Once upon a time, the relationship between True Blood's Jason Stackhouse and his vampire girlfriend Violet was a refreshing twist on the woman-seduced-by-danger dynamic that dominates the HBO series. (Even Jessica was facing danger when she had sex because she's anatomically a virgin forever thanks to that pesky healing trick that vampires do.) Violet was domineering and she was determined to own their relationship. It was up to her when and how she and Jason had sex, no matter how great his playboy moves were. Then True Blood Season 7 happened and all of that went out the window.
In Episode 2 of this season, Violet demands that Jason practically force her into sex. In Episode 3, she becomes furious when Jason says he wants to have a family and that seeing all this death is making him feel things. She calls him a "girl" and says she wants him to be an old fashioned warrior with an "iron forged cock." "Fuck being modern," she growls. She wants to live in an old fashioned romance novel, apparently.
Now, I'm all about sticking with the "to each her own" mentality when it comes to sex, but the idea that Jason is a "girl" for having feelings is absolutely ridiculous. Even more insulting is the notion that Jason caring about wanting to have a family is somehow feminine, as if that is a gendered sentiment. It's complete bullshit.
But it's not just Violet. Earlier in the episode, we see Sookie balk at the idea of having children with her non-endgame boyfriend Alcide. We all know she's working her way towards Bill Compton by series end, so when she says, hesitantly, "He wants to have kids..." we hear that ellipses as "and I don't want kids." Alcide, who's always been the most emotional of Sookie's suitors, seems like the big, mushy too emotional guy we're supposed to be getting over. Emotions? Familial intentions? How girlish, right?
Of course, it's refreshing to see a female character who isn't consumed by having babies and children and it's even more refreshing to see two of them. But the writers have undermined that could-be victory by turning around and "insulting" a family-inclined, emotional man like Jason and calling him a "girl" for defying the period-piece standards of what a man should want or be.
Of course, we haven't really come to expect a truly realistic or sensical portrayal of any sort of person from this show. The idea that the series could find no issue with calling a man "a girl" for having feelings goes hand in hand with the idea that showing Sarah Newlin practically singing "Namasteeeee!" as she orgasms while having sex with her guru is a great plot twist. It's all complete and total nonsense.
Image: HBO
