AtD / TRP / feminist type stuff

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Bekah wrote:

>>A 50-something,  non-literary woman,  reading it for the  first time in  
>>2005 might not be affected in quite the same way.    So,  yes,  I found GR 
>>to be "a bit"  sexist in parts.  Young women were sex objects while older 
>>women were Moms and grandmas (were there women over 30 in GR?  - not a 
>>complaint,  maybe they weren't appropriate to the plot or themes or 
>>anything) .


Katje is something more than a sex object: she has a mathematics background, she's a spy, and she's contemplative in nature.  Regardless of whether sex (and preverted sex, at that) is her main weapon, she hardly comes across as a bimbo.

Leni Pokler comes across as an intelligent person.  Geli  a witch, but not a bitch.  Jessica, more bourgeois than bitchy. Bianca, like Gottfried and Baby Tyrone, is an abused child.  

Enzian starts out as Blicero's sexual partner before becoming his intelligent disciple/adversary.
 
Gottfried, on the other hand, functions purely as a sex object.  Not overly bright, passive, a ready victim (now everybody--).  He's possibly the least complex character in the book.

Of the over 30s:  Greta, while creepy, is still a sexual being.  Pointsman is socially retarded and sexually inept.  Brigadier Pudding? Yikes.  Otto's mom is kind of feisty and fun.

The good guys: Slothrop, Mexico, Katje, Pirate, Enzian, Geli.
The bad guys: Blicero, Major Marvy, Pointsman, Greta.
The victims: Gottfried and Bianca.

All in all, GR doesn't have a guys and bimbos, James Bond/Hugh Hefner type mentality.


Terrance wrote:

>Were there men in GR? Any characters we recognize as men? I don't think so.
>
>I doubt that the Feminist readings of GR that argue for equal time on stage 
>are worth very much.

Jeez, circle the wagons, guys.  There's feminists afoot!  

Laura


PS- and by the way, most feminists are NOT lit-crit academic types.