Game Of Thrones Gender Essay

Game of Thrones: Gender, Sexuality, Class, and Social Stratification It is very common for several TV shows or movies to reflect real life society, depending on what genre. Game of Thrones, a TV adaptation of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series depicts our society very well; despite the fact that it takes place in a fantasy medieval-like land, called Westeros. This show puts an emphasis on both gender and sexuality, with men being dominant in that society while women are often referred to as the inferior. It also includes several double standards for men and women and comprises compulsory heterosexuality. The show also heavily focuses on class and social stratification: the differences between two of the main classes in the

Men are seen as superior, while women are the inferior sex. The two are sorted into their specific gender roles as they were many years ago, and still are today. Jobs and duties are especially gendered in the show. For example, men are seen as warriors and are very strong. Women, on the other hand, are only meant to cook the food and clean the house, or in the case of highborn women, provide heirs for their husband. Noble women’s opinions are not completely trusted the way the men’s’ opinions are: “My mother wishes me to let Lord Eddard join the Night 's Watch. Stripped of all titles and powers, he would serve the realm in permanent exile. And my Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father. But they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I am your king, treason shall never go unpunished. Sir Ilyn, bring me his head” (“Game of Thrones”). In this particular scene, Lord Eddard is to be shown mercy so long as he swear featly to King Joffrey. His mother, Queen Regent Cersei had previously advised him to not execute the prisoner, as it would start a war that he would not be able to win. Nevertheless, the King believes that the opinions of the women are not valid and executes Eddard, starting a war. In this society, gender roles are very divided, but not as much as they used to be: “We typically accept ‘masculine men’ and ‘feminine women’ as normal. That is, we expect

Something that is heavily believed in by most characters is called compulsory heterosexuality: “Even today, many people assume that individuals should desire only members of the opposite sex. Sociologists call this assumption compulsory heterosexuality” (Brym 79). Less people believe in this as they used to; however, it is still a present belief in some people. Compulsory heterosexuality is very much demonstrated in the Game of Thrones world. Marriages to make alliances are done so only between men and women and those who are even rumored to be anything other than heterosexual are immediately considered an outcast. While in their land, it’s a violation of social norms, it isn’t against the law just yet: “No, he was a known degenerate…I’ve considered making his perversion punishable by death” (“Game of Thrones”). In this scene, Margaery reveals to her fiancée that her ex-husband wasn’t interested in the company of women, to which the King responds that he wants to make anything other than being heterosexual punishable by death. He does not say this in front of anyone other than her, it is suggested that many people who he rules over agree with him and would be perfectly fine with him making this law. However, there is one area of the kingdoms, called Dorne, where the people do not agree with this. Rather than believing in heterosexuality, they believe in something called the queer theory: “The provocatively labeled stream of