Amanda had some pretty good arguments for deserving to win:
- one of the two strategic leaders of her alliance
- masterminded James's boot which was biggest move of the game and should have earned appreciation from the other tribe
- best challenge performer of the finalists, her F5 and F4 immunity wins prevented first PG and then Denise from making F3 and winning (I have no doubt PG would have won both ICs without Amanda).
- a decent worker around camp, only finialist to "compete rather than eat"
Todd had two big things on his side:
- he did a better good of convincing others he was the mastermind and winning the repect vote. Maybe the most decisive jury performance of all time.
- he was better liked and had strong relationships with more people. Amanda's bonding with PG was too little, too late
When you look at the votes, it's Todd winning PG and Jaime that cost Amanda, and Todd winning back JR that cost Courtney.
Todd - James, (JR, PG, Jaime)
Courtney - Frosti, Denise
Amanda - Erik
Not surprised that JR voted for another male schemer who stroked his ego, even through Todd was the person most responsible for his boot.
Yet Amanda was most responsible for James, PG, and Denise's exit (whether through strategy or ICs), yet that didn't win her any respect votes.
PG ended up being Shii Ann in reverse. Remember, Shii Ann bonded more with Amber and respected her game because she was trying to play an Amber-like game herself. In contrast, PG says she wanted to play a similar strategy:
"I thought I was going to be able to pick a stronger character to kind of hide behind. Then I thought I was gonna pick out maybe a couple of other people who would kind of ride along behind us and form a little voting squad, battering ram through it."
Amanda played that game perfectly, yet didn't get PG's vote.
Amanda ended up being the Chameleon, who couldn't specialize in any one merit or virtue enough to win votes
* Todd could play the "I was the schemer mastermind" card, and was articule and likeable enough to win respect votes
* Courtney had the "I was real" card. Denise had the "I was nice and honest" and "I need the money" cards.
* Amanda only unique claim was "I got rid of IC threats and dominated the last 3 challenges"
Poor Amanda played too much like Todd to win realness, likeability, and honesty votes, but was too invested in being the nice girl to compete with Todd for hardcore strategy votes.
It's interesting that no women one Survivor or Big Brother has ever sucessfully played the Todd game and won. There is no female Rob C or Yul or Dr. Will. Women who deceive end up perceived a evil bitches and get punished. Danielle and Alison on BB, Twila on S9 and probably Ami if she made it to the end. More often women try to be nice and establish real bonds with others, and thus end up letting threats make it to the end, or getting accused of being hypocrites who let others do the dirty work.
We have yet to see a woman win who is a brilliant social player and deceptive, yet charming and articulate enough to get people to vote for her anyway. After so many seasons that can't be just chance, its must reflect something about how women are socialized and perceived.
Only 3 women have ever beaten male finalists in 22 seasons of Survivor and Big Brother. Only Tina, Jenna, and Amber, and each time the majority of viewers thought the guy should have won. Amber would have only had one vote in a F3 finale, just like Amanda, and Tina is rumoured to have benefitted from Alicia wanting a woman to win.
Jenna is the one female winner who had almost all the cards over her male opponent - I was the better strategist, I dominated ICs, I made more friends, I was real, I need the money more. Yet Jenna, like other women who've won decisively (Sandra and Danni), didn't control the game all the way through. She won respect as a comeback player with clean hands, who made F2 against the odds
- one of the two strategic leaders of her alliance
- masterminded James's boot which was biggest move of the game and should have earned appreciation from the other tribe
- best challenge performer of the finalists, her F5 and F4 immunity wins prevented first PG and then Denise from making F3 and winning (I have no doubt PG would have won both ICs without Amanda).
- a decent worker around camp, only finialist to "compete rather than eat"
Todd had two big things on his side:
- he did a better good of convincing others he was the mastermind and winning the repect vote. Maybe the most decisive jury performance of all time.
- he was better liked and had strong relationships with more people. Amanda's bonding with PG was too little, too late
When you look at the votes, it's Todd winning PG and Jaime that cost Amanda, and Todd winning back JR that cost Courtney.
Todd - James, (JR, PG, Jaime)
Courtney - Frosti, Denise
Amanda - Erik
Not surprised that JR voted for another male schemer who stroked his ego, even through Todd was the person most responsible for his boot.
Yet Amanda was most responsible for James, PG, and Denise's exit (whether through strategy or ICs), yet that didn't win her any respect votes.
PG ended up being Shii Ann in reverse. Remember, Shii Ann bonded more with Amber and respected her game because she was trying to play an Amber-like game herself. In contrast, PG says she wanted to play a similar strategy:
"I thought I was going to be able to pick a stronger character to kind of hide behind. Then I thought I was gonna pick out maybe a couple of other people who would kind of ride along behind us and form a little voting squad, battering ram through it."
Amanda played that game perfectly, yet didn't get PG's vote.
Amanda ended up being the Chameleon, who couldn't specialize in any one merit or virtue enough to win votes
* Todd could play the "I was the schemer mastermind" card, and was articule and likeable enough to win respect votes
* Courtney had the "I was real" card. Denise had the "I was nice and honest" and "I need the money" cards.
* Amanda only unique claim was "I got rid of IC threats and dominated the last 3 challenges"
Poor Amanda played too much like Todd to win realness, likeability, and honesty votes, but was too invested in being the nice girl to compete with Todd for hardcore strategy votes.
It's interesting that no women one Survivor or Big Brother has ever sucessfully played the Todd game and won. There is no female Rob C or Yul or Dr. Will. Women who deceive end up perceived a evil bitches and get punished. Danielle and Alison on BB, Twila on S9 and probably Ami if she made it to the end. More often women try to be nice and establish real bonds with others, and thus end up letting threats make it to the end, or getting accused of being hypocrites who let others do the dirty work.
We have yet to see a woman win who is a brilliant social player and deceptive, yet charming and articulate enough to get people to vote for her anyway. After so many seasons that can't be just chance, its must reflect something about how women are socialized and perceived.
Only 3 women have ever beaten male finalists in 22 seasons of Survivor and Big Brother. Only Tina, Jenna, and Amber, and each time the majority of viewers thought the guy should have won. Amber would have only had one vote in a F3 finale, just like Amanda, and Tina is rumoured to have benefitted from Alicia wanting a woman to win.
Jenna is the one female winner who had almost all the cards over her male opponent - I was the better strategist, I dominated ICs, I made more friends, I was real, I need the money more. Yet Jenna, like other women who've won decisively (Sandra and Danni), didn't control the game all the way through. She won respect as a comeback player with clean hands, who made F2 against the odds
