DAMSEL IN DISTRESS
a classic theme in world literature, art, film and video games; most notably in those that have a lot of action. This trope usually involves beautiful, innocent, or helpless young female leads, placed in a dire predicament by a villain, monster, or alien, and who requires a male hero to achieve their rescue. After rescuing them, the hero often obtains their hand in marriage.
#iâm just saying#thereâs a reason so many women fiercely latched on to buckyâs character#not only is bucky gorgeous but heâs also a constant plot point to give the hero manpain#in the first avenger he needs to be rescued and his death is the heroâs ultimate motivator#in the winter soldier the hero still mourns this momentous loss until bucky springs back like the beautiful femme fatale that he is#with no agency or autonomy i should add#and in civil war heâs again just a plot device this time to cause a rift between two Men#and the russos stated they chose bucky as the first to be dusted in IW so we could view this horror from steveâs eyes#anyway i have Thoughts#bucky barnes#steve rogers#cap: tfa#cap: tws#cap: cw (via mackievanstan)
Letâs also remember that Bucky is given feminine actions to perform outside of Being Rescued by Steve. Bucky performs a lot, like a whole hell of a lot, of emotional labor on Steveâs behalf. Oceans of digital ink have been spilled regarding Buckyâs role as pre-serum Steveâs physical and emotional caretaker. On-screen, we watch him arrange Steveâs domestic (âI am literally begging you to live with me now that your mother has passed awayâ) and social (âI found you a date!â) life for himâŠ
(Interesting to note that when he takes on the role as Steveâs protector, the actual aggression involved is minimal: one punch and one kick in the alleway; one clean shot to the head during the CATFA montage.)
âŠand he puts up with Steveâs cock-eyed enthusiasm against his better judgment and against his own best interests. From letting Steve ditch him at the Expo on a night that shouldâve been about Bucky making good memories to take overseas, to agreeing when Steve asks him to join a crack squad going after the same people responsible for a pretty damn significant trauma to himâand hell, skipping ahead to CW when he instantly joins up with Steve to go to Siberia despite the events of the first half of the filmâBucky constantly sublimates himself to serve the causes of other people.
And itâs not just Steve! Pierce orders and abuses and guilts Bucky into compliance even when he has misgivings. Bucky is undeniably reluctant to be dragged into the Infinity War, but he follows when TâChalla beckons, and he even plasters a big smile onto his face for when Steve shows up (to say nothing of the appearance change/personal grooming he put on in the meantime, which a - was so goddamn gay, and b - is a ploy to make him look more ready to be here, since Buckyâs appearance/state of dress is linked to his mental state, as evidenced by every single scene Bucky is ever in, ever).
Also, I think Bucky is the only MCU man we ever see shopping? (Iâm not counting Peter Parker because he is a minor.) Actually shopping, not just walking through a marketplace or townsquare (or covertly using a computer). Chatting with the vendor and smiling and generally putting on social niceties that are often assigned to women irl and on-screen (without the manly posturing that even Peter engages in).
There was an article awhile back hypothesizing that Nonbinary Bucky took off as a popular fandom interpretation precisely because heâs been assigned the Womanâs Role so thoroughly. I can totally see why.
tagging @beautifulwhensarcastic and @koreanrage so they can read my tags
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everything e v e r y bit of this, especially:
This meta is Lit đ„
@minxymojo and @shycrusadeconfection (idk why not tagging properly) thank you ^.^
After glancing at the other comments, I also just want to say that thereâs nothing inherently wrong with the feminine emotionality that Bucky displays. In fact, itâs amazing in a good way that such a personality was given to a male character. Some people really do just enjoy and ultimately feel fulfilled by taking care of others emotionally and serving noble causes. Steve actually does as well; he just does it in a conventionally masculine, overtly heroic, attention-grabbing way. But the âsupportâ role is not actually lesser than the lead one. Good luck making a movie with only a director and lead role, yâknow? People who are service-minded are extremely necessary to civilization. What Bucky has are skills, not simply exploitable traits.
And honestly, itâs also okay to be the one who gets rescued. Youâre not a lesser person if you need physical or emotional saving every once in awhile, nor does that make you unequal to the rescuer, even/especially if the rescuer is your romantic partner.
The problem, in real life, is when the emotional labor and skills provided by the feminine actor go unappreciated and unrewardedâor, worse, punished. Itâs a problem when the feminine actorâs own personal needs go unmet and their own boundaries go disrespectedâŠor if they donât know enough about themselves to set boundaries in the first place. (Itâs also a problem for women irl when we are expected to perform this feminine emotional labor even if itâs not in our individual personality/skillset/values system, or just donât have the energy to do it at the moment, and get punished for non-compliance.)
Whatâs really interesting is watching how Steve grows over the series in relation to Bucky. CATFA Steve, frankly, walks all over Bucky. Steve doesnât mean to do itâŠheâs young and impetuous, he has to make sure that his life ultimately means something (considering he grew up not expecting to live long, and being denigrated for his poor health and disabilities), he has High Ideals that need pursuing. His eyes are skyward, and that means either not noticing, or noticing but not effectively addressing, when Bucky is hurting right in front of him.
Iâve written elsewhere that a) Steve is in serious denial about Buckyâs status as a mortal all the way up until Bucky falls from the train, only truly acknowledging once or twice that Buckyâs at risk of dying, and b) Steve knew something was emotionally wrong with Bucky post-Krausbergâwatch his eyes when he asks if Bucky is âready to follow;â they are on Bucky like a hawkâbut Bucky was able to deflect Steveâs concern, and Steve figured that he ought to treat Bucky the same as ever, and that maybe the chance at revenge against Hydra is all the catharsis Bucky needs.
Itâs actually after losing Bucky that we see Steve start to assume some of the Emotional/Social Labor skills that Bucky hadâŠclumsily at first, and then more deftly. In the Avengers he seeks Tony out after Coulsonâs death; in Winter Soldier he opens the conversational door for Sam to talk about Riley and asks Natasha whatâs bothering her when theyâre at Samâs house; in Civil War he goes to comfort and assure Wanda post-Lagos. Clearly, after losing Bucky, heâs truly learned the value of a person who seeks to meet othersâ emotional needs, not only saves their physical lives. I also think itâs telling that he explicitly offers to let Sam back out of helping him not once but twice in Winter SoldierâŠmaybe he wonders that if he had told Bucky outright âYou know, itâs okay if you choose not to join the Commandos; Iâm not gonna judge you for itâ that Bucky would have declined the invitation and consequently gotten to live.
Civil War isâŠitâs really hard to guage this movie in terms of Steveâs growth and change in attitude towards Bucky because you honestly cannot underestimate a) how plot-driven rather than character-driven it is, and b) how thoroughly and insiduously the studioâs Gay Panic informs the execution of the film. I was and still am infuriated that the relative mutual tenderness of the âBuck, do you remember me? / Your momâs name was Sarahâ scene from the trailer was replaced by the brusque âWhich Bucky am I talking to?â and the weirdâŠamusedâŠ?âŠis he supposed to be deleriousâŠ? delivery of the âyour momâs nameâ line. imo Steve and Buckyâs inital reunion at the apartment was also a lot more standoffish than it needed to be, at least on Steveâs partâŠfor someone whoâs spent two years looking for Bucky, Steve sure does seem to be mostly annoyed to be in his company. And then there is that deleted sceneâthe one on the plane, where Bucky is seated away from the cockpit looking pensive and Steve approaches himâthat I guess got replaced by the âwhatever you did, it wasnât youâ scene whichâŠis a major backslide for Steve in terms of approach, after the softness he afforded Natasha and Wanda; Steveâs back to Avengers-level clumsiness there.
Oh, and the painfully awkward shoulder-grab of Donât Forget How Totally Heterosexual We Are.
The point is, Civil War is (deliberately) bad and it should feel bad, donât @ me.
Iâve declined to see Infinity War because fuck paying the Russos/Marcus&McFeeley for baiting me, but it looks like in Steveâs five seconds of non-fighting screentime he at least asks Bucky how heâs doing and touches him in a not-No Homo way, so thereâs that at least.
Anyway, up until Civil War, and clumsily through and after it due to executive meddling rather than authentic storytelling, we saw Steve, the masculine actor, learning how to value and employ feminine emotional skill and laborâŠsomething he mostly learned from his relationship with another man. Which was and is so cool and innovative, and is what really enriches the Steve-Bucky dynamic and makes it so attractive and compelling to fans, particularly female fans who see their own emotional labor and skills go completely unnoticed and unappreciated by the peopleâparticulary menâthey most want appreciation from.


















