Vile, Scheming, Evil Bitches? The Monstrous Feminine Meets Hegemonic Masculine Violence in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones

George R. R. Martin's fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptation Game of Thrones have achieved immense popularity in the last decade and increasing attention within the academy. Several scholars have examined how women are constructed in the series, many of whom argue that audiences, meanings, and conventions have profound effects upon how readers are invited to view and (re)imagine femininity and femaleness. However, female masculinities have been marginalised in these discussions, which have maintained a link between female bodies and femininity that feminist and queer scholars have problematised. Using Barbara Creed's work on the monstrous feminine, J. Halberstam's concept of female masculinity, and Raewyn Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity, I argue that certain masculine women are aligned with monstrosity, and that this embodiment of masculinity is used to critique violent and dominating masculine performances. Given the series' mass appeal and popular culture's role in shaping attitudes and values, the problematization of destructive masculinities has the potential to subvert currently accepted constructs of masculinity.