I'm a pretty lukewarm fan as well. To be fair, Tolkien tradition in which the Chosen One fights the Darkness (oww... capital letters) is not my cup-o-tea to start with. However, I enjoyed the first book regardless of my tastes, but the second just put me on snooze. I couldn't even finish, because I became so frustrated with trying to read what should have been two books published as one.
...is that many of them seem to have a contempt for cooking and sewing and all those essential things that 'ordinary' women do.
XD As if contempt of cooking and sewing were perquisites to being a feminist! Totally agree. Female characters of fantasy especially in the 80s and early 90s were ideals of tough feminists, in other words, women who were considered strong, because they acted more like men.
I will spare you my full rant, as I'm known on Sounis for having strong opinions about female characters, but I believe that trope comes from the women who were dissatisfied by the type of life that sort of thing represents. In other words, the actually were in contempt of the life of a stay at home wife. However, though many women would hate that sort of life, it's a life occupation that should be held in high respect, not slotted as the sort of thing "ordinary women" do. The point of the women's rights movement wasn't to destroy the occupations of the house wife, it was to give women a free choice and the same opportunities in society that men had.
Coming around the bend, I don't particularly like female characters who give up what's important to them solely for the sake of a guy, particularly when the girl is beguiled and the dude doesn't care. In society, it's general accepted that the woman will be dreaming of wedding bells by the third date, but the guy is just looking for--please excuse my crudeness--a lay. Though not completely untrue, it's very unwise to apply such a trope to ever pairing in fiction. It's also unwise to mistake devotion and commitment for beguilement. Independent women like Rose Tyler can be devoted without being a Mary Sue. Even so, many readers dislike, on site, female characters who are strongly devoted and committed to their love, yet male characters are often disliked for not being devoted enough! XD It's crazy!
From what your saying about Alissa, it sounds like magic isn't that important to her anyhow, but her relationship is, so that actually alludes to a complex and interesting character. Just added First Truth to my TBR list, I will check it out! :D
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-11-11 04:07 am (UTC)...is that many of them seem to have a contempt for cooking and sewing and all those essential things that 'ordinary' women do.
XD As if contempt of cooking and sewing were perquisites to being a feminist! Totally agree. Female characters of fantasy especially in the 80s and early 90s were ideals of tough feminists, in other words, women who were considered strong, because they acted more like men.
I will spare you my full rant, as I'm known on Sounis for having strong opinions about female characters, but I believe that trope comes from the women who were dissatisfied by the type of life that sort of thing represents. In other words, the actually were in contempt of the life of a stay at home wife. However, though many women would hate that sort of life, it's a life occupation that should be held in high respect, not slotted as the sort of thing "ordinary women" do. The point of the women's rights movement wasn't to destroy the occupations of the house wife, it was to give women a free choice and the same opportunities in society that men had.
Coming around the bend, I don't particularly like female characters who give up what's important to them solely for the sake of a guy, particularly when the girl is beguiled and the dude doesn't care. In society, it's general accepted that the woman will be dreaming of wedding bells by the third date, but the guy is just looking for--please excuse my crudeness--a lay. Though not completely untrue, it's very unwise to apply such a trope to ever pairing in fiction. It's also unwise to mistake devotion and commitment for beguilement. Independent women like Rose Tyler can be devoted without being a Mary Sue. Even so, many readers dislike, on site, female characters who are strongly devoted and committed to their love, yet male characters are often disliked for not being devoted enough! XD It's crazy!
From what your saying about Alissa, it sounds like magic isn't that important to her anyhow, but her relationship is, so that actually alludes to a complex and interesting character. Just added First Truth to my TBR list, I will check it out! :D
Book recs make everything better!