An In-Depth Look at Mickey Milkovich

BIG SPOILER WARNING: I will be spoiling all the things for Ian and Mickey’s story in Season 4, Episode 11 (titled Emily).

Last time I wrote about Mickey Milkovich, I wrote about the bits of his character which I enjoyed watching throughout Shameless’ four seasons. This time, however, I will be talking about a single episode ~~over multiple blog posts~~ and thus I will be going a bit more in depth into the social norms and pressures which shape his character. Instead of breaking the episode down chronologically, I’m going to break this all down thematically.

The Misogyny

Mickey is a misogynist. Keep in mind that most of the characters in Shameless exhibit or perpetuate casual misogyny in one way or another. This is explained in part by the larger society in which this show takes place; the U.S. in 2014 is a sexist, patriarchal society. The world in which the Shameless characters exist (the slums of Chicago) is particularly sexist. Thus it’s no surprise that a lot of the characters perpetuate sexism in their lives. This isn’t a complaint, mind. Complaining about the misogyny and sexism in Shameless would be like complaining about McNulty’s sexism and misogyny in The Wire. It is meant to be a glimpse at ugly truths of our collective unconscious.

However, Mickey’s misogyny is not simply explained by existing in a sexist society. The difference, here, is Terry. Terry actively and aggressively hates women. He treats sex workers like property. He molested his own daughter repeatedly. Terry even hates women he supposedly cares about. For Mickey to be raised in that environment and not be an explicit misogynist would be unrealistic and unbelievable. Plus, seeing Mickey trying to move past his own misogyny when he “liberated” Svetlana and the other sex workers makes for an interesting character arc.

But Mickey’s misogyny differs from Terry’s in an important way. Whereas Terry’s misogyny stems from a conscious and visceral hatred for women, Mickey’s misogyny stems from an attempt at self-preservation. He uses language and takes action which put women down in order to try to pull himself up. Mickey attempts to bump up his image of masculinity by throwing feminine insults at women, and particularly other men. But all of that is to hide his own fear and insecurity which are incompatible with his (and his society’s) construction of masculinity.

Mickey is afraid of falling in love with Ian (though less so in the past few episodes) and he is afraid of what will happen if the neighbourhood finds out he’s gay. And because he believes fear is un-masculine, he is afraid people will discover he is afraid. So he attempts to turn that outward and knock anyone he views as a threat down a peg or two before they discover that he’s actually not as confident as he seems.

This brings us to the breaking point for Mickey’s character in this episode. All day Mickey had been stretched between his own desires, Svetlana’s demands, Ian’s demands and his fear of his father. The tension was building and the audience see’s Mickey’s frustration rise. Then, finally, at the party for Mickey’s son’s Christening, the following exchange happens:

Ian: I don’t have any interest in being a mistress anymore.

Mickey: Jesus Christ, when did you get so dramatic?

Ian: When I realised what a pussy you are.

Mickey: Say it again. I’m going to kick you’re fucking ass.

Ian: Come on. Come on, big guy. You think you’re a tough man? Huh? You’re not. You’re a coward.

Mickey: Fuck you. You don’t understand this at all.

Ian: I understand. I understand better than anyone that you’re afraid of your father. You’re afraid of your wife. You’re afraid to be who you are.

Mickey: You know what? Good. Leave. The hell do I care, bitch?

But of course, Mickey does care:

Then Mickey decides to make a huge announcement to everyone at the party, including Svetlana and Terry, that he’s gay. That conversation with Ian was the catalyst, the last straw, so to speak. On the surface, that conversation looks like Ian gave Mickey an ultimatum and Mickey acquiesces because he doesn’t want to lose Ian. That’s certainly part of it, but there is definitely more to it than Mickey’s desire to keep Ian around.

The conversation begins with a topic common to a lot of Mickey and Ian’s conversations. Ian’s not happy having to hide; Mickey’s unwilling to be open. But instead of pleading or being passive aggressive (as Ian usually does), he becomes confrontational. Ian takes Mickey’s own misogyny and throws it back at him by telling Mickey he’s a “pussy.” Mickey responds as expected. He’s going to prove his masculinity to anyone who dare challenge it (in this case Ian) by threatening to beat them down. But Ian doesn’t back down or take a beating. Instead, he calls out Mickey’s hypocrisy.

Ian’s still using gendered language to call out Mickey, telling him that he’s not a “tough man” but a coward. This juxtaposes masculinity with being a coward, making the two are incompatible. This is actually keeping in line with Mickey’s preconception of what masculinity is. The difference is that Ian is directly telling Mickey that he sees through Mickey’s uber masculine persona and knows that Mickey doesn’t actually live up to it.

It’s Ian’s last line that really pushes the message home. Here, Ian lays out exactly what Mickey is afraid of, ending with the observation that Mickey is afraid to be himself. In other words, Ian’s telling Mickey that by creating a performance of masculinity, Mickey actually isn’t ‘a real man’ because the performance is false and fuelled by fear.

Mickey’s last line is an attempt to continue the performance, even though he knows it doesn’t work with Ian. Mickey pretends not to care; he calls Ian a gendered slur (bitch) again. It doesn’t work; Ian’s seen through it. Ian ignores what Mickey says and just walks away. This is when Mickey decides to announce that he’s gay at the party. Mickey’s left with the choice of either continuing the performance that Ian has called out as false and un-masculine, or embracing Ian’s version of masculinity which requires honesty. Ian’s message that it isn’t really masculine to hide who he is sinks in and Mickey comes out.

This new masculinity which Mickey embraces is problematic and more than a little sexist too, really. After the party, Mickey makes a joke that he may have come out but he’s not going to wear a dress, which is transmisogynist. It also conflates the concept of gay men with trans women. Of course, men who wear dresses maintain their identity as men and trans women who wear dresses were never men at all. Gender presentation is not the same as gender identity. But Mickey and Ian don’t see it that way. They have managed to fold homosexuality into their conception of acceptable masculinity, but not feminine presentation.

Also, this new masculinity still relies on privileging masculinity. Mickey and Ian have new criteria for expressing their masculinity, but they’re still very much concerned with adhering to those criteria.

But then, Mickey and Ian aren’t exactly the sorts of characters who would sit around thinking about the social implication in their actions. They’re just trying to survive in their little neighbourhood in Chicago. I hardly expect either of them to have a particularly philosophical approach to gender and misogyny.

~~Tune in tomorrow for the next section where I discuss Mickey’s conversation with the gay cop.~~
Change of plans. I’m ill so this second piece just didn’t happen.

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