yet it doesn't present loss of power over self as desirable at all.
Nope, haven't read it -- though it sounds familiar. Might've read it as a kid, but then, I read so much as a kid that sometimes now it all runs together. (I've always been one for devouring stories, very fast.) Thing is, if a story has a male protagonist, it's nearly always that loss of power over self is undesirable -- it's only women who get the trope that if you keep power for yourself, it becomes a source of evil, and that the only way to keep from being evil is to give up that power into a husband's hands.
A lot of the stories -- getting away from fairy tales -- that are supposedly about 'strong historical women' follow this same trope. Ah, she's so amazing, she sacrificed so much for her country / her children / her husband / her whatever. Always sacrifice, and seems like outside of the romance "give it to the man" routine, the other option is "destroy it for the sake of ____".
Things like this, sadly, end up making me even more cynical when it comes to stories that so many people love. I keep wanting to say, "but look at what's underneath! yeah, sure, she sacrificed for her children, but can't there be a story out there where she can be happy AND powerful (and have the audience's respect) without having to destroy herself in the process?"
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Date: 25 Nov 2010 10:36 am (UTC)Nope, haven't read it -- though it sounds familiar. Might've read it as a kid, but then, I read so much as a kid that sometimes now it all runs together. (I've always been one for devouring stories, very fast.) Thing is, if a story has a male protagonist, it's nearly always that loss of power over self is undesirable -- it's only women who get the trope that if you keep power for yourself, it becomes a source of evil, and that the only way to keep from being evil is to give up that power into a husband's hands.
A lot of the stories -- getting away from fairy tales -- that are supposedly about 'strong historical women' follow this same trope. Ah, she's so amazing, she sacrificed so much for her country / her children / her husband / her whatever. Always sacrifice, and seems like outside of the romance "give it to the man" routine, the other option is "destroy it for the sake of ____".
Things like this, sadly, end up making me even more cynical when it comes to stories that so many people love. I keep wanting to say, "but look at what's underneath! yeah, sure, she sacrificed for her children, but can't there be a story out there where she can be happy AND powerful (and have the audience's respect) without having to destroy herself in the process?"