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ah, domesticity
Jan. 19th, 2008 08:46 pmI want to write a fantasy novel about a pregnant lady going off to rescue her husband, because he's been kidnapped by monsters or pirates or something. And since no one else is around to take care of their other three kids, she drags them along too. The older kid looks out for the younger ones, they have all sorts of crazy adventures, and instead of fighting shit (on account on being pregnant and whatnot), the mom has to use her smarts to keep them out of trouble. And in the end, they kick all sorts of ass, rescue the husband, and save the day. It'd be awesome.
I think I'm tired of novels where the family unit is treated like a bad thing. OMG, the hero or heroine's parents are, like, soooooo unfair, so he or she runs away to have AWESOME ADVENTURES. SANS FAMILY. Or the family is killed off to provide a tragic backstory. Or sibling rivalry leads the villian to get all butthurt and turn to the dark side. You hardly ever see pregnant heroines, and women are either supposed to stay at home and be domestic, or they get to go out and wear chainmail and seduce barbarian warlords or...whatever. They never get to be domestic and kick ass, which is sad when you think about it. Having a family shouldn't preclude a character from being an ass-kicking heroine, or vice versa.
As always, Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels do a fairly good job of avoiding this issue, but I can't think of too many other books that do. If anyone can think of any, let me know. I'll be over here writing about a little pregnant lady angrily scolding a would-be bandit after her 11-year-old daughter beaned him upside the head with a skillet.
I think I'm tired of novels where the family unit is treated like a bad thing. OMG, the hero or heroine's parents are, like, soooooo unfair, so he or she runs away to have AWESOME ADVENTURES. SANS FAMILY. Or the family is killed off to provide a tragic backstory. Or sibling rivalry leads the villian to get all butthurt and turn to the dark side. You hardly ever see pregnant heroines, and women are either supposed to stay at home and be domestic, or they get to go out and wear chainmail and seduce barbarian warlords or...whatever. They never get to be domestic and kick ass, which is sad when you think about it. Having a family shouldn't preclude a character from being an ass-kicking heroine, or vice versa.
As always, Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels do a fairly good job of avoiding this issue, but I can't think of too many other books that do. If anyone can think of any, let me know. I'll be over here writing about a little pregnant lady angrily scolding a would-be bandit after her 11-year-old daughter beaned him upside the head with a skillet.
