“Separate But Equal.”
There’s a slogan which most people associate with the propaganda against the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. Separation is just a step away from disadvantage and stereotype, which is a step away from oppression. For this reason, I have trouble accepting the notion that “men are from Mars and women are from Venus.” We are all human, and gender crossovers do exist.
Robert Jordan makes a point in his Wheel of Time saga to starkly delineate the separate properties of male and female. Everything in that world is a balance between the two. Men and women have different functions and behave in separate ways, and in Randland (as fans refer to it), no crossovers exist.
In my article Robert Jordan: Genius or Hack?, I praised the author for his powerful portrayal of female characters. While my opinion on that remains firm, I left out my criticism. Here I’m going to let loose. I do have some bones to pick about Robert Jordan’s apparent opinion of womenfolk.
Some uncomfortable examples:
1.
Let’s go for worst first. As I recall, there was a scene where Perrin “put Faile over his knee” until she couldn’t sit down later… meaning he spanked her. Hello, domestic violence? Not once do we see a woman physically humiliating her husband like this. Strangely, Faile forgives Perrin almost immediately. I might have dismissed this scene as a fluke, or some kind of weird Robert Jordan fantasy… except I read some of his historical fiction under the name Reagan O’Neal. More than once in the Fallon series, women are beaten by big, strong men, and then forgive them as though nothing happened.
Yes, there were some cultures where domestic violence was commonplace, and the old South was one of them. But a world dominated by women who can channel the One Power does not strike me as a world that would permit that type of society. Perrin’s treatment of Faile doesn’t quite fit. I get the feeling that Jordan was implying that women (in general) do not mind being beaten as long as they’re in love with the man doing the beating. I beg to differ!!! That’s how many solid relationships fall apart.
2.
During the first three volumes, I was under the impression that men and women during the Age of Legends had been equal in the One Power. Some men were stronger than women, and some women stronger than men. Remember, we’re talking about the One Power here, not physical strength. Well… later in the series, it was mentioned that men were generally stronger than women during the Age of Legends. One of the characters specifically thought that this made sense because men are generally stronger physically.
Once again, I beg to differ about this reasoning! Men are often stronger than women physically… so to create a balance, wouldn’t women be stronger in the One Power? The Wheel of Time is all about balance: the Light and the Shadow, saidar and saidin, female and male. If Jordan feels the need to make men stronger in the One Power- and I can understand his desire to do this- then he should have spared us the faulty logic. I’d rather just pass it off as a fact of nature. Say they evolved that way.
3.
Polygamy. Yes, we are dealing with a male fantasy author- but once again, equality and balance are not apparent. We hear about polyandry (the practice of a woman having more than one husband) in the Aiel culture, but it’s rare, and we never see an example. Meanwhile, we see many Aiel men with two or three wives. And I can’t neglect to mention Rand… and Min, and Aviendha, and Elayne! The improbability of four people sharing each other like this is heightened by the fact that Jordan promotes womenfolk as a sort of ‘sisterhood.’ Women in Randland all ‘understand’ each other.
It’s women’s intuition, I guess. But in real life, women are just as human and just as jealous as men, and I can’t see that type of arrangement working very well. To me, the idea of multiple spouses and true love going together is more fanciful than possible. Yes, it might work in a few cases… but it would be just as likely to work with one woman and two or three men.
4.
Why was Birgitte ta’veren (she has the ability to affect the tapestry of fate), while Nynaeve, Elayne, Egwene, Min, and Aviendha are not? The only explanation I can think of is a plot device by the author to heighten the importance of the male characters (Mat, Perrin, and Rand) in contrast to the women. Birgitte was once a legendary archer, and so the spotlight was once on her, but now she has been torn out of the Wheel… and is no longer ta’veren, I assume. Although Birgitte and the other female characters may help save the world, and complete more heroic acts than Mat and Perrin put together, they are not ta’veren. Otherwise they might seem equally important to Mat or Perrin.
5.
Finally, let’s acknowledge the fact that women seem to get stripped naked quite often in the Wheel of Time. Again, there is an imbalance. How often have we seen men naked in Randland?
The larger picture:
As his fans know, Robert Jordan is one of the few authors of any gender in any fictional genre who has the skill and motivation to give us major female characters. He’s not afraid to devote long segments of the story to the adventures of heroines, and he gives them enough personality to keep them interesting. It’s not all about naked scenes for teenage boys to drool over. And in all fairness, there was that segment in A Crown of Swords where Mat was raped by Queen Tylin and then forced to be her sex pet.
Jordan has some very peculiar views about male and female relationships. Some of his ideas seem far removed from reality, and some are almost offensive… but I find most of his opinions to be humorous and interesting. Part of the inherent fun of reading is to catch that glimpse into the secret mind of the author. I can forgive him for a few sentences which may be construed as sexist.
You can email the author of this article at Abby.Goldsmith [at gmail]
Copyright© 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Abby Goldsmith, sffworld.com. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author.
1. I’m not sure you actually read the books. You’re criticisms are flawed in the extreme, and blatantly one-sided. You mention Perrin striking Faile and say, “domestic violence,” and that women in the story were ok with it. Aside from that account, and the one where Mat “spanks” an Aes Sedai woman for trying to slap him, men abusing women physically in the story is rather rare. On the other hand, women physically abusing men in the story is quite commonplace and considered completely acceptable by the majority of the female characters. Rand being taken out of his box to be air-switched at regular intervals is just the most blatant example of many. The abuse of men in the story by women also isn’t just physical, but mental and emotional. The Aes Sedai are the worst offenders. Rand presents one of his Ashaman with a pin, and the Aes Sedai who bonded him (only because Rand commanded him to permit it) takes the pin and says that he can have nothing that doesn’t come from her hand. That’s blatant mental domination, not to mention just cruel. What about when Moiraine knows she’s going to die and sends Lan to another Aes Sedai against his will, who then proceeds to rape him regularly as “therapy” to deal with his mistress’ death? The Aes Sedai in the story frequently look upon men with disdain, and treat their warders as nothing more than pets or slaves. A behavior that is blatantly NOT reciprocated by the Ashaman when they bond Aes Sedai women, despite having generations of justification for exacting some “balance.”
2. Men are stronger individually in the power, yes. Women can link and become stronger than any one man, and links can only be formed by women. There’s your balance. Whole point rendered moot.
3. Polyandry in the story is not limited to the Aiel. You must have glossed over the frequent references to the Aes Sedai marrying their Warders, plural. Some Aes Sedai were also known to simply “use up” men physically and sexually and then simply replace them, basically keeping a stable or harem of Warders for their entertainment and use, the same way a farmer keeps a stock of horses. Granted some of the Aes Sedai were said to love these men and care for them deeply, but just as many were no more attached to them than a shepherd is to his sheep dog.
4. If you had carefully read and understood the story, you would know that the three primary male characters bend fate around them, which is what it means to be ta’veren. Most of the major female characters were swept up by circumstance, and many of their actions and accomplishments were either influenced by, or were the result of, the actions of the three male protagonists. Hence the difference lies in causality. The male ta’veren bent the pattern around them by their actions. The female main characters were the beneficiaries of fortune. For instance, Rand made himself a king by using his inherited power to influence the world around him. Elayne was born a queen and spent much of her time being indignant at Rand for thinking that he could “give” her a throne. Even near the end when she was put in command of the armies, Mat did most of the actual fighting, and all she did was ride around inspiring people with her royal presence. The world was coming to an end and that idiot was worried about Perrin forming a new principality out of a piece of her kingdom that her entire line had neglected for over a century.
5. This has many possibilities. One, it could stem from the fact that the man was writing books for a predominantly straight male audience, who would have little interest in reading about naked men. Two, it could have something to do with the fact that men are less shamed/humiliated by being stripped naked, and therefore that particular “weapon” is used more often against women because it is more effective against women. Keep in mind too, that a good portion of the female nudity was by choice, with them removing their own clothes as parts of ludicrously unnecessary rituals (that they devised).
You try to poke holes in something and I think you, and pretty much everyone else, has missed a much larger and more subtle point that Jordan made. It’s a common myth perpetuated by feminists that a world run by women would be all peaceful and content. Jordan showed a world run by women, and it was anything but peaceful and content. The Aes Sedai, de facto rulers of the world, rather than being a tight sisterhood that listened to each other and nurtured and understood, were a nest of scheming vipers that spent a great deal of their time and effort in overly complex schemes of manipulation and petty bickering. And rather than be kind and nurturing to men, they were condescending and manipulative, treating men like animals, either in the form of beloved pets, beasts of burden, or bugs to be crushed. Suian publicly humiliated her future husband, forcing him to kneel before her, just to prove she was better than him, it was like an example of the whole society. His entire book series was a massive critique of modern feminism, showing how backwards, stagnant, untrusting, scheming, frightening, and abusive the world would be if it were run by women. The Age of Legends was paradise, where men were stronger, yes, but they ruled with their women by their sides, just as it should be.
I’m reading the series for the first time right now (currently on book 8), and it’s gotten to the point where I’ve jokingly renamed the series spank-o-rama. It’s ridiculous, and it’s really ruining the story for me. I just feel like the further along I get into the books the more I’m reading some kind of thinly veiled literotica. Not only does Perrin spank Faile, but Garth Bryne spanks Siuan Sanche, and then she falls in love with him.
Even when Jordan is writing a non-spanking scene there’s still a number of eye roll-inducing moments. Ok, so Rand has not one, not two, but three woman he loves and who love him, and between the three of them they cover all the three basic female stereotypes: we have Elayne, the beautiful princess (she’s the one he would bring home to meet Mom), Aviendha the sexy savage, and Min the loyal buddy who gets all girly for him. Come ON.