Asgard is Sexist

"Asgard isn't sexist because of the Valkyrie!" 

Come fandom, sit a spell by my fire. Allow me to explain to you that you've fallen victim to the very same argument you're able to identify as horseshit in real life. Just because a woman achieves something great, does not mean society is great for women.

Today we have any number of examples of women who excel in areas traditionally considered masculine. We have brilliant female scientists and mathematicians, chess grandmasters, athletes, soldiers, CEOs, politicians, etc. Yet society still assumes that women, on average, aren't capable of excelling in these areas to the extent men can. How is this possible? If one woman can win a chess game at the highest competitive levels or run a company or country without it collapsing, why does society still assume that what holds most women back is the fact that they're women?

Sexism. It's sexism. The common belief (consciously or unconsciously understood) is that men are held back by their individual deficiencies, or, if society's being particularly progressive, systemic injustices favoring the wealthy, while women are held back by their greatest deficiency: that they are women.

At this point you're probably thinking, "Why is this person telling me things I already know? And what does this have to do with Asgard?"

Asgard is canonically sexist in this exact way.

Thor: And who proved wrong all who scoffed at the idea that a young maiden could be one of the fiercest warriors this Realm has ever known?
Sif: I did.
Thor: True. But I supported you…

Asgardian society assumed Sif could not be a fierce warrior because she is a woman. That was what they judged her as. That was her deficiency to overcome, and overcome it she did. You'll notice that we really don't see any female Einherjar. Sif seems to be the only female among Asgard's warriors. She is certainly the only named one.

"But the Valkyrie!"

Yes, the (very dead, save for one woman) Valkyrie. Asgard's greatest warriors. The elite of the elite. Strange that it is only in the group more skilled than other Asgardian warriors that you find women serving. Almost as if these women had to prove that they were better warriors than any other man before they were given recognition for the traditionally masculine skills they had cultivated.

"But Thor, a man, even said he wanted to be a Valkyrie!"

Thor: My God, you're a Valkyrie. I used to wanna be a Valkyrie when I was younger…until I found out that you were all women.

(I really don't like that he uses "God".)

Cute as it is to imagine Thor running around wishing to be a girl, Thor makes it clear that he didn't know only women could be Valkyries. He wanted to be one of Asgard's greatest warriors. That's who the Valkyries are. He doesn't mind serving alongside women because Thor's a feminist, or at least not a misogynist, but what attracted him to the Valkyrie had nothing to do with them being women. He didn't admire them because they were women. He admired them as Asgard's greatest warriors, the same way women today might find role models in men. You can look up to a scientist or politician regardless of the difference in gender when it's a man, someone who isn't considered an exceptional example of their gender, but an exceptional individual. Thor wanting to be a Valkyrie speaks more to his character and youthful ignorance of culturally learned gender norms than it does to Asgardian society, especially when you consider what he says next.

Thor: There's nothing wrong with women, of course. I love women. Sometimes a little too much. Not in a creepy way, just more of a respectful appreciation. I think it's great that there is an elite force of women warriors. It's about time.

"It's about time." That's very revealing. This whole ramble reminded me of the bumbling male feminist that's super concerned about saying something politically incorrect, and so says something incorrect in the process of correcting what wasn't incorrect. Thor's awkward ramble about women supports what we already saw in Thor with Sif. Asgardian society has gender roles and norms, and warrior is traditionally a masculine role. Women are not generally recognized in that role. That's why it's about time an elite force of fighting women exists.

On March 13, 2018, an anon sent me the question: "How do you think Thor and Loki's views and actions have been affected in the context of your Asgard is Sexist post?"

Let's discuss Thor and Loki in relation to this culture in more detail, and without focusing on Thor's comment in Ragnarok.

Thor
If there's one thing Thor seems fairly secure in, even in Thor, it's his masculinity, probably because he naturally finds himself drawn to the interests that Asgardian culture deem masculine (like fighting). It's the expectations of him as a prince and king that he's insecure in. Statesmanship, political machinations, etc. don't come naturally to him, at least not pre-Thor. There's a single moment that contradicts this. The Frost Giant insults him by calling him princess, but I assume Thor's response is more due to being given an excuse to fight (as insulting a man's masculinity is a great offense), rather than him feeling legitimately insulted.

In part due to that security, Thor's able to avoid some of the more misogynistic ideas in his culture. Thor regards women as his equals. I can't think of a moment where he's disrespectful to them. However, there's a teeny-tiny problem. Culture is a real bitch, and we absorb it regardless of how hard we try not to. Based on Thor's behavior with Sif and Frigga and Jane and Darcy and Natasha and every other woman he's interacted with, we know he respects women in a variety of roles in society. He even supported Sif against the actively misogynistic Asgard that expected her to fail in a masculine profession (warrior). Trouble is, we've also seen him interact with Loki. To be specific, we've seen him disregard Loki's skills. He refers to them, both in Thor and in TDW, as "tricks", which feels a bit dismissive. I doubt he's consciously dismissing them on the basis of them being "feminine", but that's the most likely reason we assume the rest of Asgard does (look at Norse mythology and how closely magic and femininity tie together–the Thor movies draw inspiration from that). Besides Loki, no other man we've seen practices magic (except arguably Odin and Thor, but their magic is of a different sort). So, Thor's unconsciously taken in some of the sexism of Asgard, and it's impacted some of the things he says to Loki. If that were pointed out to him, I think he'd be horrified.

Loki
Loki's a big ol' mess because of Asgard's sexism. Everything he values in himself (magic and, to an extent, eloquence), society at large finds weak, trivial, and feminine. This creates deep insecurities. Loki wants to be respected and valued without having to undermine who he is (who his mother, for the most part, made him), and in a sexist society, a man will find it difficult to be valued if they behave like a woman (until enough men start doing it, then they'll get disproportionate praise for doing what women have done all along–I'm thinking of the stay at home father, or just the father who does household chores in addition to working). We also see Loki being very emotional. He cries (or nearly cries) in every movie. Fandom writes him as being able to conceal his emotions ( 🎶 conceal, don't feel 🎶 ), but he's completely pants at doing so in the movies. Contrast that with Thor. Even in the wake of his mother's death, he manages to hold in a tremendous amount of sorrow. Thor actually conceals his feelings. Loki hides them behind an illusion, protecting himself from appearing vulnerable. We do see Thor's sorrow later, particularly when Loki's killed, but even that gets squashed. I imagine that's linked to Asgard's sexism, since Marvel media is made in our society, and that's the reality of our society, too. Certain emotions, "real" men just don't feel. I assume that's why Loki takes to the shadows, to illusions, to avoiding sentiment, and to failing to communicate what's upset him, which leads to conflict.

When we headcanon MCU Loki as genderfluid, like they are in the comics, you've also got the additional struggle of fearing actively identifying that way, thus giving society ammunition to disregard your masculinity even further. Sometimes people are more willing to accept a transgender individual, than a non-binary/genderqueer person. The binary, we understand. Complexity, we shun. Asgardian society, being sexist in the same way our society is, would find it difficult to understand how an effeminate person who sometimes is a woman could ever be a "true man".

Also, drawing on Loki's comic-canonical bi/pansexuality and his always canonical use of magic, the derogatory terms "ergi" (unmanliness) and "argr" (unmanly) are something to consider, something that would further prey on Loki's insecurities.

Of course, any discussion of Loki and sexism needs to address that thing he says in Avengers and the threat he makes against Jane in Thor. The latter I always considered to be a threat against her life, not a threat of sexual violence, but I know people do take it that way. In either case, I believe it's manipulation, not a real threat. Loki's attempting to rile Thor up and get him to fight back, so he says things Thor will find unacceptable. The former I consider part of Loki's performance. More manipulation. He does that throughout Avengers, but we're shown moments of vulnerability and fear, and explicitly told he lacks conviction, so the audience is signaled that many of Loki's actions are performances (indeed, the speech where Loki claims humans crave subjugation is literally a distraction) or part performance, part Loki's-a-hot-mess. Whether that line in specific was meant to be considered part of that, I don't know. It might just be an additional element thrown in to make it all the more sweet when Natasha plays Loki. I prefer to think about these moments this way because I'd find it much more difficult to like Loki if I believed he were a misogynist, and because of Frigga's impact on his life.

(Re-posted from Tumblr)