Masculine tropes: The Modern Prince Charming

After watching The Feminist Frequency, I realized that today's society(and Wellesley in particular) concentrates on the effect of media on women as well as their portrayal. However, I think the way that men are portrayed in media is just as important. Indeed, I think we can all agree that the way that men act and think has some important implications for women.

After thinking about a few popular TV shows and movies, I've divided the lead male characters into two main categories: Princes and Princesses. This post will discuss the former.

The modern-day Prince is a man who is witty, charming, handsome or some combination thereof. Ladies love him and men want to be him. Or kill him for making the ladies love him. He has a cool, suave demeanor and is often time aloof and mysterious.


And all of that seems to make up for the fact that he has some really important unsavory personality traits. In fact, he seems to always be forgiven for these offensive traits simply because he is charming and women fall all over themselves when present with a smooth talker. Let's examine few examples:

Don Draper is main male lead of the hit show Mad Men, a show about an advertising agency on Madison Avenue in the 1960's. Don's very job is to manipulate words and pander to clients. He is literally a master of seduction. In addition to looking dapper all the time in a well tailored suit, he also is occasionally the champion for the ladies(usually Peggy or Joan). He also has a beautiful Jaguar. However, he has also had numerous extramarital affairs...and he stole someone else's identity(which is a felony). But hey, he's handsome and debonair so we can let that all slide right?

Next up is Edward Cullen, sexy vampire protagonist of the Twilight Saga. He's sparkly and has perfectly tousled locks AT ALL THE TIMES. He's moody and broody but oh so handsome. His eyes smolder and his voice is melodious and appealing. So appealing, in fact, that Bella(his unremarkable mortal girlfriend) would throw herself off a cliff just to hear it in a flight of dementia. He is a mentally and emotionally abusive boyfriend who puts Bella in danger constantly because he wants to eat her every moment he's around her(and so does every other vampire). He eventually marries her, virtually erasing all conflicts that had been built up over the course of the first three books. So...he wins in the end, right? Also, he has a really nice car too (+1)

Lastly, Jacob Black is the anti-hero of Twilight. He is Edward's main competition for Bella's affection. Again, we really receive no insight into his character other than he's the "typical" teenage guy: angry and horny. We have no information about his interests outside of Cars and Bella. While Edward is icy and aloof, Jacob is supposed to radiate warmth and friendship. He's Bella's best friend and her attraction for him snuck up on her out of nowhere. He's incredibly tall, ripped and also has really sexy hair. In the third book of the saga, he sexually assaults her but this is covered up because he just loves her sooooo much and wants to give her the normal life that she can't have if she's with Edward. In the end he ends up falling in love with Bella's daughter and so he gets a happy ending as well. Jacob does not have an expensive car but he does have a shiny motorcycle.

What is particularly disturbing about these tropes is that they essentially are teaching guys that they can be good looking, rich or charming and get whatever they want(which basically means whichever women they want). The sad thing about that, is that I've observed this to be kind of true in my own life(but that doesn't make it okay). These men are physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive yet they basically can do anything they want because they can make women swoon so that they forget all those bad things. But you're Wellesley women...you won't forget.