“Sex is the easiest way to get attention that you desired.” This patriarchal thought reflected to audience directly by using “Cassie” . All the actions she did, the way she dress and talk etc. Today we’re going to talk about Cassie Howard and being oversexualized by patriarchy.
Family ties between Howard’s are more complex for every each member, but especially for Cassie and her sister Lexi. Even they are both grew in the same atmosphere ,their actions and personality are totally different from each other. This is one of the best complex trauma examples from the show which is shown. The lack of family ties and first relationship experience which is observed from parents since they were kid, effected their youth process.
However, if we examine hyper sexualization of Cassie only Freudian ,it would be extremely superficial. First of all ,from flashback scenes , when the Cassie became a teenager ,the rest of the world started to see her differently, even their family and sister too. Hyper feminine body lines, really big breasts than usual ,gives her childish, innocent and also sexy appereance. Even in the show , Cassie never wears for herself. She always looks so innocent and especially hyper feminine. From different than other characters , Cassie never wears dark, masculine or messy make ups or clothes. She only wearing exactly what society expected from her. Always feminine and innocent. That’s exactly what makes Cassie really attractive. Childishly innocent and sexy in a fuckable way. It’s sounds so disturbing ,but this fact exactly what makes desirable a hyper sexualized woman by patriarchy. In general it is called male gaze. In the show ,male characters thinks that they could talk about Cassie so cruel and a heartbreaking way. They don’t even care abut her feelings. Even when Cassie screams and shows her rage on the theater to the audience, one guy screams her back and says that she should show her boobs. Everybody sees her as an object unlike a person.
However, Cassie also objectifies herself too. Because only thing that she heard from the entire her life ,how pretty she is. When McCay talks Cassie about his mental breakdown and career , Cassie starts to kiss him because only thing she can know sex is the best way give someone happiness. When she got pregnant, only thing she thought ,her stomach will looked ugly. She didn’t even think that teenage pregnancy’s damages and mental breakdowns. Because society had teach her that only thing she have ,her beauty. If she lose it she is gonna lose everything that she own and her value. But the reality that everyone missed ,Cassie is an artistic ice skater. Even in the show this scene shown only 20 seconds.
LOLITA: SEXY BABY
Firstly, in the show , Cassie is still an underage teenager. This fact makes her a Lolita . The young ,innocent, untouchable, virgin, childish, open to manipulation and defenceless . “The sexy baby “ and fetishizing underage girl cult still dominating the society especially the Hollywood and media. Lolita perspective represents a relation between age and worth for woman.
Secondly, Cassie has a sister unlike her. That’s exactly why we can’t examine her only Freudian and daddy issued. They grew up in the same atmosphere, but they’re totally different from each other. At the season finale , we saw that in Lexy’s Play , Lexy always wanted to look like Cassie , but she never reached. We have to ask that “What if she could? Could be the same just like her?” .
The case that I am asking isn’t about relation between being pretty and stupid. That is exactly what society makes woman because patriarchy still thinks beauty is the only value for woman, if they are improve themselves in other subjects , this is because they are not pretty enough and trying to catch and fill the voids the other prettier competitors. That is why ,patriarchy always compare women and trying to create a competitive environment. Especially in media and society. You must have hear “girls are get jealous each other, they are always competitive ,etc. “ at least once. Or you may have watched “cat fight” and black swan type movies that represents movies between two women who steal her man from another.
Even in the same movie triangles , whenever we watch a love triangle between two men and a woman , media represents that two brave, pure, epic men fight over their love. However women steal one from another.
However, Euphoria represents that love triangle perfectly. We are watching an emotional, carrying friendship that ends sadly, instead competition. Also the most interesting part is we can also make empathy with Cassie because we don’t see that a pure villain character that destroys an angelic relationship. Cassie is a teenage person who with traumas and she is still 17. The pure villain is Nate audience knows that, we watch victimized and manipulated two young teenage girl. That’s why Love dynamics between Cassie and Maddy broke audiences heart. That is why examining Cassie only Freudian may be so superficial. We have to dive into society and patriarchy also as we did.
To Conclude , I wanted to examine Cassie more complex because she is the one of the most ambivalence characters in show. Superficial but not.
Random shi 