Publishers Weekly
03/20/2023
This sharp debut by Bogutskaya, a film programmer for the Edinburgh International Film Festival, examines how gender norms affect the reception of female characters and celebrities. Likability, Bogutskaya argues, is a proxy for how much a woman conforms with traditional femininity, and she explores media depictions of women who break social expectations, outlining nine types of “unlikeable women” that include “the bitch,” “the mean girl,” and “the trainwreck.” On “the shrew,” she suggests that the virulent hatred Breaking Bad fans directed at character Skyler White stemmed from her failure to passively “stand by” her drug lord husband’s immoral exploits. The author contends that the conservative backlash to the explicit sexuality of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s song “WAP” demonstrates that, even though “Western visual culture has been shaped around profiting off images of female beauty,” women are expected to downplay their own sexual desires at risk of being deemed a “slut.” Other chapters on Mean Girls villain Regina George, Marquise de Merteuil from Dangerous Liaisons, and Fleabag from the show of the same name serve up bracing critiques of how audiences’ sexism boxes in female characters and how women artists have pushed back against restrictive tropes. The result is a fresh feminist appraisal of the pop culture canon. (May)
From the Publisher
"Fascinating, insightful and kick-ass. This book is a super smart and deeply personal addition to the canon. All hail the unlikeable female!" — Emma Jane Unsworth, internationally bestselling author of Grown Ups and Animals
"Anna Bogutskaya's beautifully written Unlikeable Female Characters takes a deep dive into bitches, sluts, trainwrecks, psychos—and more—to prove that bad girls make good films and even better TV. A necessary read for all Harley Quinn fiends, Fleabag aficionados, Promising Young Woman stans, and Shonda Rhimes fans, Unlikeable Female Characters blows apart the myth of likeability and reveals the female liberation (and male fear) of girls gone wonderfully bad." — Chelsea G. Summers, author of A Certain Hunger
"For me, being vilified on a global Netflix show in the height of a pandemic didn't come with a guidebook. But oh, I wish it had—and I wish it would have been this brilliant masterpiece breaking down the tired tropes of reality television and beyond. Time’s up for the archetypes outlined by Bogutskaya. We're here for the unleashing of brilliant, ambitious women who are three-dimensional, complex, and gracing us with their whole selves." — Aparna Shewakramani, author of She's Unlikeable and star of Indian Matchmaking
"There’s a certain alchemy to Anna’s writing—what looks like a book about the fates of women on screen turns out to really be a book about how women have always been forced to perceive themselves through mirrors built by other people's presumptions. Unlikeable Female Characters is part-cultural exposé, part-Taylor Swift album. An illuminating read and a true comfort for any woman who’s ever been called a slut, bitch, shrew, or weirdo." — Clarisse Loughrey, Chief Film Critic at The Independent
"Anna Bogutskaya’s Unlikeable Female Characters is a sweeping, celebratory journey through the tropes of unacceptable femininity, saluting the unladylike and improper and creating a fresh lens through which to appreciate notions of strength and independence. A how-to guide as much as a pop cultural history, Bogutskaya captivates and activates in equal measure." — Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author and film critic
"Not only is this a smudged eye-liner written love letter to the perfect imperfection of unlikeable women on screen, but a searing and essential analysis of decades of iconic characters. Packed with smart observations and laugh out loud asides, Anna Bogutskaya’s Unlikeable Female Characters is a wry and constantly entertaining history of the mean girls, angry women, psychopaths, and weirdos we let into our hearts. Prepare to see your watchlist with new eyes. I didn’t want it to end." — Louise Blain, writer and broadcaster
"Her explorations invite the reader to come to their own conclusions about why we have been conditioned to mark out such limiting parameters around these roles in pop culture, but Anna gives us the tools in this book to see how it has been done and what is needed to break out of this cycle. Reclaiming the word ‘unlikeable’ has never felt so good." — Rhianna Dhillon, film critic and broadcaster
"A fresh feminist appraisal of the pop culture canon." — Publishers Weekly
"From Barbara Stanwyck to Lana Del Rey, Regina George to Amy Dunne, Unlikeable is an awesome reconsideration of the TV and film canon and its patriarchal gaze." — BuzzFeed News" — BuzzFeed News
Unlikeable Female Characters is deeply researched, with fascinating behind-the-scenes details and insightful analysis. It is also wildly entertaining, categorizing characters as bitches, sluts, witches, mean girls, angry women, trainwrecks, crazy women, psychos, and shrews.
Good pop-culture writing is the literary equivalent of a nutritious Twinkie. Anna Bogutskaya's Unlikeable Female Characters is a nutrient-rich and delicious exploration of film and television's so-called unlikeable women... such dishy fun that it's almost possible to forget the problem that brought the book into being in the first place.
"Unlikeable Female Characters is a delightfully in-depth tour of whom we’ve loved to hate and whom we’ve been told to hate in the last hundred or so years of film." — Shondaland
"The book is a fresh look at pop culture and feminism that's empowering and a fantastic conversation starter. Bring it up if you want to rile up that one uncle who complains about not being able to say anything anymore after #MeToo." — Newsweek Best Book of 2023
