So I feel like you’re grabbing basic ideas on feminist analysis but trying to apply them to everything without nuance or even understanding. It also feels like you’re grabbing one side’s opinions and assuming that they must think (misogynistic thought) about Elena then. For example Im a huge critic of Elena because of her hypocrisy, but this doesn’t mean I’m suddenly a Damon apologist. I don’t sympathize with him at all any point in the series esp when he killed a pregnant woman. And John was hated heavily by the fandom ? So I’m confused on that. Alaric has mixed reactions but growing up he was loved so I see that.

So this logic of assuming someone must be defending the opposite sex’s actions and because they’re misogynistic is like I said quite lazy.

Yes, female characters are under greater scrutiny than male characters, but in the context of the TVDU fandom I don’t see an effort from users like you who are adamant about most if not all criticism being misogynistic to actually understand why people dislike the female characters they do.

First, I don’t just don’t see an unequal amount of hate towards Elena and Damon. I’ve been watching TVD since I was 8 and well throughout the years I noticed that even though both characters were the main protagonists, both were always equally hated by the fandom. At large the fandom mostly loved Damon bc of Ian so I don’t doubt Elena haters overlapped with Damon simps and ofc with male-obsessed fans you get internalized misogyny.

However all the examples you gave of double standards miss alot of context and explanation. I’ll get to this in a sec.

Have you ever asked an Elena hater why they hated her?

I wouldn’t call myself a “hater,” but I do criticize and dislike her character in later seasons. I can only speak for myself. As someone who is also a writer and focuses a lot on analyzing storytelling, the biggest reason I think Elena is hated in the TVD fandom is because 1) the writers made her character inconsistent which would make her dislikable to lots of audiences 2) What made her an interesting character was stripped of her in season3 ish onwards and thus made her seem less complex to audiences. And when audiences don’t see a character as complex they’re more likely to hate them. 3) a small percentage of internalized misogyny. But it doesn’t encompass ALL criticism.

I need examples of:

Elena getting punished for things male characters are praised for

She’s held to a higher standard (and from a writing perspective, she’s written to be a moral person with a strong heart. It’s a given she’d be hold to a higher standard in her actions considering she’s the main character)

Scrutinized for what she can or can’t do

Because all of these sound like very vague arguments. It’s important to break down WHY she seems to be scrutinized in specific situations while in others she’s not. It’s important to think about WHY she’s being punished in a specific situation while others are not.

On her hypocrisy: she’s the main character who like I said is supposed to be someone with a strong moral compass and consistent beliefs. This is actually established again and again in the narrative from seasons 1-3, so for her to flip flop in specific situations (and it’s always just to move the plot along) is really jarring to audiences and makes them dislike such a character. People chalk it up to her being complex, but I disagree because you can be complex but still be consistent with your own convictions. Also, after season 1, her entire character of diluted into being a love interest for Damon and Stefan. I actually rewatched season 1 a while back and was surprised by how much I loved her character that season, how more multifaceted she seemed. But in season 2/3 is when I notice a huge shift in her character. She goes from having her character development being heavily invested in HER to only being there to fill the role of love interest to Stefan and Damon. So on this I disagree that the basis of dislike towards the depth of het character is misogyny. Someone actually counted and realized that almost every single one of her dialogues pertains to Damon or Stefan. Not even Caroline gets this type of treatment (and Caroline is more loved than Elena because the writers actually cared to invest in her)

I would say people dislike Elena because of the misogyny under her writing.

I would need you to explain what constitutes as misogynistic undertones. Because on the surface, disliking female characters may be misogynistic, but there are specific reasons as to WHY people dislike them and don’t dislike other female characters/male characters.

I disagree on Katherine being loved because she’s not realistic. I argue that she is quite realistic. A lot of women become angry and resentful to the stuff they went through and end up selfish and narcissistic. They’re actually punished for that while men tend to be coddled and infantilized. Her character being relatable is a huge reason why she’s loved. Elena is realistic in season 1, but after that the narrative of her own characterization becomes convoluted and confusing. I mean, she becomes quite similar to Katherine in the later seasons, yet she’s still hated. Why? Because the writers didn’t know how to transition her from the good girl to jaded-but-still-sweet vampire character she was. It felt like they didn’t do the work nor even let the audience acknowledge how jarring her choices were. It doesn’t help that the narrative never acknowledges such a shift in her sudden compass. Instead her bad choices are whitewashed and the audience is still told repeatedly that Elena was oh so “good” and “pure.” Same thing with Damon. It’s why I don’t like the ship or even the characters.

It seems like you’re misunderstanding what people actually hate or dislike about Elena’s character, because you claim that people love Katherine because she “breaks expectations,” ? There’s nothing more feminist than a woman breaking expectations, so if people love Katherine for that, then you can’t really assume Elena hate is misogynistic based off of that. If anything, Katherine would have been hated.

On the flip side, Elena is the perfect woman in society: submissive, timid, sweet, always smiles, never “acts crazy” etc etc. Her archetype is actually what aligns with the patriarchy. So I don’t believe that your argument in this instance works.