Sirens: What the show said that we were all too willing to ignore

Sirens isn't just about unhealed trauma. It also poses a serious question on gender and blame. It questions the lens through which we view women in pain. Right from the beginning, the show lures you into thinking this is a story about a cult. It makes us think it is about manipulation and about dangerous women.

The title itself, Sirens, comes pre-loaded with centuries of baggage. They are used for seductive and manipulative women who use their allure to lead others to ruin. Historically, female pain has been viewed as hysterical, female strength as threatening, and female rage as monstrous. This show weaponizes that very expectation.

Devon, Simone, and Michaela are all survivors of either abuse or neglect, or trauma. But instead of being offered empathy, they’re viewed with suspicion. And that's because their pain doesn't look palatable. It doesn't cry in the corner but lashes out and takes up space.

Emotional detachment and manipulation or even obsession are some of the behaviors that might be seen as complex in a male character. But when it comes to women, they are seen as signs of instability or danger.

Sirens knows this, and so it makes us question why we were so quick to believe that these women were monsters to begin with.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinions. Reader discretion is advised.

Sirens: Why are the women the first to be feared and villainized?

In Sirens, women are the ones who are carrying the burdens and labels.

From the very first episode, Simone and Devon come under the microscope. Simone, with her beach-life aesthetic and perfect facade, is read as manipulative and cold. Devon, fresh out of prison and rough at the edges, is portrayed like a ticking time bomb. Neither of them fits the mold of the quiet and composed woman. And because of that, suspicion follows them like a shadow.

But nowhere is this perception clearer than in the case of Michaela, or Mrs. Kell. The island’s rumors label her as the villain or the 'monster'. She is the woman who murdered Peter’s first wife and sank her claws into a man who didn’t belong to her. And for most of the show, we believe it.

After all, Michaela is elusive and self-contained. She doesn't feel the need to defend herself. And isn’t that enough to make a woman look guilty? But when Devon finally confronts her, the real story comes to light.

Michaela is a brilliant Yale grad and a successful lawyer. She is a woman who has already lived through more loss than most. She lost her mother at just nine years old.

Peter was the one who chased her, and Peter was the one who cheated. Michaela didn’t murder anyone. She protected Peter’s first wife after a surgery mishap that left her disfigured. The so-called monster was just a woman trying to keep another woman safe.

Even when Michaela takes Ethan for a walk to the cliff’s edge, we anticipate another murder. But again, nothing like that happens. Ethan is a known Casanova and is simply confronted. And it works. He comes back with a ring for Simone. But that tells that a woman asking a man to be better is scarier than a man using women for pleasure.

Michaela becomes the show’s red herring because she isn't easily understood. She is powerful and private. And in stories, just like in real life, that makes her dangerous.

The men in Sirens often act with selfishness and infidelity, and even manipulation. But it’s the women, especially the emotionally complex and the unreadable ones, who are branded as monsters. Maybe it’s easier to fear what we don’t understand.

Sirens shows us how women in distress are often mistaken for villains, how their silence or composure is read as scheming, and how their rage or grief becomes a threat. But through Devon, Simone, and Michaela, we’re asked to look again, and this time, deeper.

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