By your logic, a woman can never turn a man’s life around without making them look like an object just to get the man to where he needs to be in life. But if that’s your view, then you have to be equally annoyed if Emma was a man and Hook was a girl. Feminism is about equality right?
You’re still largely missing the feminist critique point. It has nothing to do with love or turning someone’s life around. It’s about agency, which is what I said many pages back. Yes, fall in love and be a helpmate but if in doing so the character loses themselves and their story and their agency and if their story only becomes about one specific thing–a romantic partner–then they aren’t a strong female (or any gender) character. Emma’s entire story centers around Hook. There have been examples of this over this last year alone. To wit: –When she talked to Archie about dying it was about how Hook would lose his happy ending. Now, would I expect her as a thinking and feeling human to care about her partner? Absolutely! She’d be a weird cold fish if she didn’t. But he was her first concern. Her first concern should be HERSELF! She should be worried about dying because it means her life is over. Her second concern should be everyone else–which means Snowing, and Henry, and Regina and Hook and the town she’s sworn to protect! –When Gideon came to her for help just a few episodes ago he told her that the Black Fairy is torturing children. When Emma finally agrees to help him she says it’s because he reminds her of Henry (yes, good…!) but then she doubles down on the REAL reason she’s helping him—not because Gideon reminds her of Henry and not because of the children who are being held captive and tortured but because “let’s get my pirate back.” –She should want Hook back. Of course she should! But she doesn’t even hesitate about letting Snow give her the magical flower to go and save him even though it means that Snowing may never wake up and that her brother might be raised without parents which is EXACTLY what happened to Emma. Emma of a few years ago would have done everything in her power to prevent a child from growing up alone because of how much that has affected her. –Emma telling Hook that she made the situation difficult when he was caught lying about Charming. If those are too specific when was the last night Emma had any significant screen time with someone who isn’t Hook or Regina? You could say this last episode but her entire focus was on Hook to the point when her mother sacrificed herself and her husband for Hook, Emma was totally nonchalant about it. So nonchalant that when Hook came back she didn’t tell him to put the brakes on while he’s proposing while her parents lie unconscious in the other room. When was the last time she did anything with Henry? Or another female who isn’t part of a fandom romantic wish (ie: Regina). When was the last time Emma had a friend??
ALL OF THIS!!!
"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor