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Wolfe: Misogynist Or Realist?

Jeff Wilson · 20 Oct 2006, 15:44 · from 2006-October.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:44:12 -0500
Subject: (urth) Wolfe: Misogynist Or Realist?
In-Reply-To: <20061019194813.82482.qmail at web39509.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
References: <20061019194813.82482.qmail at web39509.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <4538EECC.5060900 at io.com>

timothy fletcher wrote:
> I think this discussion is being too narrow. There are a lot of fantasy 
> and science fiction authors, especially modern ones, who portray 
> violence against women. Off the top of my head I can think of the most 
> extreme, Goodkind and Martin. I know that Goodkind is barely considered 
> literary, and Martin perhaps less so than Wolfe, but if we are 
> psychoanalyzing authors by their works, those two would have to hate 
> women exceedingly more than Wolfe himself. Tolkien would have to find 
> them uninteresting and ignore them. And what about female authors? 
> Should we look at more female authors and decide whether they hate men? 
> I find "The Yellow Wallpaper" suspect.

It's not quanity of violence against women, it's the moral context. Is 
it presented as a crime? spoils of war? just desserts? pretext to 
arranged marriage? harmless fun?

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >


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