'Game of Thrones' star strikes back at critics who say the show is sexist
"There's so much controversy," Clarke, who plays Daenerys, told Entertainment Weekly in this week's "Game of Thrones" cover story. "Yet, that's what's beautiful about 'Game of Thrones' - its depiction of women in so many different stages of development. There are women depicted as sexual tools, women who have zero rights, women who are queens but only to a man, and then there are women who are literally unstoppable and as powerful as you can possibly imagine."
Much has been written about "Game of Thrones" and its feminist leanings in general. But season five found itself embroiled in several controversies over scenes that many believed were unnecessary and even offensive, like the Sansa Stark rape scene.
Ahead of the season-five finale, Time wrote that despite the great things female characters had done on past seasons, "these women have largely been trapped in bedrooms, dungeons, castles, and fighting pits this season."
In response, Clarke said, "It pains me to hear people taking 'Thrones' out of context with anti-feminist spin - because you can't do that about this show. It shows the range that happens to women, and ultimately shows women are not only equal, but have a lot of strength."
This season, Clarke's character will have the chance to prove critics wrong. When we last saw her, she was stripped of all her power and stranded in Dothraki territory.
"She knows all too well that getting on the wrong side of the Dothraki is not what you want to be doing," Clarke said. "But on the same breath she's kind of a Dothraki at heart because that's where she learned her strength. Not just that she's fireproof and gave birth to dragons, but her strength as a woman."