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Amber · 9th April 2005, 11:58 AM

Hm actually I found it the other way round. Anne McCaffrey's female 'heroines' always irritated me a lot. They weren't the sort of heroines I like. Her 'heroines' relied on men, and were fairly often used as adjuncts. Their roles are not as important within the series. As far as I remember there was never a Female Earth Prime, even though the Rowan was just as strong as her husband. Damia falls in love with Sodian showing her essential fallibility and blindness. She quite willingly strips naked to attract Afra- is this the mark of a self possessed intelligent woman?

With the Dragon riders, woman are forced to sleep with someone not of their choice, simply because their dragons mated with a man's bronze dragon. I remember one book about a girl with a queen dragon who didn't want to sleep around. I can't remember her name except that she ended up with Fnor, it was Bren or something. Anyhow she was laughed at and her viewpoint misunderstood. Women were drudges- Lessa before her dragon. They were allowed no dragons other than queens and later in the series greens, and even then only under sufference, and those queens are there to produce eggs. Why were the queens riders not the squadron commanders? It was their mates the wing flyers who were and who ruled the Weyr.

In every book, women are portrayed as always needing a man to support them, and usually as being less powerful than men. When a strong, intelligent, beautiful woman does crop up, she is invariably cast as the evil man hunting, crop stealing bandit leader.

Don't get me wrong with this little impassioned speech. I enjoyed her books, and I even still read them occasinally. I accept they were written in a slightly different time, but as a sixteen year old girl myself I can safely say that most intelligent woman would not relish being an Anne McCaffrey character. For a strong woman hero who retains sexuality look at Eowyn (LOTR,) Althea (Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders, Ursula le Guins female characters etc.

Sorry for writing so much, but it is a subject I feel strongly on.

9th April 2005, 11:58 AM	#18 (permalink)
Amber Oh mighty Gackt Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 517	Re: For young women only? Hm actually I found it the other way round. Anne McCaffrey's female 'heroines' always irritated me a lot. They weren't the sort of heroines I like. Her 'heroines' relied on men, and were fairly often used as adjuncts. Their roles are not as important within the series. As far as I remember there was never a Female Earth Prime, even though the Rowan was just as strong as her husband. Damia falls in love with Sodian showing her essential fallibility and blindness. She quite willingly strips naked to attract Afra- is this the mark of a self possessed intelligent woman? With the Dragon riders, woman are forced to sleep with someone not of their choice, simply because their dragons mated with a man's bronze dragon. I remember one book about a girl with a queen dragon who didn't want to sleep around. I can't remember her name except that she ended up with Fnor, it was Bren or something. Anyhow she was laughed at and her viewpoint misunderstood. Women were drudges- Lessa before her dragon. They were allowed no dragons other than queens and later in the series greens, and even then only under sufference, and those queens are there to produce eggs. Why were the queens riders not the squadron commanders? It was their mates the wing flyers who were and who ruled the Weyr. In every book, women are portrayed as always needing a man to support them, and usually as being less powerful than men. When a strong, intelligent, beautiful woman does crop up, she is invariably cast as the evil man hunting, crop stealing bandit leader. Don't get me wrong with this little impassioned speech. I enjoyed her books, and I even still read them occasinally. I accept they were written in a slightly different time, but as a sixteen year old girl myself I can safely say that most intelligent woman would not relish being an Anne McCaffrey character. For a strong woman hero who retains sexuality look at Eowyn (LOTR,) Althea (Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders, Ursula le Guins female characters etc. Sorry for writing so much, but it is a subject I feel strongly on.