At first glance, the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are a male-dominated society. Daughters are wedded off for political advantage, and wives who disobey their husbands are slapped across the face.
Despite what appears to be a misogynistic message, HBO’s critically acclaimed series “Game of Thrones” has managed to appeal a large base of female fans.
“I could see how men would be more attracted to it. It’s a lot of sex and violence — and there’s a lot of boobs,” Rosanne Stern, a 26-year-old English student, says. “But, a lot of the girls who have seen it — after they [got over that] there was a lot of sex and violence — were drawn in as well.”
Stern faithfully watches the HBO series with her boyfriend. Despite the fact that she believes that it is “one of the most well-written series” she’d seen in a long time, Stern rarely found other female fans that shared her passion for the series before the TV show came out. Now, she’s noticing that men and women alike are reading the books and catching up with the “A Song of Fire and Ice” saga.
Part of what Stern feels draws women to the series is the strong female characters like Daenerys, the Dothraki princess from House Targaryen.
Diya Chaco, another female fan of the series, agrees. “[The women] have a lot of control over their actions, more than typical women in fantasy stories,” she says.
At the end, what piques many women’s interest is the series’ universal appeal of a nail-biting plot where no person is safe and strong characters regardless of gender.
“The characters are very, very well done, and I think that’s what draws women and men,” Stern says. “I haven’t met anyone who watched the show and didn’t like it.”
