Hot Take: Sexist Implications For Hatred of Daisy Wick?

There's something I see a lot in the Bones fandom that disturbs me a little, and that is hatred for the character Daisy Wick. I'm not talking about casual dislike, like "she's just not my favorite." I'm talking actual hate. I know I may be biased a little because she is my second favorite intern behind Vincent Nigel-Murray, but I don't understand why anyone has to hate a character so much. I never understand why anyone hates any character unless they're evil, which Daisy is not.

The other aspect of why I find it disturbing are some of the reasons people give for hating her. A lot of the reasons have a bit of a sexist edge to them, and one that I don't think is entirely intentional. Hear me out, because I know a lot of people don't want to be accused of being sexist, but I think it's important to take a look at ways in which we may be doing it without meaning to.

With that, let me dive into some of the things I've heard people say about Daisy Wick.

#1 - She's hyperactive and annoying

My first obvious counter argument is, that's who she is. She has a lot of energy and she's passionate about her job. Why shouldn't she be? Of course there are some personalities that will find this off-putting, but I still think hating her is a little extreme. As to why I feel that this criticism has sexist undertones is because this is a reason I see given for disliking female characters a lot, and I almost never see it directed at male characters. Think about Tigger from Winnie the Pooh for a moment. Tigger is hyperactive, unhelpful at times, and let's be honest, sometimes you're on Rabbit's side. But everyone loves Tigger, right? If you don't we will have words (just kidding). The point I'm making is that Tigger is a character beloved by millions who shares these hyperactive and annoying traits with Daisy. Shawn Spencer from Psych is another example of a hyperactive and generally annoying kind of person, and he's loved by the majority. So why does it suddenly become a reason to hate when it's Daisy Wick? She's at least as hyperactive, annoying, and at times inappropriate as Tigger and Shawn, but these traits are viewed as fun and funny with them and not her.

It's almost like female characters have to be serious, responsible, mature, and constantly level-headed in order to be liked or respected, and I think that's wrong. To judge Daisy only by these traits diminishes how smart and caring she is. She took time out of her own job and life to clear up a misunderstanding for a family she didn't know. She was extremely loving towards Sweets, and I'll get to that in a moment. She was always trying to help people, even though sometimes she overstepped in doing so. Her intentions were always good.

#2 - She's too concerned with Brennan's Approval

This one really bugs me for a few reasons. First, Daisy was far from the only intern who struggled with feeling like Brennan didn't approve of them. Vincent has an existential crisis in the season 5 episode The Dentist In the Ditch because he's afraid he's disappointing her. Second, why is Daisy's insecurity a reason to hate her? We're all insecure about something. It doesn't make her weak. It doesn't even affect her job performance, and in fact, it forces her to try harder. Think about that for a moment, too. For a long time, she is the only female intern. She lives in a world where women have to try 100 times harder than men to succeed at the same level, and she is terrified of misstepping. She wants to be approved of by her hero, which as a female forensic anthropology student, is hard to come by. Who doesn't want to be approved of by their hero in the same field? To receive accolades from someone who is highly respected in the field you're trying to get into is the highest form of compliment. I can't tell you how many people I've seen say, somewhat hyperbolically, that their life was complete because their hero acknowledged them and said they respected their work. It's a huge deal. The kind words of people you don't know obviously matter, but it's a whole other level when someone you admire does it.

A couple of years ago I shared a short film I had worked on with one of my favorite filmmakers, Jenn Kaytin Robinson- no guarantee she would ever see it. Well, she did, and she said it was a beautiful film, and I about burst! I've twice on Twitter told her and my other favorite filmmaker (who happens to be John Francis Daley) how much they've inspired me, and TWICE they've both liked it, and as a film student who admires them both that's huge! The bottom line is, there's nothing wrong with wanting your hero or mentor's approval, or being excited to work with them, or feeling a burst of energy when they acknowledge your work. Brennan has a tremendous amount of respect for Daisy, so why wouldn't anyone else?

#3 - She wronged Sweets

This one refers to what I've seen some people say about when Daisy chose to go to the Maluku Islands when Sweets didn't want to, effectively breaking them up. First of all, nobody's perfect, and people who are close to each other inevitably end up hurting one another sometimes. In this case, Daisy had to choose between her career dreams and her relationship with Sweets, and at first she chose her career dreams. She'd been working for that long before she ever met Sweets, so even though it may have caused hurt, it's a reasonable choice for her to have made. Then she realized that she made a mistake- which everybody does. She realized she was listening to her brain instead of her heart, and she didn't want to do that anymore. This is character growth, and it's nothing to hate her for. Sweets didn't, so again I don't know why anybody else would.

#4 - "I liked her better after Sweets died"

This is the one that bothers me the most, and one I see often. Would you say to someone in real life "I like you a lot better after your husband, the father of your child, was brutally murdered"? I really don't think most people would ever say that to anyone. Daisy was heartbroken, in terrible grief, and she wasn't happy like she used to be. Daisy now had to deal with raising a child by herself while still trying to maintain her career. She had to face the reality that one day she would have to tell her child what happened to his father, and how painful that would be for both of them. In my opinion, this is not something that should be celebrated. Why was it bad that she was happy before? Why is it good that she's so devastated that she's not herself anymore? This is the kind of thing that can shut people down. It further speaks to my point that women in our culture have a hard time getting respect unless they are serious, level-headed, responsible, mature, and virtually never make any mistakes. When women are silly and unfiltered, people tend to not like them very much. For women actors I can imagine it's frustrating to constantly be cast as the so-called "straight-man", even if you're in a comedy.

In conclusion, I love Daisy Wick. She's fun, funny, unique, kind, and totally unafraid of being herself which I think is awesome! I think it's also important to point out that, even if not at first, every one of the characters (except Oliver) loves Daisy- even Booth. Booth was very kind to her after Sweets died, and even before that. Remember how Hodgins told Oliver "the best way to become one of us is to be kind to her."

As always, I do not own any of these images. Credit to the owners.