lou's library

In the summer of 2023, I was browsing through a book store in Fort William with a dear friend (if you’re reading this: hiii, let’s go back to Scotland real soon please!!) when the title of a book caught my eye: Unlikeable Female Characters by Anna Bogutskaya. I picked it up to read the blurb on the back and was immediately sold (it mentioned Taylor Swift, that’s all it takes, really). I read it that summer and then once again a few weeks ago, and because I don’t see enough people rave about this nonfiction gem, I’ve decided to dedicate an entire blog post to it.

Basically, Unlikeable Female Characters is an analysis of the ways women are portrayed on screen. More specifically the women who do not get to play a heroine, or a cool girl. This book is about the mean girls, angry women, the sluts and psychos of TV and film. And I just think that is such a cool premise for a book, because all of us have consumed content in which women get shoehorned into these reductive stereotypes, and the messages that sends to girls and women all over the world is really rather concerning.

Anna Bogutskaya explains the way women get portrayed on screen through many examples, but you don’t need to have seen those movies or shows to be able to follow her argument. So, if you feel like you haven’t seen a lot of movies, don’t let that stop you from picking up this book. The author is not only a really funny and sharp writer, but also very good at summarising plot points in a way that makes it easy to follow.

To give you a bit of an idea of what to expect: Among the movies and shows that are being discussed are Ten Things I Hate About You, Fleabag, Mean Girls and Easy A. And don’t get me wrong, Anna Bogutskaya does not pretend like all the portrayals of women in these movies are problematic, she also shows examples of progressive instances, but makes it clear that they are rare.

And this discussion matters because films are part of culture, and culture plays a huge role in how we perceive the world we live in. I think the author puts it best herself:

The way an audience responds to a film, and more precisely to its characters, tells us a lot about the culture at large. To be even more precise – our response to female characters tells us a lot about what we find acceptable in women in real life. (page 22)

I found it refreshing to read a book that takes movies and TV shows seriously and doesn’t reduce their cultural impact. Unlikeable Female Characters is honestly one of my favourite nonfiction books ever, so much so that I’m intrigued by the author’s new book despite it being about horror and that’s something I don’t usually mess with. But I just might have to give it a go anyway.

The author lists a to watch list at the end of the book, full of the titles she mentions throughout and some extra ones she would recommend. I would love to make my way through that over the coming years (I have an endless list of movies to watch and then never do it, so years really is realistic for me here), and I can see myself returning to the book as I do so. It’s a treasure trove of wisdom and I do hope more people will pick it up!