lightreads: a partial image of a etymology tree for the Indo-European word 'leuk done in white neon on black'; in the lower left is (Default)
lightreads ([personal profile] lightreads) wrote 2013-11-23 03:13 pm (UTC)

Yes to all of that. And the thing that bugs me more the more I think about it is that structurally, this whole thing comes down really heavily on the side of endorsing a particular kind of femininity as real or innate or whatever. Like, okay, female dwarves have lived as male dwarves for a very long time, so clearly there isn't a well-developed concept of "feminine behavior" in dwarf society, if you know what I mean. So when they decide to be ladies openly they default to this whole stereotyped notion of exaggeratedly feminine dress, shape, etc. As if that's, like, the universal understanding of what ladies are. Which is plausible as a way to react to oppression -- clumsily copying what they observe from humans and others, and missing all the nuance. But that's me making excuses for Pratchett that I really don't think he deserves on this one.


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