Are Tolkiens Books Sexist?

[Lobelia]

I've thought about this quite a bit since I first posted my message here some days ago. I concede (and agree here with Squatter) that yes, we can and do 'identify' with characters in books who are not necessarily at all like us and who may be of the opposite sex. And yes, certainly, in LotR, that's the 4 hobbits. Maybe it's a matter of thinking about what 'identifying' with a character in a book means.

Certainly for me the most intense parts of the book are always those parts of Books 4 and 6 that deal with Sam's and Frodo's journey into and across Mordor. No women figure there at all (except Shelob, I guess). But it's true, that hasn't stopped me from feeling WITH the hobbits, particularly with Sam, and imagining myself into that situation.

Judging from comments elsewhere I'm not the only one to find the relationship between Sam and Frodo particularly compelling. Maybe this is because it's not a conventionally 'macho' relationship but allows for a whole range of emotions, some of which have been traditionally associated with femininity.

I do think that Tolkien was 'sexist', if that word is taken in a crude sense (and it is a crude word, not much nuance there) but that doesn't necessarily tell us anything interesting at all about the book.

Judging from this site and a few others I've visited since I first found this one, LotR has a huge female fanbase -- something which surprised and delighted me!