Blurred Lines

Irene-Adler-Nude-Sherlock

While both versions of “The Scandal in Bohemia” revolve around a woman’s ability to match Sherlock in intelligence, Irene Adler’s choice of dress in the TV series is an important element to consider in modern day society We first see Adler as very confident and masculine: when deciding what to wear upon her first meeting with Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler decides on wearing her “battle dress”. She also uses imagery of blood and war in a way that could be perceived as masculine and aggressive. Compared to Irene in Conan Doyle’s story, Irene Adler’s personality in Sherlock is bold and powerful. Irene does not come across as dainty and feminine as in Doyle’s edition. Adler displays a masculine personality by being over confident, aggressive and describing her encounter as a battle. Adler’s male like persona is a representation of her ability to think and act like a man and to be in control.

In the same moments, Irene can be perceived as feminine through her naked appearance and her sexuality. This femininity does not take away her dominance but rather assists Irene in outsmarting Sherlock and throwing him off guard. Adler’s nudity gives her an immense amount of power over Sherlock Holmes: he asks her to cover up after the shock of seeing her naked. He appears weak and consumed by the distraction of her nudity. This power struggle suggests that men are still addicted and flawed by their obsession with women and sex and hints that women have the ability to use this addiction to their advantage such as Adler did. Simply put, to remain in control a woman must think like a man but use their feminine values to obtain what they want.

The television series, Sherlock, suggests that nowadays that the correct balance of femininity and masculinity enables someone to be in power. Irene Adler’s blurred lines of masculinity and femininity is what enables her to have more power than Sherlock in this particular scene. At the same time, I would like to pose the question: At what point does using your sexuality for power not become okay? Irene’s nudity also calls into question the normatively of being naked and a role such as a dominatrix has in today’s society. It highlights the commonality of seeing a naked woman in modern cinematography and that there is still appears to be an unbalance of female and male roles in power. While gender roles have become more equalitarian, nudity and sex still play a dominant role in the power play between the sexes.

2 thoughts on “Blurred Lines”

  1. I totally agree with your statement that women should combine masculinity and femininity to remain in control. In the episode, Irene Adler knows how to take advantage of her sexuality to help her gain the power confronting males. I think you can add some contrast between Irene showing her masculinity and femininity to better indicate how she is adept at using this strategy.

  2. This statement helps in a way piggy back my argument that I make about femininity. I mention about how Irene is naked in the begging of the plot and its importance to support the femininity aspect. The person above does as well ” Irene can be perceived as feminine through her naked appearance and her sexuality”. I think that part is in important part of the film that helps give the reader room for thought. In addition i thought it was good that you added how she can be a also a little manly, because in the BBC edition, she appears to have more Irene can be perceived as feminine through her naked appearance and her sexuality. but in the actual book, she can be percieved as having more masculinity.

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