Heroes through the female gaze

[sartorias]

Not just one but a couple of times, at ConDor, we were talking about quests, heroes, heroines, and glanced off heroes as written by women. That fit into a larger question about women's influence in letters that I actually wrote up, and will appear at the Fantasy Cafe in a few weeks.

But first, confining myself to heroes as written by females. I'd

Comments

[rachelmanija]

My comment got stuck in moderation due, I assume, to containing links, but I replied to someone who wondered what non-western women had written about in times gone by:

Even if you only read English, quite a lot has been translated. For instance, http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99dec12/sunday/head3.htm

From a poem by a female Telegu poet writing in India in about 1750:

When your husband holds you,
push him gently with your breasts.
If he kisses your cheek, touch his lips with yours.
When he gets on top of you, move against him from below.
If he gets tired while making love, quickly take over
and get on top. He’s the best lover, a real connoisseur,
extremely delicate. Love him skilfully,
and make him love you. That’s my advice.
But you know best.
Loving has its own laws.’

http://acceleratedmotion.wesleyan.edu/primary_sources/texts/bharatanatyam/muddupalani.pdf

[sartorias]

Oh, that sounds quite good!

[whswhs]

I've been a fan of Mahadeviyakka for a long time. Her recurring trope seems to be her illicit love affair with Shiva, the "lord white as jasmine." I think she appeals to me partly because of her vividly concrete imagery; for example,

Like a tax collector in a town
I go to and fro without rest.