Opinion and Analysis
23rd May 2012
Gina Goes Pop: The Rise of Fantasy Fiction
Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past couple of months, chances are you’ve at least heard of Game of Thrones. Based upon George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series, the TV show has received critical acclaim, and the books have become bestsellers.
As is natural with a genre receiving new found popularity (think of the rise in YA vampire novels), even more fantasy novels are being produced and gaining popularity. The majority of them are written by men. But why?
Some would argue the ‘masculine’ events depicted in the novels and shows such as war and politics can be more accurately portrayed by a man, though this reeks of sexism and stereotyping for both women and men, suggesting women are either too emotional or unintelligent to write realistic scenes of battle, and that men are unable to write with sensitivity or artistically.
There is a definite place in the market for a prominent woman writer taking on the fantasy genre, which is far more about character experiences than long depictions of war (not that I’m suggesting a woman cannot write about war, but that it would be a rewarding experience for anyone due to the detail and intense plots).
I love Game of Thrones, both the novels and the show, and I’m far from the only woman who does. If we concentrate on both the first novel and the first series, it’s interesting to consider the similarities and the differences between novel and show.
One of the most appealing aspects of the show is how rigidly it sticks to the plot originally composed by Martin, meaning that, in general, people like me who always say that “the book is better than” can’t really complain about plot differences.
The portrayal of women in the books is very interesting. While Sansa, the eldest Stark daughter is probably the single most irritating, ignorant and insipid female character I’ve ever read, she is balanced out by a number of strong, independent and powerful women.
Arya, the youngest girl of the Stark family, dreams not of princes, parties and silk gowns, but enjoys swordplay and the freedom being able to wield a sword provides. While at times overemotional, her determination to learn how to fight and complete commitment to her dreams is beautifully portrayed, and an excellent antidote to her elder sisters sappish behaviour.
Catelyn, mother of the Stark children and wife to Eddard Stark, is another powerful and wonderfully written character that breaks the stereotypical mother role portrayed in many genres. Her emotional attachment to her children is realistic as the chapters written from her perspectives share her thoughts and hopes, but she is not a weak woman solely dedicated to motherhood.
She is an integral part of the politics surrounding war, is not afraid to speak her mind or attack those that threaten those who are dearest to her. Her inclusion in war plans and positive influence over Robb Stark as he leads his men to battle is encouraging, allowing stereotypes to be broken without seeming clumsy or forced.
The most discouraging difference between the books and the show is the amount of nudity and the sexualisation of characters who aren’t really that sexual in the novels. Until the later episodes, when the violence becomes the focus, the amount of boobs in the TV series is quite shocking – it seems like every woman over the age of sixteen is expected to flash at some point during the show.
It strikes me as odd that this is such a prominent part of the show, when there are few sex scenes in the novels themselves. Why did the producers find it necessary to add such a sexual element to around 60% of the women in the show when it takes such a back seat in the novel, especially considering how rigidly they conform to the original plot in all other aspects?
The Guardian Culture section reviews Game of Thrones every week and even has a regular nudity section, such is the prominence of female nudity in the show. This wasn’t something that put me off from reading the books, but I can imagine some people being put off by the oversexualisation and misogynistic characterisation of the women characters.
I can’t come up with an answer for this deviation from the books to the TV shows beyond the idea that sex sells. I could question the fact that there are few, if any, examples of completely naked men, especially men playing characters who are high up in society and respected by other characters, but I don’t have an answer other than one that would completely trash an otherwise brilliant show that I enjoy every week.
The balance between positive portrayal and negative stereotyping is rocky in the TV series, but otherwise fantastic. The novel depicts women across a broad spectrum from pathetic princess to powerful warrior, and while there is little approach to outwardly feminist issues, it could be read in such a light.
But I still want a popular fantasy bestseller written by a woman.
Do you enjoy Game of Thrones or similar fantasy fiction? Am I missing out on a brilliant woman writer of this genre? Does the oversexualisation of characters ruin the show, or does it not matter? Let me know what you think!
Gina Kershaw
There is plenty of fantasy written by women! Ursula Le Guinn for one. Fair enough the most popular modern stuff is predominantly by men. I’m in the fist book of Game of Thrones and so far the sex and nudity (mostly involving Daenerys) is a little indulgent and OTT, but not so much that I would call it misogynistic. I agree that Arya and Catelyn are great portrayals of strong women, and Daenerys has a strength of her own – but a lot of it is based on the strength of the men around her (and that of her unborn child). I shall have to see how to progresses as I read more!
Great article though Gina, well done!
As a newbie to the fantasy fiction world, I’m only ever really aware of the popular books and I’ve only ever come across men, though I’m sure there’s loads of brilliant women writers of the genre! Thanks for pointing out Ursula Le Guinn, I’ll be sure to check out her work. I hope you enjoy the first book, it took over my life for a couple of weeks, so despite the negatives I point out in this article, I really do love the books and show.
To be fair, it’s not just the women who get their tits out. And there were a couple full frontal nude men in the first series.
I can think of maybe a couple of examples off the top of my head with male nudity, I just think in comparison to the amount of boobs, the male nudity is easily forgotten. It doesn’t particularly bother me have lots of nipples on screen, I just don’t understand the need for it!
Game of Thrones is pretty standard liberal/mainstream: let’s not forget that Martin wrote Beauty and the Beast, one of the first genre shows to have a strong female lead (even if she is called Beauty).
For feminist fantasy, I totally second Ursula K. Le Guin. There’s also Tamora Pierce (mainstream-ish) and then brilliant, avowedly feminist writers such as Margo Lanagan (Tender Morsels) and Alison Croggon (Books of Pellinor). They have swords, sorcery AND a lack of gratuitous nudity.
Thanks for these recommendations, I’ll be sure to take a look! I like the female characters Martin writes about, they cover a broad spectrum of women’s personality, there’s only really Sansa who I don’t like but she’s still pretty typical of her age. Thanks for commenting!
I’m only partway through season 1 of Game of Thrones, so I can’t comment as to if they’ve ramped up the nudity more for season 2. I’ve read the first 3 books and enjoyed them. A couple of points:
*HBO is pretty well known for having a higher sex/violence quotient in a lot of their shows (Rome, Deadwood, Boardwalk Empire etc) than most mainstream terrestrial channels. I think the success of their ‘edgier’ content is starting to push other cable channels in this direction– the first season of ‘Spartacus’, Blood and Sand, I think is comparable in terms of nudity. As George RR Martin is involved in the production, I have to assume he’s signed off on whatever changes have been made to his original text.
*For a mainstream fantasy series, I think it has a decent range of female characters. Could it be broader? Of course. Is Sansa annoying as hell? Absolutely. But her characterisation makes the contrast with Arya (who I love and is really well played in the series) all the more apparent. Cersei is one character you didn’t mention, and I think the different sides of her personality have been very well portrayed by Lena Headey. Very much the woman who wishes she’d been born a man so her political ambitions could be fulfilled.
*There was a lot of commentary about Danaerys’s wedding night and how that was changed from the book, and not for the better. Some argued that the depiction of Drogo’s behaviour on screen was more in line with how women have historically been treated, others said that Martin’s more positive depiction of his attitude towards Danaerys and her fears was progressive and should have been kept in.
*For other female fantasy writers, I would recommend a couple of titles by Shari S Tepper–they’re more speculative fiction than traditional fantasy, but the ones I’ve read of hers and liked are ‘The Gate to Women’s Country’, ‘Gibbon’s Decline and Fall’ and ‘Beauty’. Joanna Russ is another author I’ve been meaning to check out, she passed away last year. I’ve just started ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ by Ursula LeGuin and it’s pretty interesting stuff. Margaret Atwood and Joyce Carol Oates have definitely written novels that could fall into the fantasy or speculative fiction genres too.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed response! I can’t say whether or not I’ve seen many programmes produced by HBO before GoT (I generally just watch American comedies) so I couldn’t comment upon that. I totally agree that GoT has a huge range of female characters, more so than most programmes, and I think that’s a fantastic aspect of the series. I saw s01 of GoT before I read the book, and I was shocked by the differences between the TV wedding and the books wedding, I think that the show portrayed what the audience expected to see, though I’m not completely sure of what I think about the differences. And thanks for the suggestions, it seems I’m missing out on a whole range of brilliant fantasy fiction and I’ve now got plenty to add to my reading list!
Not only are there a lot of boobs, but it seems that the sex scenes primarily involve women in ‘doggy’ position (at least in season 1). Something to be said here I think…
Completely agree with this, the sexualisation of most of the women in the series seems to make them more vulnerable which is my biggest problem with the show in that sense, as even otherwise powerful women are cast into this ‘submissive’ role during sex.
Easiest position to film without accidentally flashing something you shouldn’t I should think
Perhaps the reason that there don’t seem to be many female popular fantasy writers out there is that they are not very visible. Several very popular female fantasy writers write under gender-neutral names. This includes J.V. Jones, who is best known from her Book of Words trilogy (full name Julie Victoria Jones). There’s also Robin Hobb, whose Sword of Shadows series has a experienced a popularity equal to George R.R. Martin’s books. Her real name is Margaret Linholm. Interestingly, she pulishes contemporary fantasy under a female pseudonym (albeit one very similar to her real name), as Megan Linholm, but her medieval fantasy books are all produced as ‘Robin Hobb’.
Whether these names are marketing decisions taken by the writer or their publishers, I don’t know.
Thank you for such thought-provoking article.