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Read my X profile (formerly known as Twitter) and you’ll know that I’m a proud father, husband, writer, reader, teacher, and runner, in that order.

But if I could add another description of myself to this list, I’d probably include “feminist”, since I’m 100% in favor of women’s equality.

It’s just another reason why I love HBO The Penguinbecause I find it to be an incredibly feminist series. I already talked about it my love for the character of Victor by Rhenzy Felizand now I want to talk about beauty The Penguin is like a feminist drama.

Oh, and HUGE SPOILERS are ahead. You have been warned.

Forget the patriarchy. It’s all about matriarchy

As a feminist man, I have to constantly remind other men that I am not against male power. That doesn’t make much sense now, does it? I mean, I am a man, so I really like men to have power.

However, as a feminist, I don’t think men should have all of power, or even the majority of power for that matter. It’s pretty obvious that we live in a patriarchal society given that the highest positions in the world are held by men, and I don’t agree with that.

In my opinion, it should be a 50/50 split, with women and men having equal control. It’s something I really like The Penguinbecause it clearly demonstrates why matriarchies could be just as effective, if not more so, than patriarchal organizations.

How else can I read in Sofia Falcone, played by the incredible Cristin Miliotigassing almost everyone who worked for his father, then taking over as the new leader? Sofia, who wants to separate herself from her murderous father as much as possible, even denies her father’s name, instead using her mother’s maiden name, Gigante.

Now check this. In one night, Sofia did what Salvatore Maroni couldn’t do for years: kill the Falcone family. I repeat, IN ONE NIGHT. Not only that, but she eliminates anyone who gets in her way (just look at how quickly she took out Johnny Viti, even for record time). while trying go out of bounds).

Sofia has only been at the top of the table for a few weeks and she has already spread fear in Gotham City, even going so far as to join her father’s rival, Maroni, because they have a common enemy in Oz. Cobb.

In every way, Sofia shows that matriarchy is far superior to patriarchy in getting things done. It just took the right leader to get things done.

The Penguin is also a show where the bad deeds of men are punished

Most recently, John Turturro released why he didn’t want to appear The Penguinsaying he didn’t like “violence against women”, and that’s fine. I’m all for actors standing up for what they believe in. Hell, the showrunner of the series, Lauren LeFranc (a woman herself), responded very diplomatically.

But while I admire Turturro for not wanting to be associated with such a nasty trend towards women, I think he may have missed a good opportunity to star in the show (not that Mark Strong himself did a bad job) since “violence against women” is intentional. It is supposed be wicked, because the men who commit it will apparently be punished for it, and punished for it seriously.

In other words, this is a show where men behave badly towards women and women get back at them. Take for example the first episode. Sofia didn’t trust Oz, so she tortured him. We learned in later episodes that she was aware that Oz had helped get her into Arkham Asylum and so she was, in her own way, taking out that frustration on Oz since he was taking it out on him. deserved.

Or, as previously mentioned, what about when she gassed all the terrible men who were complicit in her dismissal? Johnny Viti was spared, but only so he could torture him. When he stopped being useful to her, Sofia blew her brains out at the table.

So in that way, yes, the show is violent towards women, but it’s not like the men aren’t punished for their bad actions, and rightly so! I would like reality to follow this kind of karmic justice. We would have a lot fewer bastard men in the world, that’s for sure.

It’s great to see the girl code used by Oz’s lover, Eve

Another great character in the series is Eve Karlo, played by True Detective Carmen Ejogo, season 3. Eve plays the leader of a ring of prostitutes serving the men of Gotham City. She also acts as Oz’s love interest.

However, just like I said how bad men are punished in this series, Oz is also punished by his lover. You see, Eve has been angry with Oz since he used her as an alibi for the murder of Alberto Falcone.

When she realized why Oz needed her to tell him she was with him all night, she realized the ramifications and, more importantly, how it would affect his wives. As Atriarch of that world, she didn’t have it.

So when Oz wanted her to go with him to Crown Point, she immediately hit the brakes, because she owed her sisters more than she ever did to Oz. Not only that, but in the most recent episode we see that she even gave up Oz’s location to Sofia since she knows that Sofia was also wronged by Oz and that he deserves to have her reward.

I love that about this series. This doesn’t make it seem like women are “wrong” for turning on the men in their lives, because that’s perfectly justifiable. Not all shows, even the biggest ones, have handled this well.

For example, even if Break the bad is my favorite show of all time, the writers definitely dropped Skylar’s character. People hated her (they still do, really), and some even thought she was a bigger villain than Walt, who, if I have to remind anyone, IS A MURDER DRUG LORD.

However, Today people came to Skylar’s defenseand I’m happy that the showrunners of The Penguin let’s not make the same mistake with Eve or Sofia. Maybe it’s because a woman makes all final decisions for these women characters? Just a thought.

It’s refreshing to see power-hungry female characters, like Oz’s mother

Another character I love is Oz’s mother, Francis, played impeccably by Deidre O’Connell. It appears that Francis is suffering horribly from dementia, but when she has her moments of clarity, you can see that she is just as hungry for power as her son, if not more.

I love seeing that. I always loved Lady MacBeth type characters (like I loved Sherry Palmer in the excellent show 24), and Francis Cobb definitely characterizes this trope. She actually gets angry at Oz for not taking over Gotham City faster, because she probably knows she doesn’t have much more to live and would like to live out her final days comfortably rather than die cold at Crown Point. .

In every sense of the word, I love that Oz’s mother is power hungry, because it almost makes it seem like Oz does everything he does. because of her (not for her, but because of her), and it’s a really interesting dynamic to watch unfold week after week.

Overall, I love seeing strong female characters on TV

Finally, I love seeing strong female characters. I don’t even care if they are bad. Do they want something (other than a man)? Do they have an agency? Are they doing everything in their power to get what they want? So I like them!

Because that’s the problem. Growing up, when I watched something, the women would usually go after a man, and that’s it. Badass female characters like Ellen Ripley, Samus Aran, and Sarah Connor were rare.

But today we have a lot more female characters taking charge. Many people (mostly men) will probably shout “Woke!” » to the idea of ​​having three female leads in something like The wondersbut I’m all for that, just like I’m all for the female characters in The Penguin. I guess it’s just the feminist in me.