Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fiction

» nancysinead - Safety etc.

Thanks for posting this -- it takes the discussion into a direction that I'm very interested in. I agree -- I think the idea that women tame men is a myth. But our culture has invested a lot of power in that myth.

I notice that a common theme among male humor columnists is how their wives -- their wonderful, perfect wives -- have civilized them. They present this as respect for women, and I suspect they'd be shocked to find that some of us consider it insulting. Men are perfectly able to grow up and act like mature adults (when necessary) on their own.

And women have the same urges for freedom. In the story I was discussing in the interview, freedom is represented by the open road. It's an image that's personally very powerful for me. In writing the story as gender neutral, I think I let all readers identify (perhaps uncomfortably) with my main character. It seems like an interesting way to play with the issue.

It is issues like this that make me feel strongly that feminism still has a lot of work to do. That old idea that a man must protect his wife and kids can be as toxic for men as for women. I just heard a report the other day about a man who died in Iraq -- he'd joined the service because it gave him a good job so that he could provide for his family. He didn't think he could get a better one. Now certainly people who have children have some obligations there, but perhaps if he hadn't had this powerful image that he must do the taking care, he and his wife together could have come up with a better way to take care of each other and the kids, one that didn't require him to risk his life in a bad war.

You know, this would make a great WisCon panel for next year -- Challenging the Myth that Women Tame Men. Let's suggest it. We've got two panelists right here!

-- posted by nancysinead