iCarly and Femininity

I think it's reasonable for a woman to be able to snap a bone even if no ass-kicking per se is involved.

Can *anyone* snap a bone?

If so, I'm sure there are women who could do it.

At any rate since this girl DIDN'T snap anyone's bones -- she just went medieval on the bully's ass and then shoved her out the door, apparently fine -- I don't think it's too literal. It means: "You're tough and not afraid to get in a fight if needed and I like that." You seem to disagree?

I'm saying that as long as it's just that personality type I don't find it any less feminine, but that I'd probably find a woman who is truly physically tough to be physically unattractive. And I'm also responding to what I see as a ridiculous theme on TV and in movies to tie feminism to physical toughness. As if kicking ass with delusional invincibility, just like the male characters, is the gender equality we should strive for and that women need to be respected as physically imposing equals to men. So when I see these rail-thin model-types kicking ass in movies and invoking some kind of feminist "girl power" theme I cringe. I don't see mimicry of male machismo in popular culture as empowerment, I see it as devolving to our level (not needing that kind of self-validation is something I think most women have over guys).

So between a personality of daffodil or tough (which makes clear your preferences and you must be a bit of a tomboy) I don't have a huge preference either way but would find either extreme annoying (girls who are too willing to fight are just as annoying as guys who are too willing to fight) and either personality taking itself too seriously would be annoying (e.g. I'd take an easygoing daffodil over a tough gal with a chip on her shoulder or an easygoing tough gal over a daffodil who is whiny).

OK, that makes sense.

Within the context of these kinds of shows (tween and teen girl shows), this is pretty unusual. These girls are usually all about the clothes and the makeup and doing various stupid things to attract boys. In this show, Carly is actually smart (she gets A's, is sad when she doesn't, and that's not seen as something that she should be ashamed of) and Sam is actually a tomboy in a meaningful way (she eats like an absolute pig and doesn't care what people think about that, she is TOO quick to resort to violence -- which usually is not approved of -- but can also be counted on to come to the defense of her friends when needed).

Sam is not a role model at all -- Carly's the center of the show and Sam is mostly comic relief -- but it's still nice to see the usual daffodil model being subverted.

("Daffodil" is shorthand from the show, but yeah I don't generally have much use for daffodils and definitely am happy that my kid isn't. We're about equally tomboyish.)

But I agree re: chips on shoulders and whining.

Anyone can snap a bone. You just need to get the person to fall badly. Happens all the time...even chairs can do it, or toddler's trikes and such left out. Hell, a well placed Lego block can do it.