Sansa Stark’s Role as Women

Sansa Stark. Why does everyone hate her? She is hated because she meets societies explanation of a woman. She is hated because she is caught up in girly things and as Rhiannon states in her post “In Defense of Sansa Stark – Feminist Fiction”, “the viewers have been taught that “girly” is automatically bad.” This is a misogynistic time period and as a woman in this time period they are expected to wear long dresses, look pretty, and have children. Sansa behaves exactly like this and as a result she is the most loved character in the book yet, the most hated in the real world.

The hatred towards Sansa is honestly unnecessary, because all she knows is that women are supposed to wear long beautiful dresses, look pretty 24/7, and have children. She does not deserve to be hated because it her it is her role as women in book and it is her prerogative as a human being to carry herself in a manner that works for her. Sansa based her future off the fairy tales she was told, so shouldn’t we really be angry at the sexist expectations of her society instead of her? She expects to marry a king so she can be his beautiful queen and carry his princes and princesses. Because she fits into this role she is seen as “weak, manipulative, stupid, and generally inferior.”, Rhiannon states.  Audiences today despise Sansa because she embraces her femininity, but it’s notable that if she was to act like her sister, Arya Stark who the opposite of their society’s expectation of a women, Sansa would then be looked down upon by the other characters in the book because she is different. So, either way no matter how Sansa, Arya, and every single woman in America acts, they will always be punished for embracing and rejecting roles expected of women.

Brienne is the exact opposite of societies explanations of a woman. She wears armor instead of dresses, not very pretty, and does not have any kids. She is taller, and stronger than most men, and as a result she is looked at as less of a woman in the book, but a strong female character in the real world. She is tall, stronger than majority of the men in the book, and not all that pretty. In “The Women of Game of Thrones: A Study on Gender Roles” author Angel Wilson talks about how Brienne is always being picked on by the male characters because they are not used to seeing a woman act like a man and in the GOT culture it is not seen as a positive thing. Like Sansa, the audience is not used to seeing a woman embrace their feminine qualities and is seen as a negative aspect.

Just like Brienne who is seen as an outsider in the book because of her masculine characteristics, Arya Stark is seen as an outsider as well because she is the foil character of Sansa Stark. She is the definition of a tomboy, not only does she refuse to wear a dress, but enjoys playing with swords, and wear helmets. The audience’s attitude towards her is positive. Like Brienne they see her as a strong female character because she embraces the role of a male character as well. However, in the book the characters attitude towards her is negative. They despised her and looked down on her because she refused to follow the female gender expectations.

There are other characters in the book that take on the role of a man and are the most loved out of all the characters and that is Brienne of Tarth and Arya Stark. They push back on what society wants women to be. Both wear armor instead of dresses and does not care about their look. They aren’t trying to impress anybody and that’s what makes them so lovable. Both are seen as strong female characters (a character that is the total opposite of a damsel in distress character) by the audience because of how they embrace the characteristics of a male. However, in the book they are outsiders because they take on the characteristics of a male. Both get picked on by the men and are treated as if they aren’t females. The hatred that Sansa, Arya, and Brienne receive shows that no matter women will always be attacked. Think about how women are compared to men in the real world. When women excel in traditionally masculine areas such as sports, they are not valued, just as Brienne and Arya are not valued in Westeros. For example, in women’s sports like basketball women are paid less, and criticized more. Whereas men are paid more, more people watch them, and are criticized less. Women receive no attention or respect when it comes to sports (unless we are dunking a basketball and that barely gets attention). Women cannot win in both the GOT culture and reality. We are either hated if we are too girly and dependent on someone else or hated because we are too masculine and independent. 

Women today don’t want their identity to be like Sansa, but like Arya. Arya is independent and knows how to use a sword to protect herself. However, we shouldn’t judge her for being what society wanted her to be, but instead we should learn to accept feminine behavior. Being a girly girl doesn’t make you less of a person.

As the series goes on Sansa begins to evolve and becomes stronger. Instead of getting better with sword skills like Brienne and Arya, she begins to understand how depend on her feminine qualities and uses it to protect herself. Most of the audience hates her because of the way she acted when everything was all lollipops and rainbows in Winterfell but when things get worse while she is at Kings Landing the way she acts is not so bad. Before the death of her father Sansa was all for marrying Joffrey and having his kids, but after her soon to be hubby had her father beheaded, Sansa begins to change. At one point in the book Joffrey takes Sansa to the where her father’s head was, and he made her look at it so she will know what would happen to her if she ever decides to commit treason. She was so upset with Joffrey that she goes to push him of the bridge they were standing on, of course she was stopped (I really wish she wasn’t stopped) but at that moment Sansa’s attitude begins to change. 

In the book her and King Joffrey, a psychopath, are supposed to get married (bad idea by the way), because that is what her parents and Septa taught her. She quickly realizes that she does not want to marry him anymore after he had her father beheaded in front of her but at this point it is too late. After the death of her father, Sansa begins to use her feminine qualities to stay alive. Some of the decisions that Sansa makes is mostly for survival. Her relationship with King Joffrey is like a chess match. Every move that she makes could get her head mounted on the wall of Kings Landing all because her soon to be husband is unpredictable.

All societies have expectations for women, whether it is in the real world or the Game of Thrones world. Both see women as either to girly or to masculine and as a result of that women can’t win. The audience’s reaction to these characteristics are because our society does not value femininity. Why? Because that is how we think as a culture and that is what we see in our books and a lot of our TV shows/ media, and it needs to change. Respect Sansa Stark.