Women have ALWAYS dominated Corrie! They do in EMMERDALE as well.......Look at Betty, Edna, Diane, Val, Lisa, Chas, Nicola, etc....
Only EE to catch up now then - all their domineering characters are the likes of Phil the Thug, Jack the Man, and oooer....Peggy "Get OUTTAAA MAAAA PUB" Mitchell!:D
I do agree that its female characters need to toughen up a bit. And stop letting their men dictate their lives! Maria, Fiz, Gail, it's just ridiculous! Especially Maria, since once upon a time she was so convinced of how evil Tony is, and now she's in love with him!
Eileen definitely has her moments, though I doubt there are many others who could be considered strong women.
I wouldn't put Carla in her league, although whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so she may come back as a better character...
Gail Platt has to be the COMPLETE opposite of a strong female character: she is so weak, meek and trampled on by her children and various boyfriends it is unbelievable.
This is again down to sloppy writing, because if you look at the late 80s / early 90s Gail was portrayed as a strong, independent woman and a role model for working mothers, running her own business (against her husband's wishes), bringing up a family, and battling mother-in-law from hell Ivy. She was even stronger than Audrey, who went from man to man and never worried about her responsabilities. They've been watering down the Gail character since her split from Martin and the Hillman story.
No-one's mentioned Sally, but for me she follows in the tradition of strong Street women, fighting for a better life for herself and her family; and she is the backbone of the Webster family. Sally sort of gave up her chances of finding happiness when she remarried Kev, and ever since then she's lived through her kids (mainly Rosie). Under all the Hyacinth Bucket stuff, we do ocassionally see her vulnerable side, like when she broke down over Rosie and Craig's underage relationship, and when she had the crush on John the teacher. It will be interesting to see where they take her with the current Mollie storyline.
Liz in my opinion doesn't cut it as the strong landlady, but mainly because they write badly for her and she never has any huge stories. I think Bev Callard is capable of more given a chance; she was better when married to Jim.
Linda Sykes was a good, strong woman but for too short unfortunately. I think they were moulding Shelly into a sort of modern-day Bet Lynch before she left.
Finally, I think Carla does have similarities with Elsie Tanner, she's supposed to come from a rough Manchester estate and obviously knows how to use her sexuality to her advantage; she's often blunt-speaking but not bitchy without reason, and deep down she does have a vulnerable side which we saw when Paul died and when she fell for Liam.
This is again down to sloppy writing, because if you look at the late 80s / early 90s Gail was portrayed as a strong, independent woman and a role model for working mothers, running her own business (against her husband's wishes), bringing up a family, and battling mother-in-law from hell Ivy. She was even stronger than Audrey, who went from man to man and never worried about her responsabilities. They've been watering down the Gail character since her split from Martin and the Hillman story.
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Although after everything Gail has been through I wouldn't necessarily blame it on sloppy writing that she is no longer strong. Many women would lose their strength after all of that!
Although after everything Gail has been through I wouldn't necessarily blame it on sloppy writing that she is no longer strong. Many women would lose their strength after all of that!
Point taken, but a few years ago (post Hillman), they were saying that she was becoming the new Ivy; shopping Sarah to the Social Services, driving a wedge between Maria and Nick and mad fighting with Eileen on the Street, while now she's down-trodden and walked on, mainly by David.
Point taken, but a few years ago (post Hillman), they were saying that she was becoming the new Ivy; shopping Sarah to the Social Services, driving a wedge between Maria and Nick and mad fighting with Eileen on the Street, while now she's down-trodden and walked on, mainly by David.
In hindsight I preferred the former version of Gail when she was meddling and a pain in the a*se! At least it was entertaining
Although after everything Gail has been through I wouldn't necessarily blame it on sloppy writing that she is no longer strong. Many women would lose their strength after all of that!
I still think Gail has that sence of superiority and aura in and around Weatherfield based on her '80s/90s reputation' as a strong, determined woman. It's still intact.
Trampled on by her own children is understandable given the fact that she's a mother and loves them to bits but I don't get why she hasn't found the perfect man. Gail Platt curse.
Comments
Only EE to catch up now then - all their domineering characters are the likes of Phil the Thug, Jack the Man, and oooer....Peggy "Get OUTTAAA MAAAA PUB" Mitchell!:D
I do agree that its female characters need to toughen up a bit. And stop letting their men dictate their lives! Maria, Fiz, Gail, it's just ridiculous! Especially Maria, since once upon a time she was so convinced of how evil Tony is, and now she's in love with him!
Eileen definitely has her moments, though I doubt there are many others who could be considered strong women.
I wouldn't put Carla in her league, although whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so she may come back as a better character...
This is again down to sloppy writing, because if you look at the late 80s / early 90s Gail was portrayed as a strong, independent woman and a role model for working mothers, running her own business (against her husband's wishes), bringing up a family, and battling mother-in-law from hell Ivy. She was even stronger than Audrey, who went from man to man and never worried about her responsabilities. They've been watering down the Gail character since her split from Martin and the Hillman story.
No-one's mentioned Sally, but for me she follows in the tradition of strong Street women, fighting for a better life for herself and her family; and she is the backbone of the Webster family. Sally sort of gave up her chances of finding happiness when she remarried Kev, and ever since then she's lived through her kids (mainly Rosie). Under all the Hyacinth Bucket stuff, we do ocassionally see her vulnerable side, like when she broke down over Rosie and Craig's underage relationship, and when she had the crush on John the teacher. It will be interesting to see where they take her with the current Mollie storyline.
Liz in my opinion doesn't cut it as the strong landlady, but mainly because they write badly for her and she never has any huge stories. I think Bev Callard is capable of more given a chance; she was better when married to Jim.
Linda Sykes was a good, strong woman but for too short unfortunately. I think they were moulding Shelly into a sort of modern-day Bet Lynch before she left.
Finally, I think Carla does have similarities with Elsie Tanner, she's supposed to come from a rough Manchester estate and obviously knows how to use her sexuality to her advantage; she's often blunt-speaking but not bitchy without reason, and deep down she does have a vulnerable side which we saw when Paul died and when she fell for Liam.
Although after everything Gail has been through I wouldn't necessarily blame it on sloppy writing that she is no longer strong. Many women would lose their strength after all of that!
Point taken, but a few years ago (post Hillman), they were saying that she was becoming the new Ivy; shopping Sarah to the Social Services, driving a wedge between Maria and Nick and mad fighting with Eileen on the Street, while now she's down-trodden and walked on, mainly by David.
In hindsight I preferred the former version of Gail when she was meddling and a pain in the a*se! At least it was entertaining
So strong she ended up in Jail.
I still think Gail has that sence of superiority and aura in and around Weatherfield based on her '80s/90s reputation' as a strong, determined woman. It's still intact.
Trampled on by her own children is understandable given the fact that she's a mother and loves them to bits but I don't get why she hasn't found the perfect man. Gail Platt curse.