Older Women Stereotypes on Survivor

This week we're talking about the role
of the older woman on Survivor.

I haven't had a chance to watch the eviction show of Big Brother this week, so I'm writing the feature article today and I'll get the BBCAN weekly recap to you tomorrow. This week we're talking about the role of the "older" (really not that old) woman on Survivor, with a focus on the edits of the most recent seasons. (Image credit CBS and Survivor Wikia)

The Role of the Older Woman on Survivor

With Trish making waves the past week on the new Solana tribe, it's a good time to check out the edit and reflect on the way that older women have been portrayed on recent seasons of Survivor. This category of women (ranging in age from 42 to 53) has been extremely successful as of late, boasting one winner and four finalists. Survivor portrays these women on the show in one three different categories.

Category 1: The Emotional Mom

On the past few seasons of Survivor, we've seen a lot of tears and a lot of emotion. Dawn cried her way through two seasons, yet was able to reach the final tribal council after playing a decent game (at least in my opinion; not so much in the minds of the jurors).

The True Grit Caramoan Dawn
vacillated between sad and emotional
one minute and ruthless the next.

On South Pacific, Dawn really had no game-smarts and was mainly remembered for her kindness and her crying, but on Caramoan, she came to play. Many people criticized and insulted Dawn for her cutthroat gameplay, especially when she voted out Brenda, but Dawn had no apologies (even though Jeff tried to force them out of her at the reunion show). I think viewers' biggest problem with the True Grit Caramoan Dawn was that she vacillated between sad and emotional one minute and ruthless the next.

Lisa was a great
character and proved
that this archetype
could last a long time.

I don't think we as viewers should have any problems with that sort of gameplay, although whether it worked for Dawn as a strategy as Survivor is not so clear. From what we've heard from the jurors, they didn't respect Dawn played the game and felt especially betrayed when she voted them out because they had had to spend time comforting and consoling her beforehand. Even so, I thought Dawn played a good game the second time around and was able to provide Stealth 'R Us with key info.

Lisa is another great example of the "emotional mom" type player. We tended to see a lot of Lisa's crying on Survivor: Philippines, and in the early stages of the game she felt ostracized and alone. Fortunately, Lisa survived to the endgame, where she became an interesting player in her interactions with Abi and her eventual flip to the alliance of Denise et. all. While not as good of a player in terms of strategy as Dawn, Lisa was still a great character and proved that this archetype could last a long time.

Category 2: The Naive Schemer

Dawn and Lisa may have cried a lot, but at least they had a firm understanding of the game. This category of "older woman" is the worst at Survivor, and it encompasses players like Sherri, who started off strong in Caramoan but quickly petered out come the merge.

Sherri was set up in a great position initially on the Fans tribe, picking her "Phillip" in Shamar and trying to emulate the games of Boston Rob and Kim. With a solid alliance of 6 against the "Cool Kids" Alliance, it seemed that nothing could go wrong. But due to a lack of challenge strength, infighting, and a medivac, the Gota tribe was soon whittled down to 6, which quickly became 4 after the swap.

With her alliance destroyed, Sherri had no power left in the game and her only way to survive was to ride the coattails of Stealth 'R Us. She had a chance to flip and join the Three Amigos at final 9, but wisely chose not to; as bad a chance she had against Cochran, Andrea, Dawn, and the others, she would have been voted out even quicker by the Amigos.

Sherri gave one of the worst Final
Tribal performances in Survivor history.

So how is Sherri naive, you ask? Well, she lacked the endgame strategy that could have put her in the Final Tribal Council next to someone she could have beaten (there were few choices, to be fair). From Final 9 onward, Sherri sat back and watched the Favorites' wheeling and dealing without lifting a finger, which made her the perfect goat to take to the end. And her performance in the finale clinched the deal. Stating how she was "so nervous," and failing to realize how other players perceived her, Sherri gave one of the worst Final Tribal performances in Survivor history.

Laura lasted longer
than I expected.

But Sherri isn't the only would-be schemer of the last few seasons: our good friend Laura Boneham fits into this category nicely as well. Laura and Rupert had no chance in Blood vs. Water, but they simply could not look at themselves from someone else's perspective, and thought that they had a great chance to win. Laura was voted out right away by the Tadhana tribe, but was saved by Rupert and given a second chance, which she soon squandered.

I'll give her credit; Laura lasted longer than I expected, making it to the swap before she was voted out. What did it was not telling Vytas he was going home, however. The other castaways on the new Galang tribe confirmed that Laura was going to be blindsided regardless, due to her inability to connect with others and general awkwardness around camp.

Category 3: The Tough Survivor

This portrayal has been the most positive for older women over the past three seasons. Like Dawn, the two people I'm thinking of played strong and at times, ruthless games, but they didn't break down every episode and cause people to feel sorry for them. In other words, they were there to play.

Denise, who I consider to be one of the best Survivor winners, is a shoe-in for this category. Denise roughed it out through 39 days, 15 tribal councils (including the Final Tribal), and 1 centipede bite. She survived the collapse of one tribe, the integration into another, and a crazy post-merge against a Tandang alliance to clench the title of Sole Survivor and walk away one of the best to play.

Tina was someone we were
supposed to root for.

Denise was never edited as the antagonist or as someone to root against, and was simply shown making shrewd moves and winning challenges when needed. She was extremely self-aware and ready to play the game, just like Tina.

Tina didn't win Blood vs. Water, but she was the first female winner ever, and delivered a strong finish to her 3rd season, in which many thought that she was losing her touch. After finishing in fourth place, however, I think it's safe to say that Tina put these doubts to rest. A "tough survivor" is, in general, better at the challenges, and Tina is a great example of this, winning her way back from Redemption Island and surviving her first tribal council upon her return. Just like Denise, Tina was edited favorably, for the most part, and was someone we were supposed to root for.

Of course, these categories aren't all-inclusive, even if the show would sometimes like us to believe that they are. An "emotional mom" player can be good at the challenges (Dawn was), and so can the "naive schemer" (Laura B). I didn't include Laura Morett in here, because I couldn't decide if she fit into the second or third category; she's a little of both. And Monica is a tough survivor who's playing the game "for Monica," but also is naive and emotional...so where do we put her?

Is Trish just a
wannabe mastermind
like Sherri or a tough
cookie like Denise?

So what of our older women on Survivor: Cagayan? Where does Trish fit in, or Kass? It's too early to know for sure, but we can make some predictions. Trish really impressed me in the last episode. I worried that at first she'd be emotional, or someone who faded into the background, but she really came to play. It remains to be seen whether Trish is just a wannabe mastermind like Sherri or a tough cookie like Denise.

Kass is even harder to read. Pre-game, I thought she was a genius, and then in her first few episodes, she failed to live up to my expectation. She's definitely not emotional, but she's very honest--too honest. On the plus side, though, Kass has that same self-awareness as Denise, and if she plays a strong and aggressive post-merge game, she can end up a winner.

So in the next episode, when you're listening to a confessional from Kass or watching the machinations of Trish, try not to think of them as one-dimensional characters, but rather as a combination of the three categories above. All of these players have qualities from each group, but which do you think Kass and Trish best fit into? Leave a comment below with your thoughts on my categorizing; I'd love to hear it! And check back tomorrow for a Big Brother Canada update.