ladyofdragonstone:

blueagia:

lyannas:

Because I don’t see the point in continuing the pattern of violent crimes against the women in this series. There are entirely innocent women and girls who have violent acts done to them, just as there are women who have done bad things and have violent acts done to them. I don’t believe that the severity of the punishment should match the severity of the crimes. Cersei has done really awful things, but why should she be murdered by a former lover and a man she trusted while other men who had committed crimes get cleaner deaths or a judicial process?

Look at Gregor, for example. His “death” is the result of a duel, and thought it was long and slow, it was certainly an easier death than what he had given his victims, especially his female victims with whom he practiced a pattern of indiscriminate rape, abuse, and murder.

Even Tywin, who sanctioned rape and torture and murder, got off pretty easy. It’s really not practical to demand that Tywin’s death also be torturous and cruel and long; sometimes their death is enough (though in Tywin’s case, I’d argue that he at least deserved a public trial to drag his name through the dirt, but that was never going to happen under Baratheon rule anyways).

So yes, Cersei has done terrible things, much worse than many other victims of violent crime, but that doesn’t mean she deserves to be killed via a violent and intimate crime, especially when she has already had so much violence, sexual assault and humiliation done to her already. In a perfect world, she would be put on trial, and given a public and dignified death. I know that’s likely not going to happen, which is what makes me unhappy.

Strangling in particular is such a creepily sexualized form of death, especially for women. Cersei had the walk of shame already you’ve made your point grrm.

@lyannas do you have any comments on Tyrion strangling Shae?

I have nothing novel to add to the conversation at large, but as far as my views go, Shae’s death is one of the most distressing deaths in the series for me. She was young, foreign to King’s Landing, had her life and jobs managed by Tyrion, and then was forced to a make a decision to save herself over saving Tyrion. It was Cersei who approached her for her testimony after all, and if we know Cersei at all we know that there is an easy way and a hard way for her to get what she wants. Cersei gave her the easy way, which was a reward in exchange for her testimony. Had Shae refused, I don’t think she would have found a forgiving enemy in Cersei. The fact that she is later found in Tywin’s bed just drives it home that Shae did not want to make enemies with either of them when they approached her, and since Tyrion was figuratively a sinking ship, she made the smart choice of saving herself. This still cost her her life, unfortunately, at the hands of her employer and lover.

I should note that the reason strangulation is especially abhorrent for me when its done by a man to a woman is because victims of strangulation, especially in a domestic violence setting, are overwhelmingly female. It starts as a way of exercising control over a partner, but has an extremely high risk of becoming fatal. It’s a sad reality that I don’t enjoy seeing translated onto the page.