two links

[swan_tower]

Time for a post up at BVC, on spells and folklore.

Also, I'm participating in "Women in SF&F" month at Fantasy Book Cafe, along with a great many other people: Courtney Shafer, Jan DeLima, Mur Lafferty, Patricia McKillip, Angie (of Angieville), Deborah Coates, Rachel Neumeier, Julie Czerneda, Janice (of SpecFic Romantic), Lois McMaster Bujold, Sue (of Coffee, Cookies, and Chili Peppers), Lane Robins, Ana and Thea (of Book Smugglers), Sherwood Smith, Karin Lowachee, Jacqueline Carey, and Renay (of Lady Business) -- and that's just the roster so far. My contribution is a discussion of why I chose to include sexism in the world of Lady Trent's memoirs.

Comments

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

I was having sexism thoughts too while reading it--the sexism was ridiculously stifling and starting to make me squirm (what about the women who don't have understanding husbands, what about, what about, what about... aaaaaugh. In short it is not a world I would ever want to live in). The point about the caricature of sexism in fantasy was spot-on. A lot of fantasy doesn't get just how claustrophobic it can be in all the subtle ways-- it's not just "oh girls can't be knights"/spunky princess stories, which seemed to be a staple when I was growing up. I've almost never seen a fantasy novel with, say, gaslighting, which happens to me rather frequently and a lot of other women!

I wonder if it's good or bad that a lot of people (even female writers) can't really grapple with how those enforced social roles smother people, usually in the small ways. That our society is better now, or that the fish can't smell the water they're swimming in. Not to say sexism is as bad as Lady Trent now but... really? You can't come up with more than "the spunky princess likes to do boy things and doesn't like sewing/dresses" when engaging sexism?

Though I'm usually on the other side of the argument-- I start with no sexism and ask myself if I have a compelling reason to include it. If no, wahoo egalitarian society. Partly because I am just so tired of sexist fantasy books either as poor feminist critique or unthinking historical accuracy. Which isn't what Dragons fell into, and that makes it rather rare in the genre.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'd ever be able to write a gaslighting scene, simply because that makes me see red when it happens. I seriously lose all rationality and just want to punch people in the face.