natasharommanoff:

okay but can we please talk about how agent carter is approaching steve’s death, with regards to peggy’s arc?

because peggy is actually being allowed to grieve and show emotion, and reveal to us as an audience how losing steve has affected her emotionally and mentally. 

usually, if writers are trying to convince us that a female lead is a “strong female character”, she isn’t allowed to do that. she isn’t allowed emotions or to show herself breaking down because then (brace yourselves for heavy sarcasm) ~she isn’t strong anymore~. female characters usually aren’t allowed such a full range of emotion. 

but peggy in agent carter is still obviously a tough, capable, complex person. she’s also a person experiencing bereavement. and as such she falters sometimes. she cries sometimes. the agent carter team is showing that they understand that the “strong” in ~strong (female) character~ doesn’t mean “emotionless robot”, it means “solid, complex, well-rounded” character (regardless of gender). 

and then on the flip side, steve’s death isn’t becoming peggy’s central plot arc either. because the other risk for fictional female leads is that the loss they suffer often becomes their defining feature. almost as though, with the death of a loved one, they suddenly cease to be a real person anymore.

whereas for peggy, steve’s death is one of many hurdles she must overcome. across the season she’s also struggled with misogyny, a mysterious and dangerous secret organisation, being a double agent of sorts, an overbearing (and sexist) landlady, and scooping up howard’s slack with a shovel. (and that’s just a cross-section of examples)

i’m honestly just so impressed with how well agent carter has balanced steve’s death as a part of peggy’s development, without making her totally emotionless or having her fall apart completely and lose every other part of herself. it’s felt so organic and real, and the end result really testifies to that.