The feminist quandary: representing post-

apocalyptic gender in The 100.

Introduction: The 100, a CW show.

The CW is an American broadcast TV network creating in
2006 from the merge between Warner Bros. and CBS. This
origin can give the reader an idea of the kind of shows produced
and the kind of audiences targeted by said shows. Amongst
Warner Bros. most famous products we find sci-fi / fantasy
shows, as well as shows aimed at teenagers: Star Trek,
Dawsons Creek, Charmed, Gilmore Girls and Buffy the Vampire
Slayer. Buffy sets an important precedent for the analysis of any
teenage show as it is by far the teenage show that has attracted
more academic and critical interest. Gender is one of the most
studied themes in Buffy studies and analysis of the show is
featured in a lot of undergraduate gender studies courses.
Nevertheless the show is an exception in the history of
Warner Bros. and the CW. Today, the CW is mostly known for
shows that target teenage audiences, specifically teenage girls,
and that receive little to no attention from critics and academics
(see shows like Supernatural or The Vampire Diaries). The main
components of these rather successful teenage dramas are a mix
between supernatural elements, traditionally attractive young,
white, cisgender males and females, and heteronormative love
triangles, the whole thing wrapped in campy aesthetics. This
reputation conceals the fact that in the past years the CW has
created some rather provocative TV shows in terms of gender
characterization such as Jane the Virgin and its representation
of latino women or Crazy Ex-Girlfiend and its satire of
heteronormative romance.

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 The poster for The 100s first season is rather misleading. It
seams to feature prominently a post-apocalyptic love triangle,
featuring a white female and two white males. It is also
important to mention that this show first aired in 2014, during
the Young-Adult dystopian fiction craze (The Hunger Games,
Divergent, etc). As such the show initially seemed an attempt
to do for the dystopian genre what the Twilight franchise did for
vampires: obsess teenage girls. In terms of gender analysis it
would be more accurate to say that The 100 initially seemed to
fall in the line of many shows and films aimed at teenagers that
feature a strong female lead but no radical subversion of
gender roles. Although the first season received some attention
from critics, mostly for the unexpectedly gritty atmosphere
featured in the show, it wasnt until season 2 that the media
developed a growing interest in the portrayal of gender in the
show.

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 Although today a trend of more complex and intersectional
portrayal of female characters can definitely be identified, the
subversion enacted by these portrayals often does have a very
preachy feel. Many shows explicitly aimed at feminist viewers
(Orange is the New Black comes to mind with its very explicit
reenactments of current social issues such as police brutality
against African- Americans or in the way prejudice is spelled out
in dialogues instead truly shown). Therefore, although feminism
has become a popular ingredient of TV in the past decade,
feminist ideas are not being shown, much less are they truly
performative as they are mostly explained by the characters.
How does The 100 fit into this panorama?
A final introductory comment: it is important to highlight that
The 100 is not the kind of show that attracts critics and
specifically feminist critics: it is a low-budget production and it
is genre (science-fiction) television therefore initially excluded
from the high-brow-television category (made up mostly of
dramas).

The 100 is set 97 years after a nuclear disaster wiped out

almost all life on Earth. The only known survivors are the
residents of twelve space stations in Earth's orbit prior to the
war. As the Arks resources run dry, one hundred juvenile
prisoners are declared "expendable" and sent to the surface in
an attempt to determine if Earth is habitable again. As the
teenagers struggle to organize and survive, different moral
conundrums have to be dealt with, often with bloody
consequences. As such, The 100 deals mostly with morality,
survival and ways of leadership in a post-apocalyptic society. It
is not uncommon to read analysis of The 100 where the show
given all the post- labels: post-feminist, post-gender, post-
race, post- class. Despite the acclaim received by season 2 and
season 3, The 100 is far from being the obvious choice for a

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 post-feminist viewership: as said above, genre TV more
specifically, mainstream sci-fi, is not traditionally concerned with
feminist representation and often does not target a feminist
audience. The same goes for teenage shows, which are often
created to be entertaining and un-provocative as the focus rests
on a heternormative configuration of human relationships. The
belief that teenage (girls) are mostly interested in self-image and
cheesy romance remains despite many YA fictions provocative
depiction of teenage lives.
How does The 100 tackles these obstacles? What kind of
gender roles is depicted, and how are they (or are they not)
radical or feminist?

The term feminist will be used here in a broad sense. Analysis

will be conducted using the gender lens1 to show how TV can
cater to audiences with varied gender identities and sexual
orientations. The issue of intersectionality will be considered as
part of feminist analysis. It is important to highlight that The
100s cast is made up of diverse people of color as well as white
actors, that it features LGBTQ + characters and disabled
characters but up until now has not included any transsexual
characters. Furthermore a total lack of diversity in bodies types
is quite striking when watching this show.

1 Murfin, Ross, and Supriya M. Ray. Critical Approaches: Definition of Feminist

Criticism. virtuaLit: Interactive Poetry Tutorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

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 Feminism after the apocalypse:
representing gendered violence in the
future.

As a genre show, what are the struggles faced by the writers

of The 100 in creating a feminist post-apocalyptic future? On the
one hand, science-fiction as a genre offers an array of
possibilities for gender constructs. In The 100, science-fiction is
explicitly used as a blank slate in terms of morality. Therefore, it
would not be surprising if after the fall-out of civilization as we
know it a whole new approach to gender could emerge from the
ashes. The writers can no longer use plausibility as an excuse
for the reproduction of conservative gender roles. On the other
hand, a survivalist post apocalyptic scenario can also be an
enabler for misogynistic prejudice2. In a dog-eats-dog universe,
strength is often reduced to physicality. Biological differences
between men and women are then used as an excuse to
perpetuate the idea that women are naturally less strong, agile,
and even less skilled than men and therefore need men to
survive. Current hierarchies are reestablished and often
stressed to a ludicrous point. Female characters are often
subjected to gendered violence in these universes (even
characters having already proved their strength in other
situations) as if the male population was merely lying in wait of
an opportunity to become predators. A survivalist / post-
apocalyptic show that very disappointingly fell into this trope is
The Walking Dead in season 5, with numerous gratuitous and
exhibitionist representation of males exerting sexual violence on
female characters.

2 For a humoristic approach of this trope see http://www.robot-

hugs.com/apocalyptic/

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 It is not our intention to suggest that sexual abuse should not
be represented on TV, as lack of representation can be
interpreted as denying its existence and the existence of the
rape culture that allows it to exist. It is actually very important
to have gendered violence represented on television and
available for discussion in a space that is imaginary and
therefore safer -especially in a show that deals on hard ethical
and moral conundrums but it has to be done carefully as the
risks of exhibitionism or even eroticization of rape are high and
very common in mainstream and independent screen media.

Season 3 episode 10: Fallen

In this episode, two characters (Raven Reyes and John

Murphy) are subjected to a violation of their freedom.

Raven Reyes symbolic rape

Raven Reyes offers a perfect example of how The 100
introduces progressive characterization in a matter of fact,
effortless way. She is a disabled woman of color, a brilliant
mechanic-engineer, and one of the main characters of the show.
In this scene, an artificial intelligence (ALIE) is looking to take
over the minds of the group of survivors who have all fallen
helplessly under her control. Only Raven has been able to resist
her grasp. What is portrayed in this episode is not a literal rape,
but the symbolism used obviously refers to violation. ALIE states
Im inside you and the memories with which she tortures
Raven are scenes of various penetrations of her epidermis and
the pain that ensues.
What is most interesting in terms of feminist denunciation of
sexual abuse and feminist characterization in Reyess abuse is
how it relates to the parallel storyline of John Murphy. Symbolic
violation (here in the form of breaking the spirit of a character

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to obtain information and control) is a common trope of
dystopian and survivalist fiction. These symbolic violations are
often specifically aimed at male characters, whereas physical
violations often target only women. This dichotomy implies that
mens value is in their minds (information) whereas womens lies
exclusively in their bodies (sexual abuse). Here we have an
inversion of this binary conception of value. Ravens rape is non-
sexual and her defense against ALIE combines physicality,
emotion and rationality, proving that female characters can
enact different types of resistance.
Despite the scenes strong images there is something that
feels like victory in the de-sexualization of Ravens character, as
it is something that rarely happens to women of color on screen.
Furthermore, this scene makes visible woman on woman
violence, which is also a configuration rarely seen onscreen.

John Murphys physical rape

Another issue that The 100 has given visibility to is sexual
violence against men. In the episode, John Murphy is trapped in
the enemys fortress as a prisoner of Ontari, the new
commander of the grounders. He has been aiding her in her
quest for power in order to survive.
Rape has a complicated history with screen media. Can a
scene like this even be feminist? On visual terms, The 100
successfully subverts traditional patriarchal visual codes used in
the representation of rape. In this scene, the character of Ontari
is naked but there is no frontal shot of her nudity. The most
obvious interpretation of this implied nakedness is that the
character portrays a teenager and the show must stay within TV-
14 rating standards. Narratively, implied nudity shows Ontari as
being in control of her body and her sexual desires, without
objectifying her or eroticizing them.
In this scene, the emphasis is put on her gaze by showing

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 several close ups of her eyes. This device could be read as an
inverted use of the male gaze3. The female gaze - Ontari
looking at Murphy as an object existing only for her pleasure- is
here clearly denounced as an objectifying gaze and is associated
with the implicit abuse that follows the scene. The
objectification of this female gaze and by extension that of the
male gaze is showing as wronging and abusing a character and
affecting in a negative way the representation of both genders.
By combining this gaze with an act of violence the shows
writers force us to adopt an oppositional gaze4.

Beyond the inversion of traditional visual codes of sexual

abuse, this scene is important because it denounces the
lingering ambiguities surrounding rape culture in our society.
Murphy clearly states that he does not wish to engage in sexual
activity with Ontari, he is physically unable to resist because he
is chained and unarmed, he is not in a position to resist because
he is alone surrounded by enemies and Ontari openly threatens
to kill him unless he complies. Despite all these narrative clues
many viewers and critics have questioned whether or not it is a
rape scene. A debate ensued in the media 5 about Rape Myths
and grey areas. Some insisted that Murphy wanted to engage in
sexual activity - despite his own words- as he has flirted in the
past with Ontari. This interpretation of the scene negates that
consent must always be given in the present moment and can be
taken away anytime. Others contested that Murphy was smiling
and that there was no physical struggle. These reactions
perfectly reflect the kind of questioning rape victims all over the
world have to undergo before earning the belief of legal
institutions (amongst others). Most worryingly, some viewers
3 Laura Mulveys famous expression refers to the way in which the visual arts and
literature depict the world and women from a masculine point of view, presenting
women as objects of male pleasure.
4 See Hooks famous essay in Black Looks : Race and Representation.
5 In varied platforms ranging from Hypable to Variety.

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seem to believe that because Murphy is a straight, violent and
antagonistic character he cannot be raped as if the status of
villain somehow deprived him of his humanity. In reality, this
corresponds to the questioning of the morality of a victim (was
s/he drunk, drugged, etc..), to deny her/him of the suffering of
sexual abuse or blame the victim for it.
Why did the writers decide not to flag this scene as rape? Why
withhold stereotypical flares such as violence and physical
struggle? Why not establish an atmosphere that had more
gravitas to suggest trauma? The writers purposely laid out signs
considered ambiguous due to the rape culture permeating our
society to make the viewer question his or her own prejudice.
Rather than signposting itself, the scene offers a realistic
scenario of doubt and shaming faced by victims. By demanding a
less ambiguous scene, fans and viewers are spotlighting the fact
that society still needs hand-holding to understand the nuances
of rape culture, and that there are still misconceptions about
rape.

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 A post-gender society for a teenage
audience

A lot of mainstream sci-fi TV and this is even more true for

sci-fi and fantasy targeting teenage audiences -suffer from what
has been termed as The Trinity Syndrome6: creating a female
character with fighting - abilities that could potentially alter the
plot and then depriving her of spotlight and agency to turn her
into a love interest. This trope is a variation of the Strong
Woman trope7: a female character defined by her strength
without any layering in her characterization, she is either hyper-
sexual or very masculine. The Strong Woman is often the only
female character with any agency in the film or the series, while
other female characters are often hyper-feminine. This contrast
perpetuates the idea that vulnerability and passivity are
essentially feminine characteristics and strength and agency are
essentially masculine. As such, the Strong Woman is as much a
caricature of gender as is the Damsel in distress. To counter this
trope, feminist film and TV scholars and critics explain that what
writers should aim for in writing women is equality with male
characters in terms of agency, spotlight and quantity. In
narrative terms, agency is far more important than strength as
it is what determines whether a character is truly part of the
story, or a detachable accessory. How do the writers produce
agency in The 100?
The 100 does not have to worry about quantity or spotlight as it
features many women with complex character arcs. This allows
for diverse gender constructs to be made available for
identification, which already negates the possibility of having
one strong woman. Indeed, the series features as many female
6 See http://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/618-were-losing-all-our-strong-
female-characters-to-tr/
7 A lot has been said about this trope. For a ludic and up to date explanation
see Flingue ou rouge lvres de Mirion malle dans Commando Culotte.

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leaders as there are male leaders, creating a universe where
female leadership is no longer an anomaly but fits in the norm.
Furthermore, when anyone questions the leadership abilities of
female characters it is always due to their decision-making,
never because of characteristics perceived as feminine.

Season 2 episode 16: Blood Must Have Blood, Part 2.

In this scene the survivors are trapped in an enemy bunker.
Clarke and Bellamy the leaders of the teenagers- have to
decide how far they are willing to go to save their people. The
visual motifs in this scene are rather telling. Clarke is in a
panopticon (she sees everything through surveillance cameras
but no one sees her) giving her a sense of omniscience. She is
also omnipotent, as she controls the lives of everyone in the
bunker (she has the power of unleashing nuclear havoc). As the
characters decide to eradicate their enemies (despite the
sacrifice of innocent lives) they join hands to pull the trigger.
Clarkes hand is wrapped in a shiny fabric, giving her a regal
look - but ultimately Bellamy makes the final move possible. To
what extent does Clarke share leadership? How is a feminist
idea of leadership constructed?
In this scene the writers deconstruct many prejudices about
female leadership present in other fictions. For instance that
female leaders are either cruel or too emotional. Clarke is none.
Moreover, in sci-fi or fantasy TV, women usually make hard
decisions in the name of their loved ones. This relates to the
idea that women are essentially caring and nurturing and that
those two characteristics are what drives them. Here, it is
Bellamy who requieres the emotional bond (to his sister) to push
him to action. On the contrary, Clarke states I have to save
them invoking duty, a notion often unavailable to female
characters. It is also important to highlight that in this scene,
other male characters display emotion in ways perceived as

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feminine. For instance, Jasper is shown on the floor crying for
his late love interest and acting irrational and emotional.
Through these simple but effective devices, female / male
dichotomies are subverted. The 100 tells viewers that there are
no essentially feminine or masculine reactions. Most
importantly this is presented as the norm: there is no shaming of
emotion in men and no questioning female rationality. This is
how Stephen Kings statement that The 100s feminism is pure
story applies to the show: the writers create a universe where
fluid gender constructs are no longer a struggle but completely
normal.
Furthermore, the writers promote the idea that leadership is
something that must be shared in order for it to function. In the
final episode of season 2, Clarke is supported by Bellamy but not
overshadowed by him. Throughout the scene there are visual
indicators that Clarke is the true leader: Bellamy always walks
behind her and often appears blurred in the background. He
also speaks after her as if supporting her but without taking
initiatives. Most importantly, this dissymmetry in their relation
to power is not explained by gender but has logical narrative
explanations rooted in scenes where Clarke has proved to be a
more natural and fairer leader than Bellamy.
The dynamic between this two characters evolves in complex
ways throughtout the series. It has actually become the main
relationship of the narrative and is completely deprived of
romance. As such, The 100 proves that more can happen
between male and female characters than love (even between
teenagers). And that narratively, there are more important
issues than romance.

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 Conclusion: conquering feminism in TV

The 100 - a show from a channel that usually targets female

teenage audiences - is telling its target audience that they are as
capable as any other audience of engaging with complicated
plot, difficult situations and images, gritty aesthetics and
ambiguous morality. Although love is not the main drive of the
story, the show does vindicate teenage romance. It is
represented not as something vain and girly (sic) but as an
essential part of human experience that can be not only life
changing or defining but also, and most importantly, political.
Interviews show that Jason Rothenberg (showrunner) has
sensed the impact his work has had on feminist and LGBTQ +
audiences and has tried to steer the show in that direction
(whether for higher rating of out of conviction). During season 3
the character of Lexa (a lesbian commander of the grounders)
needed to be killed off (the actress had other projects). Lexa was
a beloved character in the LGBTQ+ community for her
provocative representation of female leadership and sexuality.
Furthermore, she is important because representation of
LGBTQ+ on television remains scarce and lesbian characters
with real arcs are rare. In season 3, episode 7 Lexa was
therefore killed. Critics and fans immediately made manifest
their disappointment. First because the death of any LGBTQ+
character means less representation for the community,
although in this case said death was logistically unavoidable.
Second, and most importantly, Lexa dies right after her first
lesbian sex scene, and she dies by accident (instead of a more
dignified death, in battle for example). Her death corresponds
perfectly to what has been termed the Bury Your Gays Trope. It
refers to the high numbers of dead queer characters on

13
 television, especially female queer characters that are killed
right after sex, demonizing sex between women8.
The outrage grew to the point that Jason Rothenberg wrote an
apology letter on his blog:
Despite my reasons, I still write and produce
television for the real world where negative and hurtful
tropes exist. And I am very sorry for not recognizing this as
fully as I should have. Knowing everything I know now,
Lexas death would have played out differently. () The 100
is a post-apocalyptic tragedy set 130 years in the future. Its
a constant life and death struggle. In our show, all
relationships start with one question: Can you help me
survive today? It doesnt matter what color you are, what
gender identity you are, or whether youre gay, bi or
straight. The things that divide us as global citizens today
dont matter in this show. And thats the beauty of science-
fiction. We can make a point without preaching. We can say
that race, sexuality, gender and disability should not divide
us. We can elevate our thinking and take you on a helluva
ride at the same time. But Ive been powerfully reminded
that the audience takes that ride in the real worldwhere
LGBTQ teens face repeated discrimination, often suffer
from depression and commit suicide at a rate far higher
than their straight peers.
No show is perfect in its representation of a more equal
society. Even self-proclaimed feminist shows struggle to get rid
of prejudice and internalized sexism immediately but the will to
reflect on it and correct mistakes may be one of The 100
greatest strengths. As Buffy did in its time, The 100 is now
purposely focusing on gender issues not so much by denouncing
but by showing alternatives. As such we believe that The 100 fits
into what terms critical dystopias : fictions that

8 Another lesbian death that caused similar outrage was the death of Tara in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer also after sexual intercourse and by a bullet meant for
Buffy.

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 negotiate the necessary pessimism of the
generic dystopia with a militant or utopian stance that
not only breaks through the hegemonic enclosure of
the texts alternative world but also self-reflexively
refuses the anti-utopian temptation that lingers in
every dystopian account9 .

We can only hope that season 4 does not fall short on such
high expectations.

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 Bibliography
Hooks, Bell. Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston. South End
Press. 1992. pp. 115-131.

Malle, Mirion. Commando culotte: les dessous du genre et de la pop-

culture. Ankama ditions. 2016.

Murfin, Ross, and Supriya M. Ray. Critical Approaches: Definition of

Feminist Criticism. virtuaLit: Interactive Poetry Tutorial. N.p., n.d. Web.
15 Mar. 2014.

Robinson, Tara. We are loosing all our strong female characters to

Trinity Syndrome. The Dissolve.
http://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/618-were-losing-all-our-strong-
female-characters-to-tr/ .

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