Shiv Roy Of "Succession" Embodies All The Worst Traits Of Toxic Femininity

Did she or didn't she take a snort of cocaine?

Warning: spoilers ahead.

That's one of the burning questions left after the conclusion of episode five of Succession's final season. Shiv and her two brothers travel to the scenic mountains of Norway, where they are planning to finally complete the sale of their family's company to Lukas Mattsson, just days after their father Logan Roy died suddenly on an international flight. Shiv steps away with Lukas to have a private conversation about the deal, where she ends up offering him informal counsel on a sticky situation he finds himself in: Lukas dated one of his executives, but after they broke up he sent her half a liter of his blood. It started as a joke, as these things usually do, but then he just kept sending it until it wasn't really a joke anymore. In the midst of this conversation, Lukas snorts a little cocaine out of a tiny glass vial with an even tinier spoon. After he takes a bump, he offers it to Shiv, who accepts and says "Sure" without a moment's hesitation.

Although nobody else in the luxurious world of the Roys knows that Shiv is nearly 20 weeks pregnant, but the audience sure as hell does. At the start of episode four, we see her accept a call from her doctor, who informs her that the most recent scans came back normal, and that she'll see her soon for another appointment. So why is Shiv drinking liquor and seemingly snorting cocaine when she knows she's carrying a child? This is just the tip of iceberg when it comes to Shiv's questionable behavior, though.

Today's culture loves to toss around the term toxic masculinity, but it's grossly misused and overused. Just because a man is assertive, strong-willed, and can be aggressive doesn't mean his masculinity is toxic. In fact, our society actually suffers more from toxic femininity than it does toxic masculinity. When feminism took over our culture, it resulted in women being rewarded for degenerate behavior, such as participating in porn, posting your naked body online, having multiple sexual partners, being morbidly obese, or even cheating on your husband.

Few people like to admit it, but this has created a culture that results in women using their femininity in toxic ways: they are catty with their friends and encourage them to engage in destructive behavior in order to shrink the competition, they use their beauty to manipulate men into getting what they want, they expect to act however they want without consequences because the so-called patriarchy has oppressed them for so long, and they demand special treatment rather than the equality they claim to desire. Although she is a fan favorite and many women are cheering her on to be the successor to Logan, Siobhan Roy embodies all of these characteristics. And she just might be the woman who embodies toxic femininity better than any other modern TV character.

Shiv Emotionally Abuses Her Husband

Perhaps the most common trait of toxic femininity is when a woman manipulates and emotionally abuses her husband for personal gain, particularly in public in front of other people. In season one, Shiv and Tom Wambsgans are still engaged, but it doesn't take long for her to start sleeping with her co-worker Nate as they're running the campaign of progressive politician Gil Eavis, who is loosely based on Bernie Sanders. Their sexual relationship begins right after she accepts the job with Gil; Shiv and Nate sit in a car together, and she takes his hand and puts it down her pants. From then on, they carry on an affair behind Tom's back and Shiv even invites Nate to come to her wedding.

To make matters even worse, Shiv lies straight to Tom's face the night before they get married because he suspects that something is going on between the two. Even cousin Greg, as clueless as he can be, knows the two are sleeping together and he attempts to run interference and warn Tom about what he's getting himself into. Yet when Tom confronts Shiv, she tells him with a straight face that nothing is happening and that she loves him. Fast forward 24 hours, right after they get married in front of their friends and family in the countryside of England, and she breaks some news to Tom while she's still in her wedding dress and the guests are dancing downstairs: She wants an open marriage!

She intentionally waits until the wedding is done, until she has legally locked Tom in, to tell him that she wants the freedom to sleep with other people because she's just not the monogamous type. Then she uses her beauty and sexuality to convince Tom that it's all going to be okay—she climbs on top of him and seduces him. Throughout the remainder of their marriage, she takes every chance she gets to sleep with another man. When Tom is presented with the possibility of going to prison in season 3, she gets annoyed at his despair over the idea of being locked up behind bars and aggressively snaps at him to stop talking about it. And in perhaps the most infamous moment between Shiv and Tom, while they're in Italy celebrating her mother's nuptials, she steps back from kissing him and says, “You’re not good enough for me. That’s why you want me. That’s why you love me. Even though I don’t love you. But you want me anyway.” The next morning when Tom asks her whether she meant it, she passive aggressively brushes it off as if he's the silly one for taking such a thing seriously. "I may not love you, but I do love you," she responds.

Demanding that you be treated like a princess when you have treated your husband like trash is a cornerstone trait of toxic femininity.

There's no shortage of moments in the four seasons of Succession in which Shiv embarrasses Tom in public (she enthusiastically supported the idea of Tom going to prison and taking the fall for the cruise line scandal), bosses him around as if he's her little slave, and hypocritically gets furious at him for hooking up with other women (even though they had already broken up by then and she had been cheating on him for years). Demanding that you be treated like a princess when you have treated your husband like trash is a cornerstone trait of toxic femininity.

Shiv Is the Quickest To Betray Her Siblings

Backstabbing is a pastime in the Roy family. Logan was all too quick to send his own son to prison to save face. Kendall, the second oldest sibling, returned the favor and threw his father under the bus in a press conference, just hours after his father told him he wasn't a "killer." The infighting among the siblings may reach a heated level at some points throughout the seasons (how could we ever forget Kendall's 40th birthday party disaster), but the key is that they keep it to themselves. They can insult each other and try to cut each other down to reach the top spot (Roman even has secret communication with Logan that he keeps from the sibs), but they don't betray each other in public. Well, everyone except Shiv, of course, because she's an insufferable girl boss who plays by a completely different set of rules.

In season three, Kendall is in a knife fight with his dad to try and prove that Logan knew every part of what was going on with the cruises scandal. Things reach a head when he disrupts a town hall meeting where Shiv made her debut as Waystar Royco's President of Domestic Operations. In the middle of her speech, the several speakers that Kendall planted in the building start playing "Rape Me" by Nirvana—and loudly. She is forced off the stage as security scrambles around to neutralize the situation. Shiv is so embarrassed and personally humiliated that she drafts a particularly explosive letter detailing all of Kendall's deepest secrets about his struggle with addiction, his struggles with his ex-wife and children, etc. When she enlists Roman and Connor to sign off on the letter to give it more power in the public eye, they both refuse, knowing deep down that this crosses a line, even for the Roys. Shiv releases the letter anyway, hitting below the belt and causing Kendall to crumble just moments before he's supposed to go on a live comedy show. Shiv's toxic feminism makes her think that all boundaries are thrown out the window if the most precious thing in the world to her—her professional success and status—is made to seem vulnerable in any way.

In the most recent episode of season five, when she is hiding away and flirting with Lukas, cocaine in hand, she also administers another betrayal to her siblings. This comes after an earnest pact they all make to stick together, because what they had going before Logan died was good. Kendall and Roman were officially named co-CEOs (or CEBros, as Hugo tried to call them), which left Shiv extremely hurt, even though it made no sense for her to be named interim CEO, as she has the least amount of experience in the company and she never filled the COO role, unlike Kendall and Roman. Instead of taking the temporary loss in stride, she decided to go back on the agreement between her brothers and side with Lukas, the very man they were supposed to team up against. She played both sides and helped Lukas land the sale, when Kendall and Roman were trying to do the very opposite and kill the deal. The episode ends with Shiv looking off into the distance and smiling. Nothing makes her happier than looking betraying her brothers, as long as it gets her ahead even by just an inch.

Nothing is more painful to the toxic feminist than appearing to be the damsel in distress and acknowledging you need help.

Shiv Hides Behind Her Masculine Traits and Sees Femininity As a Weakness

Logan's wake is a dismal affair, made even worse by the fact that a document was discovered that indicated he wanted Kendall to take over the company. Shiv is so hurt by the idea that Kendall and Roy will be interim co-CEOs that she storms off in a huff and throws a tantrum. Tom, from whom she has already decided to get a divorce, tries to show her some genuine kindness, knowing that she isn't taking the death of her father well. He holds her hand and tenderly recalls the first night they spent together. Even the audience is touched by the emotion that he conveys to his estranged wife. When it's her turn to reciprocate, she simply shrugs it off and says, "That was a long time ago," before walking away in a huff. A moment later, she trips down some stairs and aggressively refuses the help of Tom, Stewy, and others who see that she has fallen and maybe even twisted her ankle. "Don't f*cking touch me!" she screams at them. Because nothing is more painful to the toxic feminist than appearing to be the damsel in distress and acknowledging that you need help.

Shiv is in constant denial of her own femininity throughout the entire show. She doesn't even fully accept the fact that she is doing the most feminine thing of all: bringing life into the world. She doesn't tell anyone—not even her own husband—that she's pregnant. She's simply pretending her baby doesn't exist, drinking and maybe even doing hard drugs to throw people off the scent. There's nothing wrong with being professionally successful and wanting to take over your father's company, but Shiv constantly denies her own femininity in order to reach her goals, not caring at all about the casualties she makes along the way (even if it includes her own husband).

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