The Oxford Dictionary defines feminism as, “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes“.
Add that to fantasy fiction and you get fantasy stories which advocate for women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.
I’ve really enjoyed the rise of the independent, kick-ass fantasy female protagonist. I love Arya Stark (of A Song of Ice and Fire, aka Game of Thrones, fame) so much that I named one of my beloved Bernese Mountain Dogs after her. And I can make a good argument for Princess Leia Organa (Star Wars in case you’ve lived under a rock) being the first true feminist of fantasy. And if she’s not the first, she’s definitely one of the most memorable.
I am the first to admit that I have not read/seen every single fantasy book/film/show with strong female characters. But one thing I have noticed is that the vast majority of strong female leads are still operating within a male-dominated world. That is, they operate within a patriarchal society, where men dominate, and power is passed down the male lines.
A notable exception here is Samantha Shannon’s wonderful book The Priory of the Orange Tree, but it’s fair to say she is an outlier in this regard.
Speaking of outliers, it’s also fair to say that many of these strong, ass kicking female characters are outliers in their own worlds. Why? Because they do not represent the norm in their worlds. They are viewed as unusual, even oddities, for their skills, abilities and drive, all qualities more traditionally associated with men.
The reality is that most fantasy stories are based in medieval style worlds (or at least in low tech worlds) where patriarchal structures rule. And the further we travel into the past, the greater the patriarchal stronghold. A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones) is set in a medieval world, as are both the Wheel of Time and the Lord of the Rings series. John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn Saga is set in a Norse-inspired medieval world, Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow & Bone series is medieval-esque and Sarah J Maas’s phenomenally successful ACOTAR series seems to be set in the past (although how far in the past is difficult to discern). I haven’t read the Stormlight Archives yet, but the title of book 1, The Way of Kings, is a bit of a giveaway as to the story’s patriarchal roots.
Of course we do see ruling Queens from time to time but they generally only rule within the confines of a patriarchal system. In Game of Thrones Cersei Lannister might have been the first Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but she only ascended the throne after she ordered the murder of her own husband, then witnessed her eldest son being poisoned at his own wedding, and endured her youngest throwing himself from the Red Keep after she herself murdered his wife and pretty much everyone else of note in Kings Landing (spoiler alert!)
Also in the Game of Thrones universe, we had Daenerys Targaryen proclaiming herself as the “rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms” but only because she was the “last Targaryen” in a dynasty where power famously passed down male lines. Sansa Stark, who finished the series as Queen in the North, only assumed this title by virtue of her father and his name.
The relevance of all this? High fantasy worlds are traditionally based on medieval societal structures which famously have patriarchy at their core. In certain circumstances women can rise to positions of power, but only within the confines of a patriarchal structure.
So what does all this have to do with anything, in particular with my books, stories and writing? My goal is to write true feminist fantasy, that is, stories where sex and/or gender is not the thing by which we are immediately judged and/or pigeon-holed. Some of my worlds will be places where gender/sex equality is real and ruling, others will be places where women have to fight to overcome stereotypical patriarchal gender-defined roles, and in doing so change the system from within. I even have one story idea where the male power bias is completely flipped and men only have as much power as women do in our current society.
Ultimately my mission is to bring about the downfall of the patriarchy one word at a time. In the process, I hope to empower women all across the world to bust out of their patriarchal prisons and create a world of true equality.
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NB: My desire to write feminist fantasy surfaced AFTER I completed and published Aurora’s story in the Akashic Archives. Readers will notice a distinct shift in the second series set in the same world, where the female protagonist pushes hard against the patriarchal system.
