- Position‹2 of 2
- No, Stephen King's novels are not sexist
- Argument1 of 2›
Stephen King's stories often show females as overcomers
Women overcome all odds in his books, showing strength.
The argument
On top of being strong, the female leads in Stephen King's novels are shown as overcomers, frequently triumphing over whatever was tormenting them. Proponents of this position argue that this pattern is what matters when weighing the charge of sexism, because it concerns what the women in the books finally do rather than only what is done to them along the way. Donna Trenton in Cujo kills the terrifying dog, ending the torment and finding revenge for the death of her son. She is triumphant, powerful. A woman killing a beast is not very common in many horror scenarios, so this is a powerful and rather feminist moment, and the decisive act belongs to her rather than to a rescuer. Carrie White triumphs over everyone who tormented her in Carrie. She finds her revenge on the terrible kids at her school and her abusive, crazy mother, and again the resolution of the story is hers to bring about. The third case shows the pattern holding even where the character does not survive. In 11/22/63, Sadie Dunhill perished but emerged victorious in the sense that she makes a difference in the world no matter what timeline she is in. She escapes an abusive relationship and supports her new one with all that she is. She's a survivor, and the book measures her by what she does rather than by what becomes of her. Read together, these are not isolated exceptions but a recurring structure across different books. It's a relief to see stories in which females are not just victims: women are shown as powerful, determined, and intelligent, and are given the decisive action in their own stories. Because Stephen King's stories often show females as overcomers in this way, his novels are not sexist.
Premises
Counter-arguments
Although these women triumph over evil, there is often not a valid reason why they are in these situations in the first place. The circumstances are unnecessary and could be told without putting women in these terrible situations.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] The situations they are placed in to overcome are sexist.