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Agent Carter can often be seen knocking out the villains with a murderous punch or kick. She is quick on her feet, has nerves of steel, and is never flustered no matter what the situation.
My daughter is a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She has watched all their films, and when the pandemic started one of her first questions was ‘does this mean Black Widow will get pushed to a later release date?’
I think it’s because of fans like her that Marvel came out with a string of TV series. She watched Wanda Vision with great interest, and before she could moan too much about it ending, Marvel had dropped the first episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But ever since that ended, there has been a long wait for their next presentation Loki, so she decided to watch Agent Carter.
For those of you who don’t know, Peggy Carter is a part of the British secret service and worked with the Americans during WW2. She was involved in training Steve Rogers who went on to become Captain America. Most people know her as his ‘love interest’, which is typical of society, isn’t it; reducing a woman’s accomplishments to her relationships?
I loved watching the serial, and watching it with my daughter made it even more special, because this serial is chock-a-block with kickass women.
Let’s start with Peggy Carter. Despite having proven herself on the battlefields of Europe in WW2, she finds herself being treated as a glorified secretary by her male colleagues, but she never loses heart. When one of her male colleagues speaks up on her behalf, she thanks him, but tells him she is capable of fighting her battles herself. And boy, does she!
It’s not just the metaphorical battles here but actual physical fights too.
Agent Carter has no special powers but she is as capable as the next man with her hands and feet. She can often be seen knocking out the villains with a murderous punch or kick. She is quick on her feet, has nerves of steel, and is never flustered, no matter what the situation. (Basically every woman working in a toxic atmosphere minus the actual kicks and punches; but we’ve all thought of it, haven’t we ladies?)
It’s heartening to see how Peggy never gives up hope that one day her colleagues will see beyond her gender and recognize her abilities, but until then she is willing to use their disdain against them, tricking them at every turn to solve the case first.
But Peggy Carter isn’t the only kickass woman; in the second season the villain is an ace physicist who is hiding in plain sight as a popular movie star….because we all know that pretty girls don’t have brains, let alone ambitions of controlling the world; right patriarchy?
I’m so glad I got to see this serial because it shows so many of the issues working women face. Alright, so not all of us work as secret agents, but we find it difficult to find a place to live, we have to fight for assignments, we have to face questions from society because we work, etc…
But most importantly what I loved about this show was its honest portrayal of women, whether they were good or bad, housewives or career women. They were all very secure in their identity, and I think we need to see more of such female characters.
Image source: Movie promos/ Marvel Cinematic Universe
Asfiya Rahman, a management graduate, is a teacher by occupation and a writer by inclination. She has published many short stories in different publications and is the author of the sports drama trilogy Wild, Wild read more...
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