These other books seem to dismiss the other women doing all the embroidering because it's so boring and all they ever do is gossip.
I hate that stereotype by now. I think I didn't care so much in books, but fanfic has utterly ruined it for me. I can't take any ATLA fic seriously that has either Mai or Katara being compared to shallow, conniving, vain society bitches. Like I'm supposed to believe that a group of 12 women, even rich women, are ALL shallow, vain, and money-grubbing husband hunters? Who will all absolutely despise the new princess out of jealousy? Bahhh.
I think sometimes in an author's haste to provide a really strong female character, she ignores all the wonderful chances for subtlety that were, in fact, what most women had to deal in.
Books and fics that do this often impress me. I feel like the conventions of historical fantasy fiction, particularly with royalty or noble class, have these preconceived patterns that focus on shallow stereotypes, particularly ones that contrast one woman against a group of others (often the male's love interest.) This is why I have this intense interest (as yet undeveloped) in the Joo Dee group in Ba Sing Se, in ATLA. I mean, BSS is such a male city, from the king to Long Feng to the Dai Li, that I just wonder what all the women are up to.
I've only read QoA, not the third book. But I loved Attolia as a character for the reasons you describe here. I particularly loved how there's hints throughout both books that the women have things in common, yet live different lives, but they're able to come together as female rulers--very different types of rulers from very different nations--who can be allies, maybe someday friends. And when they join up, they're so professional. They talk about their kingdoms and their troops and their jobs and they worry about holding vs. sharing power and they're not made into stereotypes of young girls.
And they can do that while one is an unconventional "rough" person and one a traditionally female "pretty" person...yet both are so much more.
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I hate that stereotype by now. I think I didn't care so much in books, but fanfic has utterly ruined it for me. I can't take any ATLA fic seriously that has either Mai or Katara being compared to shallow, conniving, vain society bitches. Like I'm supposed to believe that a group of 12 women, even rich women, are ALL shallow, vain, and money-grubbing husband hunters? Who will all absolutely despise the new princess out of jealousy? Bahhh.
I think sometimes in an author's haste to provide a really strong female character, she ignores all the wonderful chances for subtlety that were, in fact, what most women had to deal in.
Books and fics that do this often impress me. I feel like the conventions of historical fantasy fiction, particularly with royalty or noble class, have these preconceived patterns that focus on shallow stereotypes, particularly ones that contrast one woman against a group of others (often the male's love interest.) This is why I have this intense interest (as yet undeveloped) in the Joo Dee group in Ba Sing Se, in ATLA. I mean, BSS is such a male city, from the king to Long Feng to the Dai Li, that I just wonder what all the women are up to.
I've only read QoA, not the third book. But I loved Attolia as a character for the reasons you describe here. I particularly loved how there's hints throughout both books that the women have things in common, yet live different lives, but they're able to come together as female rulers--very different types of rulers from very different nations--who can be allies, maybe someday friends. And when they join up, they're so professional. They talk about their kingdoms and their troops and their jobs and they worry about holding vs. sharing power and they're not made into stereotypes of young girls.
And they can do that while one is an unconventional "rough" person and one a traditionally female "pretty" person...yet both are so much more.