whenever someone says that the writers made robby have underlying sexist bias "by accident" and "because the writers themselves have that bias", i want to scream. none of robby's character has happened by accident. he's been deliberately given a realistic bias by the writers in the same way mckay, ogilvie, javadi, whitaker etc all have. they're writing realistic characters to show that even the best of us can have these biases and ought to confront them.
every one of these biases is directly referenced in the plot. they are NOT by accident. at all. mckay is called out for her weight bias, ogilvie for his bias against addicts, dennis for his dismissal of female pain. all deliberately written in. LIKEWISE is robby's bias. in season one, it's a main plotline that ends in him apologising to mckay and saying that he should have listened to her when she told him that these girls were in danger. he admits he was wrong. this is written in the script on purpose with the same aim as the rest of the biases- addressing them head on. main plotlines are not accidental bias in the writers room.
im not saying the writers themselves have no biases- they're human like us and we all have them- but I'm saying that every part of robby as a character (yes, even subtle parts you think you're a genius for picking up on) has been written *meticulously*. this is no accident, it is careful scriptwriting.
this form of incorrect critique (because unfortunately it is completely incorrect to claim his misogyny is accidental) also does the job of erasing the fact that, of the nine writers, five are women, and four of those are women of colour. in fact, some of the episodes people hate robby the most in for his bias are ones written by woc. I *promise* you that they know what they're writing.
overall I find statements that ignore the canonical reality in that robby's bias is directly addressed in the show, in favour of calling the writers misogynist, is very disrespectful to the time, skill and nuance that they have poured into these characters- recognise their work at creating someone realistic.
you can analyse the characters and critique the writers absolutely! but make sure you know the content of the show you're analysing, and the nature and detail in which scripts are written- especially ones that sweep awards seasons.
