The media perceives women in two different lights. Whether you are aware of it or not — in the movies you watch, the books you read and the shows you stream — we see women divided into two categories: the innocent or the seductive.
The Madonna-Whore Complex, a phenomenon developed by psychologist Sigmund Freud explains this. According to him, women are divided as either pure, notorious and respectful (the Madonna) or sexually available, promiscuous and immoral (the Whore).
While human experience exists in shades of gray between this area, the media has long painted women in black and white, limiting how they can behave, grow and be perceived.
Hollywood has heavily leaned into this binary. On one side we see characters like Meg March from “Little Women” with nurturing and mature personalities, and we see the helpless damsel in distress like Snow White from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” These women are often praised for their innocence and modesty.
On the other hand, we find characters like Mikaela Banes from “Transformers,” a highly sexualized character used as an object of desire for male characters, or Jessica Rabbit in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” While these characters come off as confident and powerful, they are rarely respected within a story’s framework.
Some films also deliberately place these two archetypes side by side. For example, the movie “Grease” sharply divides its female characters. Sandy Olson is introduced as a sweet, innocent new girl. She represents the Madonna in this scenario: she is soft-spoken, dresses modestly and is wholesome. Meanwhile, Rizzo, a member of the rebellious Pink Ladies group, is portrayed as her opposite. She acts confident, tries to get boys’ attention and drinks and smokes. In the end, Sandy undergoes a dramatic transformation, trading her innocence to be part of the Pink Ladies group, an act suggesting a woman must conform to sexual desirability to be truly wanted.
These depictions are not just about storytelling. They reflect and reinforce a deeper cultural belief that women must choose between being respected or desired. Rarely are they allowed to be both, and characters assigned to a binary are typically supposed to stay there.
Take the “Harry Potter” series as an example. Hermione Granger is the classic Madonna archetype — she is hardworking, innocent, modest and morally upright. Her characterization never shifts into anything resembling the Whore archetype.
In another light, from the show “Sex and the City,” Samatha Jones has always been categorized in the Whore archetype. She is sexually liberated, confident and bold. Her character remains firmly planted in that role and she rarely offers the complexities that other characters in the show are given.
This division has real world effects. Women in movies are rarely given the same character complexities as men. They are often flattened, oversimplified and defined by how much or how little they align with male desires.
This has more than just a narrative effect, though. When the media continues to present women as either the Madonna or the Whore, it teaches audiences, especially young women, that they too must choose. When women are strictly categorized, we lose space for authenticity. The media is practically telling women to choose to be respected or desired, never both.
However, there are movies that do a great job at producing complex female characters. A few examples are Katiss Everdeen from “The Hunger Games,” Kat Stratford from “10 Things I Hate About You” and Miranda Priestly from “The Devil Wears Prada.” These characters highlight how film has evolved more into creating female characters with depth.
While progress has been made, ultimately, it is time to retire the binary. Women, like male characters, are complex and evolving and are deserving of plotlines that push past the stereotypes.
