u/terminalboredom-

Margaery is talked about like she’s some master manipulator and I don’t see it. Olenna, sure! I understand the show impacts character perception a lot but I see the same claims from book fans.

She’s one of my favorite side characters but I feel like the character I like is different than what everybody else is talking about. Cersei’s projection of her is not the truth. I don’t think she’s as sweet and kind as Sansa perceives her to be either but Sansa is somewhat closer to the truth than Cersei. At the end of the day she’s a 16 year old girl that’s going to die because her family is power hungry. I’m not saying she doesn’t want any power for herself. But again she’s only 16 and obviously doing what her family wants her to do.

Part of it seems to be the usual lionizing of side characters in fandom. It just feels very performative, I don’t know how else to word it. Similar to the show fans who think Daenerys’ name is Khaleesi but with the books.

I think it’s also people individualizing misogyny. A Margaery that isn’t a pawn for her family is a more comfortable character. George does a great job of showing how love does not magically overcome systems of oppression. Ex: Ned waving off Arya’s concerns with gender roles as a phase. Had Sansa and Arya been reunited with Robb, both of them would have been married off for alliances. Margaery is also loved by her family and she’s still being used. Girlbossfying her removes that complication so I get why it appeals to people but it also makes for a less interesting character imo.