Helen,
I honestly think that the personnel of a submarine or a unit in the U.S. armed forces does not resemble the Fellowship. Such groups have hundreds or thousands of folk within their ranks who do not know each other in the slightest. They also have an organized hierarchy with every person knowing his exact rank.
Let's take a model which would be much closer to that of the Fellowship. OK, I'm biased since I live in Houston, but, in my mind, that would be the space program. Every shuttle that goes up carries a mixed crew, men and women, all dedicated to one task and working in
very tight quarters for a considerable length of time. Like the Fellowship, these folk's main goal is not to engage in battle but to go on a long and potentially dangerous journey.
While these two are scarcely equivalent, they are a lot closer in spirit and intent than a large modern fighting force would be. No one complains or says that we shouldn't put male and female astronauts together. As far as I know, no missions have been imperilled because of the crew having a mixture of men and women.
Another analogy--the small research crews made up of dedicated men and women who go to the Anarctic for month after month of extreme hardship and danger. Again, no one gripes or expresses concern about some of the participants being women.
I'm with Lush on this one.
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At this point, it is very hard for me to accept any sort of logic behind the explanations as to why there are no females in the Fellowship, unless it addresses Tolkien's personal beliefs and abilites as a writer.
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I do think there are factors within Tolkien's own past, and the society that he lived in, which made it impossible for JRRT to create a felowship with both men and women. But, in my view, there is nothing inherent in the psychology and make-up of men and women on this earth that would preclude such an option on those grounds alone.
It seems to be that we're also dealing with cultural factors here. Helen, your assumption and presumably that of the military is that all personal ties must be pummelled out of the soldiers. But, historically, this has not always been true. In ancient Greece, and certain other cultures, the military leaders were pleased when the men under their command developed lasting bonds with each other. They felt this would make the men more likely to risk their lives and perform brave deeds for each other.
Believe me, I am happy the way Tolkien depicted the fellowship, but it's not the only possible model that could be followed.
sharon, the 7th age hobbit
[ March 26, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]