Isabelle Lightwood, "Shadowhunters", and Why Millennial Feminism Is Needed in Today's Fiction

Emeraude Toubia as Isabelle Lightwood in Freeform's Shadowhunters

A little background for those who don't know what exactly is going on. The Mortal Instruments is a young adult novel series about teens who hunt demons. One of the demon hunters (or shadowhunters) is sixteen year old Isabelle Lightwood, a smart, cool, tough, and sexually confident girl. Now, there is a television series, Shadowhunters, in which Isabelle is a young adult (somewhere between ages eighteen and twenty-something). Isabelle is still smart and sexy, but since she is older, we get to see her be more explicitly sexual, rather than how the books had her sexuality only be hinted at due to her being a teenager (I don't think I need to explain why sexually explicit content about a sixteen year old is gross). A Latina had been cast in the role and when we see a Latina being sexy, it makes sense to automatically think "oh no, they're going for the one dimensional fiery Latina stereotype" which is awful and unfortunately does happen in Hollywood. Fans were pretty taken aback by Isabelle's very revealing attire in behind the scenes photos and her being described as "exotic," because we were afraid that Isabelle was going to be reduced to a sex object. But Emeraude Toubia (who plays Isabelle on Shadowhunters) said in interview after interview that Isabelle is intelligent and caring as well as being sexy, so some fans jumped off the "they're going to ruin Isabelle" train. Those fans who were still worried had their worries squashed within the first few episodes of the series, in which the show literally defended Isabelle's revealing wardrobe with "she's very comfortable with her body" and having Isabelle show feelings of guilt when someone under her protection is kidnapped, having her give pep talks and defend Clary, the female protagonist. Fans saw her have a loving, though filled with sibling bickering, relationship with her brother, as well as using sex as a tool to get information. But fans were okay with this because it was either in character or a positive change from the books (Clary and Isabelle hate each other in the novels). That is, the fans who aren't misogynists were okay with this. Unfortunately, some fans who have a lot of sway over the fandom and even has sometimes gotten their way in how the show is made, do not have their feminists hats on. But that's okay. We can't all be automatically "woke." That's why people like me are here: to educate the uneducated.

The biggest problem I think fans are having is that they're still seeing Isabelle as a sixteen year old kid, but you can look at the television version of Isabelle and obviously see she's an adult. If the show is showing her as being grown and you're just not understanding that, sweetheart, that's your fucking problem. If you still want to think she's sixteen, go right ahead. You do what you want to do. However, when you are in a position of power, you cannot displace your own internalized misogyny onto a team of writers and an actress who have done nothing but send pro-feminist messages with a character.

Wow, look at how this show completely disrespects
Isabelle's sexuality!

What's that? You don't have any internalized misogyny? Then, my sweet summer child, please explain why you're hating on Isabelle for using sex to get information but you're not saying a damn word about Meliorn doing the exact same thing in the same fucking scene? Or better yet, why are you upset about Isabelle being an undercover stripper and that being "too sexy" or "wrong" but you haven't said anything about the men who were watching her dance? Why are all of you applauding Jace and Simon being shirtless but when Isabelle shows skin, it's not okay and she needs to cover up? Why is it when Magnus makes sex jokes, you laugh, but when Isabelle does it, you say it's tasteless or bad? Why do you criticize female characters for literally doing what male characters are doing? Hint: it's because you're a misogynist.

And then there are my favorite comments in which viewers complain about Isabelle being reduced to "the sexy one" when we've been shown that she is emotional, loving, brave, fierce, and a fleshed out female character who happens to also being attractive or sexual. Sound familiar?

I could list 90% of the heroines in Hollywood but we don't have time for that. My point is that you can't overlook the majority of characterization and personality so you can just focus on a woman as a sexual being and then turn around and accuse the show runners of doing that very thing. They're the ones who are making Isabelle a rounded out character. YOU are the ones who keep reducing her to her sexuality.

But IF they were doing wrong by Isabelle's wardrobe, if they were dressing her in a revealing way just for the hell of it, I could understand the outrage of book purists. I, personally, think it's dumb as hell when people are upset that adaptations aren't 100% like the source material, but I'm going to look at this from a purists point of view. Because in their minds, Isabelle was not dressed in short, tight dresses, or fighting demons while wearing heels. Which is fucking stupid because the books literally say she wears sexy stuff all the time.

"Under the coat she was wearing one of what Clary called her "typical Isabelle outfits": a tight short velvet dress, fishnet stockings, and boots." - (City of Fallen Angels, page 4)

"She [Isabelle] was wearing a long silvery skirt and a sequined top, and her nails were painted like glittering coins. strands of silver beads were caught in her dark hair." - (City of Bones, page 208)

"She [Isabelle]… was wearing a long red dress, slit up the side to show most of her leg… She was covered in Marks. They twined up her arms, threaded their way up her thigh, necklaced her throat, and decorated her chest, a great deal of which was visible, thanks to the plunging neckline of her dress." - (City of Fallen Angels, page 290). And by the way, she proceeds to fight in this dress, so any talk about these clothes being impractical for demon hunting? Yeah that's all bullshit.

I know what you may be thinking by now. "Leigh, this isn't even that big of a deal! It's a television show." And if it was just a group of fans doing this, I probably wouldn't be making such a big deal out of it. However, the one person who should be sticking up for Isabelle is also jumping on the "Izzy's a slut, she's too sexy" bandwagon, and that person is the always delightful Cassandra Clare. Yes, the person who created Isabelle Lightwood, who wrote her dressing sexy and being a sexual girl, is now saying Isabelle would never dress this way, despite writing that Isabelle would, in fact, dress this way. There's also the problem of Ms. Clare liking tweets saying that Isabelle looks like "one of Sebastian's girls" (a reference to the novels in which a character had young women with him who were written to be ~trashy~). There are other mean tweets about Isabelle that she has agreed with, but I'm too lazy to list them, you can go through her tweets and likes for those. The feminist in me wants to scream because how can you write a character who is meant to be comfortable with how she looks, and be confident in being sexy and badass, how can you write these things and then turn around and act like there's an issue with her being portrayed that way in an adaptation? As a feminist and as a fellow author, I feel that too many authors are stuck in that "sexy therefore not valid" mindset about female characters that 80's and 90's feminism taught them. But they end up drilling these ideas into their readers. The fans who think it's alright to slut shame Isabelle think this because they see the creator of Isabelle doing the same thing. Sure, there are other factors, the feminists those fans are friends and family with, the other books, music, and other forms of entertainment those fans take in. But, as a fan, I know how much fans look up to the creator of source material. So if J.K. Rowling says "it's totally fine that Hermione is black!" that's going to make fans be more accepting because the creator has the most important opinion to fans. It's the same principle here. If Ms. Clare says "Isabelle wouldn't wear that" or agrees with slut shaming comments, she's just telling young impressionable fans that it's okay to think of a woman as being less of a person simply because she's sexy. The Shadowhunters television show is already trying very hard to undo some the toxic parts of the books (*cough* Clary and Isabelle hating each other simply for being women*, *Isabelle only being "the hot one" until the later novels*). They're giving us Clary and Isabelle being friends, giving Isabelle a personality beyond her hemline and innuendos.

"You know, it’s really funny ‘cause usually when two girls meet and someone trespasses their territory, girls wanna be mean to each other and they wanna put the stop right there. But it’s really nice because Clary and Isabelle, you know, she embraces Clary. She plays dress up with Clary, she lends her her skirts and her high heels and she does her makeup. So it’s a really nice relationship with a very friendly relationship. She’s there for Clary. She fights for Clary. She’s willing to risk everything for Clary. And it’s really nice to show girls out there that you can actually be friends with girls. You don’t have to be mean girls or bully girls. You can actually be friends and that’s really nice." - Toubia about Isabelle's positive relationship with Clary, the only other major female character on Shadowhunters

This situation creates a clash between old feminism and millennial feminism. Millennials who are feminists do not care if a woman wears a short skirt, a long dress, jeans, or nothing at all. We don't base a woman's value on her cleavage. And while, in the books, it's nice that Isabelle is sexy (no matter how much the author tries to say she isn't), and that she does eventually get something to do other than standing around looking hot, it doesn't make sense to write her as being sexy and fun and a character that current feminists can get behind but then turn around and impose old feminist ideas on her. You can't have a sexy character on purpose and then slut shame her. This just doesn't make any sense.

Talking about Ms. Clare and her legion of blind followers is making my head hurt, but now I want to get to the main reason I actually created this post. It's not just because the feminist and the author in me respects women and characters. It's me, as a WoC.

When Emeraude Toubia was cast as Isabelle, I, just like many fans, was happy. They could have easily given the role to a white girl but instead they racebent her and made one of the most kickass girls in YA fiction a Latina. I'm black, for those of you who don't know, and we get roles in television and film... every now and then, but Latinx people get even fewer roles than black people do. Since I know Latinix representation in Hollywood is very, very low, I knew that even if it felt cool for me to see a Latina as Isabelle, it meant more to other fans who are Latinix and hardly ever see themselves as anything other than a drug dealer or a fiery Latina in Hollywood. Watching the show, I feel good knowing that there's a smart, powerful, funny, sexy, and just plain awesome Latina on my screen and that other young girls, especially those who are Latina, can see a character worth looking up to. And I'm glad that Toubia was given this role because she's absolutely nailing it. Which is why I feel bad for her. Imagine doing all this hard work, the fight training, the dieting, the actual acting, having to do emotional scenes, having to bring a beloved character to life, having to deal with the racism of a small group of fans who are upset their white fave has become Latina, having to go through all this shit, getting the final product out there for people to see your hard work, and then the woman responsible for creating your character and the entire story your job is centered around, as well as her followers, have reduced you to nothing but a "problematic sex object". This happens to women ALL the time. We work hard, we do great things, and all people think we're worth talking about is our bodies. I know this isn't just a problem with Shadowhunters, the fans, and this character in particular. It happens all the time in Hollywood, and in society in general. And it's fucking terrible. It really is. And what makes me even more upset about this is that it's women who are saying these things about each other. If it were men saying it, it'd obviously be bad, but women have to stop treating each other like shit just for being sexual. We can't expect men to respect us when we don't respect each other.

If you want to be a feminist, act like it. You can't say "women deserve equal pay" but not agree with women being just as sexual as men. You can't say "women should be sexually free" but then hate women for being sexual. You can't say "OMG he's shirtless! Yay!" and then hate a girl for also being shirtless. Feminism is equality. It's is either all inclusive, or it's not feminism. So if you're going to have a problem with Isabelle's sexiness, you better be ready to talk about Jace, Simon, Alec, Hodge, all the male characters being sexier than they were in the novel series. If you want to write a sexy character, you better be ready to defend her against slut shaming and not pull out your feminist card only when it suits you.

Toubia is doing a damn good job at being Isabelle, and Isabelle is a great character. It's possible for Toubia to be a great actress and be sexy, just like it's possible for Isabelle to be one of the best Shadowhunters in the world and be sexy. We've got a rounded, wonderful character, and an actress who was pretty much born for the role, and she's LATINA, and the first thoughts some of you have is to be assholes, to completely shit on all the work Toubia has done to fit your own sexist view of the world. The show's writing, the wardrobe department, even Toubia herself, are paying respect to all aspects of Isabelle. Don't blame them when you're salty about Isabelle's sexuality just because you had an extra cup of misogyny today.