(note I Love Both Characters Very Much And I Stan Both Rhaenyra And Alicent, Just To Let You Know Before

(note i love both characters very much and i stan both rhaenyra and alicent, just to let you know before you jump on this short little thread and spout hate bc i love their characters and find them both fascinating).

i think there's a very interesting conversation to be had about alicent and rhaenyra BOTH representing facets of 'white feminism' because i see team green stans an team black stans accusing the other of being white feminists. just as a disclaimer neither of them are are ultimately feminists because feminism simply does not exist in medieval times and both of them do not really fight for women as a whole, they are working for their own goals and achievements, but they aren't working for the rights of other women (especially smallfolk women, the most oppressed on the hierarchy).

starting with alicent, i really think she represents the kind of white feminism of using the patriarchy to oppress other women. she becomes embittered with the injustice being done to her and she sees how no one feels sorry for her, so she comes to embrace the system that had made her a victim to oppress other women and strip away their rights (as seen in her silencing dyana or arguing for aegon's right to the iron throne over rhaenyra). many white feminists use the patriarchy as a tool in order to oppress other people all the while focusing on their rights and distancing themselves from their victimization by becoming representations of the patriarchy themselves. alicent is a victim of marital rape, a child bride, a victim of her father's abuse and she sees a way of escaping her victimization by utilizing the very same system that had nearly destroyed her to assert her power over women and making it 'fair.' because if she has to suffer other women must suffer with her, they're not allowed to escape their consequences, they have to follow the order like she did, they have to sacrifice like she did, and they have to follow their duties like she did. and so i really think she is emblematic of the aspect of white feminism of using the patriarchy to oppress other women.

rhaenyra is emblematic of 'white feminism' because she fights for herself and herself alone. of course she wants what's best for her stepdaughters and will protect them, but she doesn't care about the rights of the smallfolk women, because she's content to keep that same system in place so long as she is ruling. she is fighting for her rights as a female heir in the face of men, but that doesn't necessarily extend to other women who have been oppressed and which i think is a key aspect to white feminism, they don't fight for anyone but themselves, it's not intersectional, it's only aligned in their own interests. rhaenyra herself does not pursue oppression of other women like alicent does but she's certainly not helping other women either, she's helping herself and focuses on what will benefit herself and her family.

a very very short but concise analysis because rhaenyra and alicent are two very different characters and they have been oppressed in different ways and so they react differently, they are resilient in their own ways (alicent by embracing the patriarchy/religion that had victimized her in the first place and feeling the need to exact her vengeance on other women. rhaenyra by fighting for her rights and her rights only against the system that she believes has stolen from her). and perhaps 'white feminism' isn't the correct term to use because feminism simply does not exist in these medieval times, but both of them are very emblematic of the term that the greens and the blacks throw at one another because nuance is simply gone and we have to reduce characters to buzzwords and hate them because they defy what we think look like good characters.