Bitchwatch, part one
May. 18th, 2008 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apocalypsos(Oh, man, my internet picked a fine time to want to go out. *headdesk*)
So with all of the feminist outcry over this season's misogynistic bend, and the response of some people that ... well, it's not, I wanted to go back and double-check something. Most of the focus of this outcry has been on Dean, since his attitudes towards women have -- at least to some of us -- changed in the last season. So I went back through transcripts and (now that I've run out of them) the actual episodes looking for every instance in which the words bitch, slut, skank, and whore are used by anyone, but with a focus on Dean.
All of these are times in which Dean used the word in question in the listed episode, whom he said it about or to, and -- more often than not -- when he said it simply as a turn of phrase and not as a pointed remark towards a character. The numbers listed indicate the number of times he said the turn of phrase or called the character by said name during the episode. (So far, I've only reached one instance for each, but I expect that to possibly be a problem when I hit season three, so I'm planning ahead.)
Also included is each instance when Sam says the word in question (obviously less often than Dean). Instances when other characters say the words in question are listed below. Since Dean is the focus of all the misogyny wank, I focused on his language specifically.
SEASON ONE
Bitch
Pilot (Constance, 1; Sam, 1)
Wendigo (Wendigo, 1; "Sons of bitches", 1)
Skin ("Son of a bitch", 1*)
Asylum ("Son of a bitch", 1)
Faith (The Snuggle Bear, 1)
Route 666 ("You son of a bitch," re: Killer Racist Truck, 1)
The Benders ("Son of a bitch," 1; "These locks are going to be a bitch," 1)**
Shadow ("Bitching," 1; To Sam, re: Meg, 1) ***
Hell House ("Bitch-slap," said by Sam, 1; "Son of a bitch", 1; "Son of a bitch," said by Sam, 1)
Something Wicked ("Son of a bitch", 1)
Dead Man's Blood ("Son of a bitch," 1) *****
Salvation ("Son of a Bitch," 1) ******
Devil's Trap (Meg, 1; "Evil sons of bitches," to Meg re: demons, 1; "Son of a bitch", 1) ******* Also, in this instance where Dean calls Meg a bitch, he follows it up by backhanding her.
Slut
No instances in season one.
Skank
Hell House ****
Whore
No instances in season one.
* "Son of a bitch" also said by Shapeshifter!Dean, which I didn't count.
** Character of Pa refers to Kathleen as "bitch" twice, character of Jared refers to her as "bitch"
*** John refers to the demon as "one scary son of a bitch"
**** One of the boys who enters the Hell House refers to the jars in the cellar as "skank-filled."
***** John refers to Daniel Elkins as "that son of a bitch" and the demon as a "bad son of a bitch." Luthur calls John "you son of a bitch."
****** John says "son of a bitch" after finding out about Pastor Jim.
******* Meg calls Dean a "son of a bitch."
IN SUMMATION
Over the course of twenty-two episodes, Dean only refers to two female characters as "bitches," Constance and Meg. (Apparently, the Snuggle Bear is a boy.) Both of these instances occurred after Constance and Meg attacked the boys. Which doesn't excuse it, obviously, but still. The one time he calls Meg a bitch to her face, he backhands her right afterwards, although his father's been kidnapped and he's looking for answers and she's toying with him so he's a little touchy. (Does anybody else remember being shocked that Dean was THAT out of his mind that he'd hit her? I remember everybody being struck by that, no pun intended.)
Once you get rid of the instances in which the phrase "son of a bitch" or other phrases using the word "bitch" are used and boil it down to the instances in which Dean specifically refers to a character as a bitch, he actually refers to more males (Sam, the Wendigo, the Snuggle Bear) that way than he does females (Constance and Meg), although he does call them bitches an equal number of times. He calls a male character a bitch three times during the season, and he calls a female character a bitch three times during the season. Meg lucks out and gets called a bitch twice.
Also, the Benders call a female character a bitch more in one episode than Dean does to other female characters all season long. If that counts for anything.
I'll get season two up just as soon as I finish rewatching "Heart" and "Hollywood Babylon." After that, I'm going to have to either find season three scripts somewhere or go on a downloading spree. (Unless anybody wants to help out by documenting the times the words turn up in the episodes I don't have, which would be fabulous.)
So with all of the feminist outcry over this season's misogynistic bend, and the response of some people that ... well, it's not, I wanted to go back and double-check something. Most of the focus of this outcry has been on Dean, since his attitudes towards women have -- at least to some of us -- changed in the last season. So I went back through transcripts and (now that I've run out of them) the actual episodes looking for every instance in which the words bitch, slut, skank, and whore are used by anyone, but with a focus on Dean.
All of these are times in which Dean used the word in question in the listed episode, whom he said it about or to, and -- more often than not -- when he said it simply as a turn of phrase and not as a pointed remark towards a character. The numbers listed indicate the number of times he said the turn of phrase or called the character by said name during the episode. (So far, I've only reached one instance for each, but I expect that to possibly be a problem when I hit season three, so I'm planning ahead.)
Also included is each instance when Sam says the word in question (obviously less often than Dean). Instances when other characters say the words in question are listed below. Since Dean is the focus of all the misogyny wank, I focused on his language specifically.
Bitch
Pilot (Constance, 1; Sam, 1)
Wendigo (Wendigo, 1; "Sons of bitches", 1)
Skin ("Son of a bitch", 1*)
Asylum ("Son of a bitch", 1)
Faith (The Snuggle Bear, 1)
Route 666 ("You son of a bitch," re: Killer Racist Truck, 1)
The Benders ("Son of a bitch," 1; "These locks are going to be a bitch," 1)**
Shadow ("Bitching," 1; To Sam, re: Meg, 1) ***
Hell House ("Bitch-slap," said by Sam, 1; "Son of a bitch", 1; "Son of a bitch," said by Sam, 1)
Something Wicked ("Son of a bitch", 1)
Dead Man's Blood ("Son of a bitch," 1) *****
Salvation ("Son of a Bitch," 1) ******
Devil's Trap (Meg, 1; "Evil sons of bitches," to Meg re: demons, 1; "Son of a bitch", 1) ******* Also, in this instance where Dean calls Meg a bitch, he follows it up by backhanding her.
Slut
No instances in season one.
Skank
Hell House ****
Whore
No instances in season one.
* "Son of a bitch" also said by Shapeshifter!Dean, which I didn't count.
** Character of Pa refers to Kathleen as "bitch" twice, character of Jared refers to her as "bitch"
*** John refers to the demon as "one scary son of a bitch"
**** One of the boys who enters the Hell House refers to the jars in the cellar as "skank-filled."
***** John refers to Daniel Elkins as "that son of a bitch" and the demon as a "bad son of a bitch." Luthur calls John "you son of a bitch."
****** John says "son of a bitch" after finding out about Pastor Jim.
******* Meg calls Dean a "son of a bitch."
Over the course of twenty-two episodes, Dean only refers to two female characters as "bitches," Constance and Meg. (Apparently, the Snuggle Bear is a boy.) Both of these instances occurred after Constance and Meg attacked the boys. Which doesn't excuse it, obviously, but still. The one time he calls Meg a bitch to her face, he backhands her right afterwards, although his father's been kidnapped and he's looking for answers and she's toying with him so he's a little touchy. (Does anybody else remember being shocked that Dean was THAT out of his mind that he'd hit her? I remember everybody being struck by that, no pun intended.)
Once you get rid of the instances in which the phrase "son of a bitch" or other phrases using the word "bitch" are used and boil it down to the instances in which Dean specifically refers to a character as a bitch, he actually refers to more males (Sam, the Wendigo, the Snuggle Bear) that way than he does females (Constance and Meg), although he does call them bitches an equal number of times. He calls a male character a bitch three times during the season, and he calls a female character a bitch three times during the season. Meg lucks out and gets called a bitch twice.
Also, the Benders call a female character a bitch more in one episode than Dean does to other female characters all season long. If that counts for anything.
I'll get season two up just as soon as I finish rewatching "Heart" and "Hollywood Babylon." After that, I'm going to have to either find season three scripts somewhere or go on a downloading spree. (Unless anybody wants to help out by documenting the times the words turn up in the episodes I don't have, which would be fabulous.)
