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Spoilers for episode 7, season 3 of The Traitors.
Week three of The Traitors has got off to quite the start. A gripping round of a Russian roulette-style Death Match and a glimpse into Linda and Fozia's delightfully camp feud led to a tense round table when Linda was finally caught by the Faithfuls. In the final moments of the episode, Minah, the sole surviving Traitor, was forced to approach one of the Faithfuls with a recruitment ultimatum.
A deep-dive into the greatest reality TV show since OG Big Brother.
Shocking many viewers, Minah revealed that she only interested in recruiting another woman. She is sticking to the 'sisterhood' tactic that she's been talking about since the very beginning of the game – when Armani, Linda and Minah were chosen as the three Traitors. Linda, she said, was “literally the sisterhood until the actual end.” She went on, “I only want to pick a female. I just feel the sisterhood means something. There was no backstabbing.”
Some fans couldn't help but scoff at Minah's bold statement — after all, she has now voted for both of her fellow female Traitors, aiding in their respective banishments. “Did Minah just say ‘I want to pick a woman because the sisterhood means something, there was no back stabbing’?? Did she not vote off both Armani and Linda,” one wrote on X. Another wrote, "I appreciate how Minah spoke about loyalty and sisterhood after turning on each of her fellow Traitors and voting for them when the going got tough. Perfect player."
Other fans have debated why Minah has stayed so true to her ‘sisterhood’ storyline – since one particular male Faithful may have made a more strategic choice. “Minah, oh my god you fumbled… if you had recruited Jake you would have won,” one tweeted, with another adding: “Should've picked Jake. He's just caught a Traitor so zero heat on him. She's already thrown two female traitors under the bus so she'll probably do it again.”
Although Minah's devotion to the ‘sisterhood’ may seem laughable, even contradictory to some, she did try to support Armani and Linda for as long as she could. (Unfortunately, they both made it impossible for her to do anything but vote for them.)
And more importantly can you stay there?
But Minah's dedication to helping Linda (while she could, at least) and decision to recruit Charlotte, adding (probably) another female Traitor to the game, is actually pretty telling. It's a reminder that her so-called sisterhood isn't just a cutesy reference to Spice Girls-inspired Girl Power — it's a cultural concept with real power. The concept of the “sisterhood” dates back centuries. Although at the time, sisterhoods were often seen as sinister (witches, covens, Bene Gesserit-esque religious sects), it's now quite clear that any fears about all-female groups were merely a symptom of a system of patriarchal repression. In systems where women were seen as the property of men, it's hardly surprising that the men in charge didn't much like it when women went off and formed their own groups. The idea of women convening and talking in secret was so scary, it led to the witch trials of the 17th century.
The days of witch trials may be a thing of the past, but we live in a system that still tends to make things easier for men. We need only look back to the notorious Traitors' boys club that formed with Harry, Paul and Miles in season two. While Minah was forced to vote out the other female Traitors, Harry and Paul both actively sought out ways to get rid of their fellow Traitors. Poor Ash, the only female Traitor in the group, lasted only four episodes, after Paul turned on her.
Meanwhile, in this season of The Traitors, the women have, on the whole, had a much harder time convincing the others of their Faithful-ness. Leanne came in moonlighting as a nail tech so she didn't seem too strong. Charlotte came in with a Welsh accent to seem more trustworthy. Elen was voted out for even mentioning the idea of a strong group of women.
Grab your cosiest jumpers and thickest eyeliner, because The Traitors is back.
It's hard to ever really stick to a strong sisterhood in a game like The Traitors — a game that is ultimately all about surviving at all costs, even if it means throwing your fellow competitors under the bus, ‘on your team’ or not. But Minah's commitment to some kind of Traitors' sisterhood is admirable. It seems that her plan is to keep the women-supporting-women thing going with Charlotte — to keep them both in the game for as long as possible. And it certainly makes a nice change after the truly brutal behaviour of the Traitors last season.
It's easy to scoff at Minah's comments about the sisterhood — but like most women, she knows she needs support — and the fact that she is looking to other women for that support in such a treacherous environment as the Traitors castle is all too telling.
