Completely true and one of plethora of reasons why I love these books. They are refreshing on so many levels, one of which is gender and gender tropes as you say. Rarely is power sexy (i.e., desirable),or at least made to purposefully be sexy, on a woman. I mean that if Attolia, and to an extent, Eddis, were to walk into our world they would be labled a "ballbuster" and "b*tch". And Gen, despite his powress in sword fighting and cunning would be a "sissy", "whipped" or worse. This is a man that doesn't want power and would rather leave it to his wife, especially the public display of it. And he is fussy about clothes, which we know is part of his disguise but also he revels in fashion and being clean. And yet, MWT sends these characters to our hearts and despite our society (Specifically American mainstream. Sorry for excluding many,many societies and people but I can only speak on what I know)and time we admire them and the "rules" they turn topsy-turny. A woman can hold power and lead. She can be "feminine" and lead, or choose to be a different kind of "feminine" and still be desirable. A man can support his wife and not be "whipped". A man can be small of stature and still be strong. And so on.... And the wonderful fact is that it is clear that these characters face similar, if not the same, barriers, "rules" and assumptions. They are exceptions, not the rule. Think of Nahuseresh assumptions on Attolia. Anyway, I will stop. :) Thanks for opening this discussion. I am certain there is so much more to be said.
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Date: 9/3/10 09:15 pm (UTC)Rarely is power sexy (i.e., desirable),or at least made to purposefully be sexy, on a woman. I mean that if Attolia, and to an extent, Eddis, were to walk into our world they would be labled a "ballbuster" and "b*tch". And Gen, despite his powress in sword fighting and cunning would be a "sissy", "whipped" or worse. This is a man that doesn't want power and would rather leave it to his wife, especially the public display of it. And he is fussy about clothes, which we know is part of his disguise but also he revels in fashion and being clean.
And yet, MWT sends these characters to our hearts and despite our society (Specifically American mainstream. Sorry for excluding many,many societies and people but I can only speak on what I know)and time we admire them and the "rules" they turn topsy-turny. A woman can hold power and lead. She can be "feminine" and lead, or choose to be a different kind of "feminine" and still be desirable. A man can support his wife and not be "whipped". A man can be small of stature and still be strong. And so on....
And the wonderful fact is that it is clear that these characters face similar, if not the same, barriers, "rules" and assumptions. They are exceptions, not the rule. Think of Nahuseresh assumptions on Attolia.
Anyway, I will stop. :) Thanks for opening this discussion. I am certain there is so much more to be said.