I like to think about fiction as a conversation. Fanfic is saying "dear so and so" instead of "to whom it may concern".
Quoted for truth, and it's funny because I was thinking of this just the other day. One of my greatest enjoyments in reading and reviewing fanfic is the discussions I get into with the author, and the friendships often struck up that way. I love that communicative aspect of fiction, and the community of fan fiction.
But for women, there is still the assumption that marriage is the end of our story.
I'd like to question that, though this may be because we're reading different books. You mentioned this as a trope in YA, and I don't read a lot of it.
My major early disappointment in this area was Eowyn from Lord of the Rings, for laying down her sword when she married. I later came around on this, though, because I came to see it wasn't a double standard: The male heroes in Lord of the Rings were just as eager to stop being warriors once the necessity for violence was over.
For other examples, The Hero and the Crown had a female protagonist and her story ended with marriage, but arguably the marriage was just a part of her heroic homecoming and finding a place in the world. The Hunger Games possibly had this problem, though I think it just ended with Catniss's complete breakdown rather than marriage per se. The Twilight series, so much, but Bella was never heroic to begin with.
Other YA I've read, like The Giver and Belle Prater's Boy, didn't focus much on marriage at all. Then again these aren't really in the genre we're talking about, though you might be interested in Belle Prater's Boy and its sequel, The Search for Belle Prater. The central conflict in the two stories is the disappearance of the titular wife and mother, and her struggles with identity and purpose are explored quite a bit in her absence. I really enjoyed the lively depictions of life in West Virginia coal country, and way the books used various forms of privilege and bigotry were thought-provoking.
Then there's the Abhorsen trilogy, which as you mentioned is notable for having a wife and mother who is also a hero in her own right. I wonder, though, if Sabriel herself wouldn't have preferred to be less heroic and spend more time at home. Much as in LotR, mentioned above, her heroism seemed more a function of necessity than self-fulfillment. There's also the privilege angle I mentioned in a previous post, that Sabriel is better able to follow her calling because she has the wealth and position to be free of the physical aspects of childrearing and housekeeping, though by no means the emotional aspects of being a wife and mother. There's nothing wrong with that, obviously, I just don't think it reflects the everyday struggles real-life women (and men) face in reconciling the demands of life with their individuality and abilities.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2013-01-31 02:06 am (UTC)Quoted for truth, and it's funny because I was thinking of this just the other day. One of my greatest enjoyments in reading and reviewing fanfic is the discussions I get into with the author, and the friendships often struck up that way. I love that communicative aspect of fiction, and the community of fan fiction.
But for women, there is still the assumption that marriage is the end of our story.
I'd like to question that, though this may be because we're reading different books. You mentioned this as a trope in YA, and I don't read a lot of it.
My major early disappointment in this area was Eowyn from Lord of the Rings, for laying down her sword when she married. I later came around on this, though, because I came to see it wasn't a double standard: The male heroes in Lord of the Rings were just as eager to stop being warriors once the necessity for violence was over.
For other examples, The Hero and the Crown had a female protagonist and her story ended with marriage, but arguably the marriage was just a part of her heroic homecoming and finding a place in the world. The Hunger Games possibly had this problem, though I think it just ended with Catniss's complete breakdown rather than marriage per se. The Twilight series, so much, but Bella was never heroic to begin with.
Other YA I've read, like The Giver and Belle Prater's Boy, didn't focus much on marriage at all. Then again these aren't really in the genre we're talking about, though you might be interested in Belle Prater's Boy and its sequel, The Search for Belle Prater. The central conflict in the two stories is the disappearance of the titular wife and mother, and her struggles with identity and purpose are explored quite a bit in her absence. I really enjoyed the lively depictions of life in West Virginia coal country, and way the books used various forms of privilege and bigotry were thought-provoking.
Then there's the Abhorsen trilogy, which as you mentioned is notable for having a wife and mother who is also a hero in her own right. I wonder, though, if Sabriel herself wouldn't have preferred to be less heroic and spend more time at home. Much as in LotR, mentioned above, her heroism seemed more a function of necessity than self-fulfillment. There's also the privilege angle I mentioned in a previous post, that Sabriel is better able to follow her calling because she has the wealth and position to be free of the physical aspects of childrearing and housekeeping, though by no means the emotional aspects of being a wife and mother. There's nothing wrong with that, obviously, I just don't think it reflects the everyday struggles real-life women (and men) face in reconciling the demands of life with their individuality and abilities.