Emmanuelle St-Cyr, head of the emergency room at Saint-Vincent Hospital, the main character of the daily STAT played by Suzanne Clément, has a number of conquests. Viewers do not hesitate to comment on the uninhibited sexuality of this accomplished woman, even going so far to qualify “Nymphomaniac” or “Cat in warmth. But what’s so worrying?
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In an excerpt broadcast on the show’s Facebook page, Emmanuelle can be seen approaching her emergency doctor colleague Marco without doing anything. We understand that she uses sexuality as a way to relieve stress.
It took nothing less for viewers to comment on his sex life.
Screenshot from STAT’s Facebook page
If this scene was so disturbing, it was mainly because it does not correspond to our idea of relationships between men and women.
In life as on television, these relationships must actually follow a “script” and preferably the heterosexual script, explains Anne Martine Parent, professor of literature at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC).
“In this relationship script, the person making advances is the man. The woman is the one who waits, who is desired. So if we have a character [féminin] Anyone who takes control of their sexuality, who controls it, does not fit into the prevailing script and that is shocking,” she continues.
Especially since until recently the image of female sexual life had to correspond to one of three models: the model of the mother – who uses sexuality for the survival of the species – and that of the virgin – who claims the sacred aspect of sex for herself The woman’s body – or that of the whore – who makes money from her sexuality and contributes to men’s desire – explains Sylvie Genest, anthropologist and professor at the Faculty of Arts at UQAM.
“These models continue to be practiced, taught and represented in the culture. But Emmanuelle does not correspond to any of them and this new model of women presented in this soap opera is disturbing,” she adds.
Before Saint Vincent, Sex and the City…
STAT is far from the first series to feature female characters breaking out of this straitjacket. The American series “Sex and the City,” which aired at the end of the 1990s, embodies one of the first – and most popular – examples of this phenomenon, says Anne Martine Parent.
“The introduction of specialized channels like HBO or Netflix has helped accelerate the portrayal of women in control of their sexuality in more niche series for niche audiences, as they are not subject to the same censorship restrictions.” [que les chaînes généralistes]» continues the woman who has carried out study projects on the representation of female sexuality on television.
So what stands out in STAT isn’t necessarily the portrayal of a successful career woman with an uninhibited sexuality, but rather the fact that this image is presented in prime time on a mainstream channel.
From Slut shaming?
The Council on the Status of Women describes slutshaming as “the act of criticizing, stigmatizing, blaming, or even discrediting a woman whose attitude, behavior, or physical appearance is viewed as provocative, too sexual, or immoral.”
Do viewers’ comments about Emmanuelle St-Cyr’s sexuality make her a difference?
According to Sylvie Genest, this is not slut-shaming because the comments are rather “banal”. “These are comments that are superfluous compared to what we normally hear about women’s roles and have a relatively low depth of analysis,” she says.
Photo from STAT’s Facebook page, provided by Radio-Canada
Emergency doctor Marc-Olivier Morin (Marco), played by Anglesh Major, and Emmanuelle St-Cyr (Suzanne Clément)
However, if the character Emmanuelle were a man, he would not be the subject of the same comments, believes Anne Martine Parent. This is the famous double standard.
“There are so many male characters who multiply their conquests. It may shock some people, but in general it conforms to norms of masculinity.
Thanks to the women behind the camera
Emmanuelle’s sexuality represents only one aspect of her life; it is not inconsistent with his social success and is not due to frustration or an unbalanced person. In this sense, Sylvie Genest delights in the richness of the character, “who takes on the professional, maternal and sexual nature of her identity without being sexualized in her clothing, her makeup and her relationships with men”.
“The author [Marie-Andrée Labbé] did a good job of adding complexity to a character that could be completely flat,” she says.
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In addition, the fact that women are taking on more and more roles behind the camera – in writing, producing or directing – means that we see a greater diversity of female models, says Anne Martine Parent.
“It is certain that the sex lives of women in real life are more complex than those of the models we see on television. But seeing characters like Emmanuelle adopt the same behavior influences and determines what we perceive as normal or abnormal, good or bad. It can change the way we see things.”