Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate

Unlikeable Female Characters is a fierce, funny, and razor-sharp takedown of the cultural obsession with "likeable" women—and a celebration of the flawed female icons who broke the rules.

From Amy Dunne in Gone Girl to Regina George, Fleabag, and Skyler White, these are the women who provoke, polarize, and captivate. Anna Bogutskaya—film programmer, broadcaster, and co-founder of the horror collective and podcast The Final Girls—dives into nine pop culture archetypes, from The Bitch and The Psycho to The Slut and The Trainwreck. She shows how these characters were once used to punish women on screen, and why audiences are now starting to celebrate them instead.

This is not just a book about characters. It's about the real-life expectations that hem women in, and the stories that finally let them out.

Why you'll love it:

• Bold feminist insight wrapped in wit and pop savvy
• Cultural deep-dives across film, TV, and music—from Bette Davis to Promising Young Woman
• A must-read for fans of complex female leads and feminist cultural critique

Praise for Unlikeable Female Characters:

• "Fascinating, insightful, and kick-ass." —Emma Jane Unsworth, internationally bestselling author of Grown Ups and Animals
• "Beautifully written." —Chelsea G. Summers, author of A Certain Hunger
• "Part-cultural exposé, part-Taylor Swift album." —Clarisse Loughrey, Chief Film Critic at The Independent
• "Brilliant masterpiece breaking down the tired tropes of TV and beyond." —Aparna Shewakramani, author of She's Unlikeable and star of Indian Matchmaking