, and I like Geena's organization. Maybe I'll do an article on that next issue. Thanks TL and Terry.