The gifset where Alison slaps Donnie across the face is almost never tagged, and I was triggered badly by it last night because my ex-girlfriend used to do the same thing to me.

The gifset where Alison slaps Donnie across the face is almost never tagged, and I was triggered badly by it last night because my ex-girlfriend used to do the same thing to me. Maybe the writers are using Donnie and presumably Paul to show just how perverse and polarizing patriarchal society really is by showing the reverse and trivializing it much in the same way that rape culture has trivialized the victim. Vic feels that much of what happened was Sarah's fault, hence his need to have HER apologize. But I've noticed it's something the fandom doesn't talk much about.

It's OOC for her to talk a lot about it, and to be honest I don't think Helena actually knows she was abused. Don't forget Helena was raised by nuns. The people who significantly wronged her, the Nun, Tomas and Henrik, are dead - or blind in the Nun's case, but Helena is still alive. She's someone who's used to having it all together who has suddenly found herself thrown headlong into this crazy situation where she feels trapped and threatened. A lot of the time it's not just hitting someone in anger, it's a way to make them afraid and subservient. I understand that dark humor is a big part of a lot of Alison's storylines, but does our collective blindness towards the fact that it is abuse mean that the humor made a misstep? It happens a lot in real life--people siding with or refusing to cut contact with abusers even after the victim has disclosed what happened. But a 7 year old girl doesn't just know how to gouge someone's eyes out.

I don't think Sister Olga locking her in the cellar is an appropriate or mature response to a troubled little girl. And it is partially in response to how Donnie has been treating her. We can't know for sure but I'd really lean towards Abigail williams character analysis essay that interpretation. I don't honestly know. Choosing to lean in to her kisses rather than slap her away is not consent. I think that all of those signs of abuse are really hidden with Helena and really subtle. I think in S1 they did a great job at making him completely unsympathetic, which is refreshing. Power dynamics between men and women are complicated and multi-layered, and in most situations men have power over women via male privilege.

 

xhtml template by Bryant Smith