Yeah, you're right about the lack of political/legal power. Drat.
Question re: being a knight or an actor-- we consider those to be things that are an adventure, I think because those are the things we have stories about-- because those are things that men did, and told to other men as being what an adventure is. And I'll agree that I enjoy reading about/writing about/pretending to do things like that-- but then, I was raised in this culture. One of the things I've always liked about Lois McMaster Bujold (you've read her, right?) is that her female characters will go out and fight, captain space-ships, etc... but that she describes things like giving birth as being just as much a risk and a quest. Which they are, I think. I'm not saying, obviously, that women should settle back and take traditional women's roles-- I don't think anyone should settle for just what they're supposed to do, because other things are such fun-- but I think it's a mistake to say things like raising kids aren't also an adventure. And one that it would be fun to see more male characters trying to take on. Genderfuck for all!
Re: Life Was Short, Brutal, and...
Question re: being a knight or an actor-- we consider those to be things that are an adventure, I think because those are the things we have stories about-- because those are things that men did, and told to other men as being what an adventure is. And I'll agree that I enjoy reading about/writing about/pretending to do things like that-- but then, I was raised in this culture. One of the things I've always liked about Lois McMaster Bujold (you've read her, right?) is that her female characters will go out and fight, captain space-ships, etc... but that she describes things like giving birth as being just as much a risk and a quest. Which they are, I think. I'm not saying, obviously, that women should settle back and take traditional women's roles-- I don't think anyone should settle for just what they're supposed to do, because other things are such fun-- but I think it's a mistake to say things like raising kids aren't also an adventure. And one that it would be fun to see more male characters trying to take on. Genderfuck for all!
--R