Quote:
sex·ism
Function: noun
Etymology: 1sex + -ism (as in racism)
Date: 1968
1 : prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially : discrimination against women
2 : behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex
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“Sexist”
is a harsh word, and one that I think is unfairly applied to Tolkien, especially considering its connotations of oppression, abusiveness, and domination. If anything, the prof is guilty of over-idealizing his women according to the chivalric tradition.
I think Tolkien gets a bad rap on this whole issue. I have the same reaction when people say that the LotR is an overly-simplistic, black-and-white tale of good vs. evil. Such folks have never plumbed the depths of Denethor’s ambiguity, nor pondered the impulses behind Boromir’s fit of “madness”, nor wondered if Gollum might be redeemable. So, too, critics are apt to write off JRRT’s treatment of women, saying he doesn’t know them, he doesn’t like them, he is mystified by them.
Galadriel, LotR’s most prominent female character (though Éowyn is arguably as significant), is a queen of considerable power whose male consort seems childish and petty by comparison. Is she any less “realistic” than Elrond? Any less remote and aristocratic than Denethor?
Éowyn is headstrong and competent, hardly a retiring stay-at-home-barefoot-and-pregnant figure. I think she’s arguably more complex than Faramir.
Is Ioreth any more of a broadly-stroked comical figure than the Gaffer? Is Lobelia portrayed with less sensitivity than, say, Ted Sandyman?
There are plenty of examples of strong female characters in
The Silmarillion. To say that Lúthien, Melian, et al are mysterious and unknowable – i.e., larger than life – is simply to be disputatious. Like it or hate it, the Sil is what it is – a collection of the myths and legends of Middle-earth’s gods and heroes.
All the characters are larger than life, and all the drama is dialed up to operatic intensity.
Having men consciously keep women out of the mix in warfare or when a dangerous mission is about to be undertaken is hardly a new idea, especially in British literature. Compare Kipling’s dynamic duo Peachy and Danny from
The Man Who Would Be King who draw up a “contrack” between themselves before undertaking the dangerous enterprise of attempting to set themselves up as kings of Kafiristan, the second clause of which reads, “That you and me will not, while this matter is being settled, look at any Liquor, nor any Woman, black, white, or brown, so as to get mixed up with one or the other harmful.” Not because women are intrinsically harmful; on the contrary, as Peachy declares, “We have kept away from the two things that make life worth having.” This retreat into asceticism before setting out to perform a dangerous task is a common motif of myth, so it’s no surprise that we find it in LotR as well.