Christine – A Tad Bit Chauvinist?

[michal]

It took me awhile to realize why I don’t like Christine. Quite awhile, it’s been YEARS since I’ve read it for the first time. But reading it again today I feel this book of all of Mr. King’s books is such a Guyish book in the sense that it shows women in the way men perceive them.

The car is a female and a jealous bi*** at that. She drives man mad and drives them into killing sprees. The only other female character is a weak and eventually unfaithful young woman that causes a break in the “manly friendship”. Blah!!!!

And to think I thought that the only reason I disliked it was all that blabbering about automobile-parts!

[Natjen26]

You have a point there :)
Never really thought it through. Still is one of my favourites, but that's because of all the blabbering about automobile-parts :D
and since it's one of the first novels I read by SK.

[Perse Jr.]

Yes, but aren't most "vessels" considered "female?" Like boats, ships, cars, etc.? I thought it was perfect, and I cried when Christine was crushed, and cheered when her little crunched up bumper moved in the last scene.

[wally wonder]

didn't think of christine as a she, but then i looked a the clock, me, and said, look the clock! she is wrong! what do you think about all the le and la, all those romance languages with their genders? for some reason, forest parker as daniel boone comes to mind, teachin the kids congugations or something, i'm a fixin to, she's a fixin to, he's a fixin to.

[michal]

I thought it was perfect, and I cried when Christine was crushed, and cheered when her little crunched up bumper moved in the last scene.

My GOD, did you also hope that Randal Flag would kill all those Free Zone people and cried when those awful children won over poor It? :laugh:

[ChristineB]

I have to disagree here.

I see is as more sexist against men then women. The car appeals to and can overcome the "defenses" of men over the lure of evil. To me the car is the evil here and while yes it is referred to as a female I see that as again men's failings in overcoming their own prejudices. Men tend to refer to possessions as female and this shows just how shallow they can be. The other female her is portrayed a level headed and understanding person for the most part until she can just no long handle the things that are happening and even then she is not seen (to me) as being unreasonable in her demands, she still wants to love her boyfriend, but doesn't like what the car is doing to him (what he is allowing the car to do to him, again that inability to resist the evil of men). Just what I see, a different view.

To be honest this happens alot with his novels... There are only a very few females portrayed as evil in his books. The only ones I can think of (I have not read everything yet so sorry if I have missed someone here) are the mom in Carrie and Sara in Bag of Bones, in both cases we end up pitying them instead of hating them. Contrast that to the rest of his villains which are male and while we may identify with some of what they have been through, for the most part, we never really pity them. Just my views.

[Perse Jr.]

My GOD, did you also hope that Randal Flag would kill all those Free Zone people and cried when those awful children won over poor It? :laugh:

Well, no, however, I do tend to route for the "bad" guy in many movies. It's a bad trait, I know, but that's me. :biggrin2: Girl next door on the outside, bad girl inside...LOL.

[ginapenn]

I completely disagree and I'm a woman.

I didn't find this book sexist at all; as a matter of fact, it's never even crossed my mind until I read this post and this is the first and still my favorite book by SK. It's a well known fact that cars are referred to as "she"; why would SK want to change that for his book? Also, I didn't find Leigh to be weak or cheating at all. Leigh was a beautiful young woman that fell in love with Arnie and when Arnie's personality drastically changed, they broke up. Arnie obviously didn't see it that way but that's what happened in the book. The romance between Dennis and Leigh wasn't anything close to just a tryst; they dated for a while until they went their separate ways, which tends to happen with young folks. Keep in mind that this is a story that involves teenagers that lived back in the seventies. Things were different then.

[aliciasimon]

I'm annoyed by the fact that a ship is referred to as a "she". It seems totally chauvanistic to me (because a ship is some beautiful machinary controlled by a man. BLECH). Surprisingly, however, I didn't get that annoyance from Christine. I just enjoyed the story. And this one was the scariest one of all for me....it had me sleeping with the lights on for a few nights.

[KimBrown]

This is my favorite SK book! I don't think that it is chauvinistic at all. Best book of his....Ever.

[Doc Wilson]

In one of his forewords, Neil Gaiman advances the notion that all books have genders, and even classifies each of his works as either male or female. It isn't so simplistic as to boil down to the gender of the protagonist, though thats of course an important factor.

[Audaciousfox]

I completely disagree and I'm a woman.

I didn't find this book sexist at all; as a matter of fact, it's never even crossed my mind until I read this post and this is the first and still my favorite book by SK. It's a well known fact that cars are referred to as "she"; why would SK want to change that for his book? Also, I didn't find Leigh to be weak or cheating at all. Leigh was a beautiful young woman that fell in love with Arnie and when Arnie's personality drastically changed, they broke up. Arnie obviously didn't see it that way but that's what happened in the book. The romance between Dennis and Leigh wasn't anything close to just a tryst; they dated for a while until they went their separate ways, which tends to happen with young folks. Keep in mind that this is a story that involves teenagers that lived back in the seventies. Things were different then.

I couldn't've said it better. I do want to say I believe way too many people over-think Stephen King's attitudes towards women. Can't anyone just take a book for the story instead of all the nuances that might represent something (usually) negative? It is said a writer's works usually reveal the writer's attitudes, and I'd agree; yet so many find fault (and I don't mean Michal, but critics in general) with King's attitudes towards we women folk. The man writes a mean story - often with women triumphing - and I just take it for that.

[ginapenn]

I couldn't've said it better. I do want to say I believe way too many people over-think Stephen King's attitudes towards women. Can't anyone just take a book for the story instead of all the nuances that might represent something (usually) negative? It is said a writer's works usually reveal the writer's attitudes, and I'd agree; yet so many find fault (and I don't mean Michal, but critics in general) with King's attitudes towards we women folk. The man writes a mean story - often with women triumphing - and I just take it for that.

I totally agree with your reply. Honestly, I would never put a gender on a story. As a writer myself, I deal with characters that act in a way I would never dream of and have beliefs that I completely disagree with. You said it right when you said "people over-think"... Well put! People really do!! Stories sometimes DO reflect a writer's attitude (sometimes, hell-a lot!) but remember that you're stomping on THE WRITER'S playground. They can write it however they want! I've never felt put-off by any of King's stories. Thick skin people. There are bigger fish to fry out there.

[KazMic]

I totally agree with ChristineB and Jules17330 replies. I found Christine a very enjoyable book and not chauvinist at all. As others have said, cars are always refered to as she and I see nothing wrong in that. I found Leigh just a normal young woman who had to deal with a very upsetting situation. I felt she handled it as well as i would expect anyone to. When Arnie changed for the worst she could not be expected to stay and accept his behaviour. The character Leigh certainly did not leave any negative feelings with me.

[Princemeister]

I just finished reading this today and think the chauvanist view is wide of the mark. SPOILER ALERT In Dennis' talk with Le Bays brother on the phone it is revealed that their mother felt her son was evil from a young age- so even if the car is called a 'she' the driving force (pun intended) of evil is arguably Le Bay who is male. After all Christine only was active on her own once Le Bay posessed her instead of Arnie.

[pennywise74]

Yeah I agree Kim cant see how it is chauvanistic or sexist it actually portrays the car dominating Arnie, and getting the upper hand on most of the men in the story so prehaps Christine is the chauvanistic one eh?

[popsqueak]

I thought it was great and can really see two teenagers and this car. I think the first time Arnie sees the car is how many teenagers are with cars. I love the story set in the 70s, with no computers etc. Brings me back to the simple life. My first car was named after my Grandmother and I am a female. I can remember how excited me and my friends were when driving around, we had independence!

[CaseyM]

I thought it was great and can really see two teenagers and this car. I think the first time Arnie sees the car is how many teenagers are with cars.

That's how I was with my motorcycle. I saw her, smiled, and knew she would be mine. And it is a she, I know this. And I am a girl. I started calling it her and she immediately. I haven't picked out a name yet...she's red...perhaps Christine?

[Olivia Dunham]

My mum has always called all of her cars Betsy since I was a child. To her cars were and are always female. Nothing chauvinistic there, it just is. I always call cars her as well. As for Leigh, she was not weak nor was she unfaithful. She truly loved Arnie, enough to risk her life to save him. She did not like what the car and possession by LeBay was doing to him. Due to that she had to break it off, and that was smart considering that the car tried to kill her several times.

[Alexandra19]

Hi !

Christine is the first SK book I've read, when I was a teenage girl, and I've never seen anything chauvinistic in it.
I understand what you may think so, though and you're right saying Christine is, somehow, a jealous bitch... But when you think about it, the book is about a teenage boy, who has a lot of trouble integrating into high school. So in a way, Christine represents what he needs ; not only is it a girl, but it's also some king of "phallic symbol" with all the teenage rage in it.
Leigh has never looked dull to me, but she's just not the main character so it's kind of natural she hasn't got more importance.
IMO, Christine is a teenage story : rock vibes, great car, hot girl, boyfriends and of course, it's horrible.