Is Tolkien Sexist? Go Not to the Elves.

[martasfic]

I spent the better part of today writing out a "meta" (fan-essay) looking at the charge that Tolkien was sexist because the Fellowship and Thorin's company are all-male. I talked about gender among the Valar (looking at Yavanna/Aule, Uinen/Osse, and general descriptions from the Ainulindale), the Elves (looking at Aredhel, Galadriel, and general statements in LACE), and the Men (looking at Haleth, Tar-Zimraphel, and Eowyn). My conclusion is pretty much what the title implies: yes but also no, leaning heavily in the latter direction.

I'll probably write a more cleaned-up, less slangy version and post it at AO3 at some point, but in the meantime feel free to read it at

http://marta-bee.tumblr.com/post/109174369153/is-tolkien-sexist-go-not-to-the-elves

Also, dawn_felagund or rhapsody11, would SWG be interested in hosting a more formal version of this in the resource section? It's quite Silm-heavy, so if you want it, let me know.

Comments

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

I thought this was an interesting study. I would have liked to see Elwing and Luthien included as well as the timeline to when certain things were being written. The Hobbit was in the 1930s in the thick of male chauvinism whereas each successive book goes a bit better for women which mirrors the world around him.

While Luthien's story is the oldest and modeled after his wife, the other stories in The Silmarillion were constantly being rewritten and do have more of a '60s feeling than the other two books. You spoke on that a little by saying how it's the book with the best females.

I was a little pleased that Peter Jackson included people of color in the last two films. The main drawback to having a land that's supposed to be the predecessor to ancient England is all Caucasians, but at the same time, I do wonder if that would have changed if situations were different or he lived longer. As it was, he wouldn't have had close acquaintances with people of color since Britain's class system wouldn't have encouraged it or allowed many of them to become university professors. Even South Africa was unofficially under apartheid when he lived there.