To me, 'slut' and 'whore' aren't gender specific words. I'm just as likely, if not more so, to call a man a slut as I would a woman. The same mostly goes for 'bitch' even though it does have a feminine origin. Granted, I'm not too keen on the idea of censorship and understand that any word boils down to its intention, so to me it feels like sometimes too much weight is put onto the word itself. Words aren't harsh; people are.
The idea here, though, that people are calling Lori a slut or a whore? That's crap. Absolutely absurd. End of the world setting where your odds of survival are sporadic at best, she thinks her husband is dead (for a month or two, going by the comics, which is a lifetime in their new setting), and she appears to be monogamous with the person she's currently sleeping with (someone who from her perspective has done nothing but help her AND her son stay alive through everything)... that doesn't at all scream slut to me. Was it because she immediately slept with her husband when he returned, effectively cutting Shane off? Having Rick show up, after she was told he was dead, was a complete game changer. Not only in terms of her resurfacing loyalty to her still-breathing husband, but also in terms of what she's realizing about Shane.
I've not been into the fandom to see these thoughts on Lori, but I have to wonder... what do they think of Shane? From the very start, they show that he has no respect for women and is quite a misogynist. Now, he's no Ed (Carol's husband, that Shane beat up at the waterside) but he certainly has a possessive, manipulative, controlling nature about him when it comes to women. It's obvious he feels he's superior to all women, and probably even most men for that matter. At least with Ed, you know you're dealing with a dumb asshole. But with Shane, it's hard to tell what to expect. He's the type of person that seems like a good guy - and still kind of is - but you can tell things just aren't right with him. What makes him so scary is that you don't really know how far he will take his opinions and ideals. How much of his 'ways' is he hiding?
I think having these harsher stereotypical characters from the onset of the series is a sort of commentary on human nature, that will also allow for character growth as these stubborn cliches will be forced to change and reassess their previous ways. We're in Oz: things start out black and white, then color will be added as the characters evolve. Which has the possibility for some to become worse, not better, simply by how they perceive their new environments but I think that will provide a great contrast to those that are changing for the better. This variety is my favorite thing about character studies.
no subject
The idea here, though, that people are calling Lori a slut or a whore? That's crap. Absolutely absurd. End of the world setting where your odds of survival are sporadic at best, she thinks her husband is dead (for a month or two, going by the comics, which is a lifetime in their new setting), and she appears to be monogamous with the person she's currently sleeping with (someone who from her perspective has done nothing but help her AND her son stay alive through everything)... that doesn't at all scream slut to me. Was it because she immediately slept with her husband when he returned, effectively cutting Shane off? Having Rick show up, after she was told he was dead, was a complete game changer. Not only in terms of her resurfacing loyalty to her still-breathing husband, but also in terms of what she's realizing about Shane.
I've not been into the fandom to see these thoughts on Lori, but I have to wonder... what do they think of Shane? From the very start, they show that he has no respect for women and is quite a misogynist. Now, he's no Ed (Carol's husband, that Shane beat up at the waterside) but he certainly has a possessive, manipulative, controlling nature about him when it comes to women. It's obvious he feels he's superior to all women, and probably even most men for that matter. At least with Ed, you know you're dealing with a dumb asshole. But with Shane, it's hard to tell what to expect. He's the type of person that seems like a good guy - and still kind of is - but you can tell things just aren't right with him. What makes him so scary is that you don't really know how far he will take his opinions and ideals. How much of his 'ways' is he hiding?
I think having these harsher stereotypical characters from the onset of the series is a sort of commentary on human nature, that will also allow for character growth as these stubborn cliches will be forced to change and reassess their previous ways. We're in Oz: things start out black and white, then color will be added as the characters evolve. Which has the possibility for some to become worse, not better, simply by how they perceive their new environments but I think that will provide a great contrast to those that are changing for the better. This variety is my favorite thing about character studies.