I'm totally not a fan of these female characters, and I'm less excited about the book now that I know half of it is going to be girl power/my-life-is-so-hard-because-I-am-female whining. I never voluntarily read books about women because this seems to be all it's ever about. If anyone can pull it off, it's jaidani, but I'm really bumming about the whole concept right now.
Also, should someone be posting review like this before book is even out? Isn't that sort of spoiler-ish and rude? *shrugs*
Personally, I see nothing that indicates that either of these characters have problems because they are female. It could be that way certainly, but substitute he for she and it doesn't really change anything. Your life can be hard and you can be female, but that doesn't mean it's because you're female. Also the person who posted is an actual reviewer (fantasy book critic), not a random person. I would guess he was sent an ARC by the publisher with the intent that he review it. It didn't seem very spoiler-ish to me.
Oh, okay, so they wanted him to post about it! I totally thought it was a random person who somehow got a hold of it! Shows what I know LOL
I've decided that it is my mission to count the number of times nasty crap goes down solely because these characters are female. (This coming from the person who counted the number of times Rook said "fuck.") If it doesn't happen, I'll be shocked to the point of drooling on myself. Wait, I do that anyway... well, in any case, it's not very common that you can substitute "he" for "she" and have it work in a story. Hal certainly couldn't have been a woman, nor could Royston or Rook, and if Thom had been, he never would've been sent to the Airman. I think sex is a bigger factor in plots/characterization than most people think.
Really? You should read some better books, because that kind of sucks. There are tons of books with female characters that aren't anything like that. I mean, without any other information, I don't think we can really jump to conclusions and assume it's going to be like that. It's obviously possible, but I don't really see any reason to jump to that conclusion.
Well, I don't particularly feel terribly female, so that has something to do with it-- I'm supposed to understand these female characters through some feminist principle because they're "like me," but mostly they just seem shallow and pointless. I'd much rather see books populated with men than see another oppressed woman trying to make her mark upon a world that demeans and degrades her. I've just read it way too often (and had the idea forced on my in one too many anthropology classes), and it feels stale to me.
I'm definitely not jumping to the conclusion that the book is going to be bad-- it's just an automatic strike against it in my mind because I *never* feel a sense of kinship with female characters. But I also think chocolate tastes like stomach bile, so there's no accounting for taste!
...because it feels stale to me. It's an overused cliche in books. This does not mean that I don't think women should do this in real life! I've just read about it waaay too much =)
I'm going to try to be as polite as I can while seeing my screen through a wall of seething rage.
see another oppressed woman trying to make her mark upon a world that demeans and degrades her
Maybe because that's how the world is. God forbid someone write a book that demonstrates the fail of the various versions of a patriarchal society and sexist laws and traditions. Do you also have a problem with books written by other oppressed minorities? Do gay people whine too much? Or blacks? Or Jews? If someone writes a book about slavery, should they be condemned as whiners who are just rehashing their oppression to the point of staleness? Or would it be okay if a man told it
( ... )
I kind of think that I know what she meant but only expressed a little clumsily. And while I admit that it sounded quite harsh to you, I think you're going a little over the top here, accusing someone you only read one maybe wrongly put sentence from but otherwise know nothing about of not only sexism, but also racism and various other things.
And still: While I believe that this one sentence threw this all off, I do believe that it is everyone's right to prefer their main characters male when reading a book. And it's everyone's right to find books with male main characters -like you put it - more interesting. Completely without being sexist. That's as if you accused a heterosexual person who prefers watching het porn over watching gay porn of heterosexism by default.
ahaha over the top. Oh, yeah, I do love to just brush off sexist remarks. I'm only a woman.
You can believe books about women suck, yes (and if you see nothing wrong with that statement, good luck to you), but unless you want your sexism called out, you might want to keep it to yourself.
And don't go comparing PORN PREFERENCES to misogyny. That doesn't make any sense.
Also, should someone be posting review like this before book is even out? Isn't that sort of spoiler-ish and rude? *shrugs*
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And even though I'm bitching about it, thanks for posting the review!
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I've decided that it is my mission to count the number of times nasty crap goes down solely because these characters are female. (This coming from the person who counted the number of times Rook said "fuck.") If it doesn't happen, I'll be shocked to the point of drooling on myself. Wait, I do that anyway... well, in any case, it's not very common that you can substitute "he" for "she" and have it work in a story. Hal certainly couldn't have been a woman, nor could Royston or Rook, and if Thom had been, he never would've been sent to the Airman. I think sex is a bigger factor in plots/characterization than most people think.
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I'm definitely not jumping to the conclusion that the book is going to be bad-- it's just an automatic strike against it in my mind because I *never* feel a sense of kinship with female characters. But I also think chocolate tastes like stomach bile, so there's no accounting for taste!
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I... what? Wow. Apparently the women's liberation movement was lost on you.
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see another oppressed woman trying to make her mark upon a world that demeans and degrades her
Maybe because that's how the world is. God forbid someone write a book that demonstrates the fail of the various versions of a patriarchal society and sexist laws and traditions. Do you also have a problem with books written by other oppressed minorities? Do gay people whine too much? Or blacks? Or Jews? If someone writes a book about slavery, should they be condemned as whiners who are just rehashing their oppression to the point of staleness? Or would it be okay if a man told it ( ... )
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And while I admit that it sounded quite harsh to you, I think you're going a little over the top here, accusing someone you only read one maybe wrongly put sentence from but otherwise know nothing about of not only sexism, but also racism and various other things.
And still: While I believe that this one sentence threw this all off, I do believe that it is everyone's right to prefer their main characters male when reading a book. And it's everyone's right to find books with male main characters -like you put it - more interesting. Completely without being sexist. That's as if you accused a heterosexual person who prefers watching het porn over watching gay porn of heterosexism by default.
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You can believe books about women suck, yes (and if you see nothing wrong with that statement, good luck to you), but unless you want your sexism called out, you might want to keep it to yourself.
And don't go comparing PORN PREFERENCES to misogyny. That doesn't make any sense.
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