’There is a saying on Gont, ‘Weak as woman’s magic’ and there is another saying ‘wicked as woman’s magic’” (Le Guin, 1968)
- boo, nasty nasty author and how appalling sexism by a woman... - suggest the posts of many.
Are we reading the same book?
“When you’re a hammer everything looks like a nail.” (Unknown.) This widespread commonplace does seem to raise its ugly head here: In our zeal to champion diversity, gender equality and lots of other [...]-ities, [...]-doms and [...]-nesses, we are crying wolf where is none. Zilch, zero, nada. Accusing Le Guin of sexism is a complete misunderstanding.
I believe if an author depicts the reality of his or her imaginary world, which world is unavoidably a commentary of ours, then he or she has every right to remind us of - or even rub our noses into- the stereotypes regarding sex or race which distort our [or the author's contemporaries' or compatriots'] vision more or less depending on how conscious or successful the efforts are that we make to bypass these stereotypes.
I must point out one very common misunderstanding regarding stereotypes. Many educated people, who wish to see themselves as kind, intelligent, emphatic, compassionate, etc., believe that stereotypes are evil and held true only by the cold hearted or ignorant. Sorry folks, very far from true.
The reality is, stereotypes have helped our ancestors staying alive in not-civilised environments: they are efficient and effective shortcuts which the not-so-modern parts of our brains use to make instant decisions when there is an overflow of information and the individual cannot afford to spend precious time and blood sugar on letting our marvelous neo-cortex analyse and figure it out in a truly human fashion. If we are not trained as individuals to consciously recognize and question the stereotypes our forebearers left us with benevolently, then we cannot help but see the world according to what "sayings" teach us. Ironically, the inquisitive and difference accepting mindset evolves only by personal experience, as illustrated by Ged's journey to greatness.
Le Guin very subtly rubs the readers nose into the stereotype of only the powerful, young, male hero's destiny being to overcome evil.
Ged's aunt has tangles in her hair - so what? Is she not a powerful witch in the same breath?The Kargs are fair skinned - so what? Does Le Guin not have the right to borrow from Nordic sagas like so many others before and after? Maybe, just may be, this is a subtle critic of how most other tales are spun? In the Tombs of Atuan, where the story carries on, the hero is Telar, the young priestess, so where is the male dominance then?
About stereotypes I recommend reading
Ok Balazs, this is an interesting opinion piece. As I mentioned in class, I am happy for you to post an opinion piece as your response - but I do need it to show CLEAR reference to a) the primary text and b) to at least one secondary text. The Tax secondary reading has some things to say about this. Also Le Guinn's own blog posts discuss these very points. A pity you chose not to engage with them. Given the author's own comments on the subject, I'm not convinced that her depictions of gender were intended to be ironic. However, if you are suggesting that, in a modern context, we could make an ironic reading of the work, then I tend to agree.
ReplyDeleteBalazs, I really need to see you engaging with the texts in your subsequent posts.