Gender-Shaming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is Ridiculous

Written by Creator Jake Kraemer on Creators.co

The first teaser trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was recently released, and, naturally, fans have tons of opinions. There is certainly a place for fan theories, easter eggs, breakdowns, and opinions in the online community. Fans have a right to pick apart their favorite content, but there is no place for baseless gender-shaming. Since the video has debuted, some fans have chastised the decision to make the protagonist of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story a female. Here are some of the examples that I found online:

Now, you must know that I am not a vocal feminist or anything like that. I do not even like the word "feminist" because I think people have too many different meanings for it. However, I do believe in equality. The silly thing is, the fact that the protagonist of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is female is not a statement of equality by Disney. Its simply fit with the story they were trying to tell.

Another common complaint online was that the Star Wars franchise as a whole is becoming too feminist. The proponents of this complaint usually cited the fact that the protagonist of the last Star Wars movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was female as proof that the franchise is headed in an all-female direction. However, when you examine the timeline of the Star Wars movies, this couldn't be farther from the truth. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a non-episode movie that fits in loosely with the plot in the seven episodes. On a timeline of the Star Wars movies,Rogue One: A Star Wars Story fits in between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. So, if you were to list the gender of the protagonists of the movies in order, it would look like this: male, male, male, female, male, male, male, female. The number of films with male protagonists triples the number of films with female protagonists, and there are always at least three movies with male protagonists in between movies with female protagonists. Given these numbers, it certainly doesn't seem like a female-oriented franchise.

Finally, to say that Star Wars movies should only have male protagonists seems to go against the ideas and themes embedded in them. Star Wars has always represented a place where anything can happen and anyone can exist. It is a franchise where seemingly impossible things happen: a young farm boy defeats the most powerful Sith lord, the weak Rebellion destroys the monstrous Death Star, the twisted Darth Vader reverts back to Anakin, etc. Also, anyone can exist in the Star Wars universe: a green muppet-looking being is the most powerful Jedi, a car-sized slug is a ruthless crime boss, a blue elephant is a famous musician, etc. Yet, people still do not think women can be heroes. This is ridiculous. I mean, c'mon, Star Wars is a place where Admiral Ackbar, who, might I remind you, is basically a red humanoid betta fish, is a respected general. If a betta fish can lead a rebellion, then a woman can certainly be a courageous protagonist. Any argument to the contrary is not only misogynistic, but also wrong, when you consider what Star Wars stands for.

How Wonder Woman Changed Me As A Guy

Written by Creator Adrian Varnavas Diakidis on Creators.co

Wonder Woman has been the most popular female superhero, and a feminist icon since the 1940's. She has been a symbol of strength and bravery for generations of women across the globe and a teacher of spirit and character to millions of others. Shining on t-shirts, landing striking images on magazine covers and selling tons of merchandise, we can easily say that she is one to be reckoned with.

But here is my problem. From a young age, boys are usually afflilated with Batman, Superman, or the Flash, and girls with Wonder Woman or Supergirl. But personally as a guy, I never felt a strong connection with DC's most beloved male superheroes. While one seemed too dark and pretty much scared me as a child, the other seemed a bit arrogant and too controlling (of course these are my personal opinions and the ways I see the characters). But I never read any Wonder Woman comic either, for it was connected with the female gender so much, it would make me feel shy and embarassed.

Throughout the years, as most people, I have been gone through gender based bullying which was not just derogatory towards me, but the female gender in general.

I have heard these phrases a million times, but even though in the beginning they made me feel horrible, as I slowly grew up I realized, "what the hell these are not even bad things". As I matured I was able to slowly spread my mind across ideas other than those around me. I began to read books, watch movies, surf the internet. And then one day, I borrowed a Justice League comic book from a friend of mine. And from there I got my first glimpse of my first female lead character, Wonder Woman.

Representation and 'The Walking Dead’