Women can be sexists, too

And entertaining ones, at that! There's nothing wrong with being a feminist, but when women go too far in stereotyping men in conformation with their low opinion of them, it becomes rather hard to keep a straight face.

No, I haven't really met anyone who is as bad as what I've described above, or at least if I have, they've kept their opinions to themselves in my presence. What triggered this is this book: Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon. I was hunting for new fantasy authors, having come near exhausting all the books by my current favourites, and picked this one because it had good reviews.

The book does not have a heroine. It has a super-heroine. After getting "remade in fire" in an incident at one point of the story, she becomes ultra-beautiful, so drop-dead gorgeous that men propose to her on sight. And yet, she is so modest that she doesn't realize she has that kind of effect on men. What's more, she has a magical voice that can make a withered rose bloom, and she's no slouch with the sword either.

Well, there's nothing wrong with having superheros or superheroines in a fantasy novel. But what really cracked me up was that the author brings out every possible type of stereotyped male shortcoming in her other characters. For example:

Men are amoral. Not only are the villains ruthless in this book, so are the heros. They have no respect for human life in their quests, even though the ultimate objective may be noble. Rhapsody, of course, is the feminine influence who instils morals in them, and teaches them to respect life and dignity.

Men have huge egos. Rhapsody goes as an ambassador to a prince, who refuses to acknowledge the sovereignty of the nation she represents... because they sent a beautiful female ambassador, more than any other practical reason. And then he sends a small army to prove his superiority, and catch her attention. And gets thoroughly walloped on the battlefield, naturally.

Men think dirty thoughts. Men are always salivating over Rhapsody. Some even have vivid sexual daydreams. Apart from her adopted brothers, every man - even a sworn celibate priest - desires her.

Ah well. Thank God for authors like Ursula Le Guin and Janny Wurts who give women a good name in the field of fantasy fiction in general. The stamp of female authors is that they build depth into their characters by bringing out their feelings, emotions and sensitivity - or lack thereof - much better than male authors can. Male authors on the other hand are much better at bringing out the strengths and weaknesses in their characters at a non-emotional level (I don't want to get started on aspects of the story other than the characters). Unsurprisingly, when a famous male author and a famous female author write together, the result is usually magnificent (Example: Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts; Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis).

Although Elizabeth Haydon goes overboard with her feminity, she does weave a good tale and builds a rich and magical realm. I see a lot of potential in her work, and I'm willing to give her the benefit of doubt. I will read the rest of the series, for the sake of the story even if not much else...

Cheers,
Prashanth.