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beccaelizabethSo I started reading Dune
because when I looked at that whole section of shelf I was just, like, ugh
but it has been a while since I read them.
But then the setup is that there's this whole order of knowledgeable powerful women with pretty much superpowers and did I mention power? But what is their whole goal?
To make a guy with the powers
who can really show them how it's done.
Ugh.
And I mean, it's an interesting and vivid 'verse so far, got layers, has actual plural women, they even have significant conversations together, it Bechdel passes so much better than the stack of books I've read recently, it has many good points, and I know many people kind of worship the things...
... but ugh.
I just don't want to like them, somehow.
So if I don't like it by the end of the book, all the Dune books are going, no problem
somebody somewhere will read them.
But, like, why so ugh? When I am identifying good points?
I don't know.
Though I already find it tedious that women are only women if there's a reason to be women. Like, there's a scene with random soldiers, introduced as soldiers, no pronouns. So naturally I imagine a mixed group. But no, because the next thing said about them is that they'll want to know if 'their women' got there safe, and that the planet has more women than men.
... ugh?
And Lady Jessica has many good points but thus far she has mostly been fussing about how her Duke won't marry her, and she never gets invited to meetings, which don't have any women at them.
How does space future have such garbage background sexism?
Like every time I think a crowd scene has women in it the story just shuts down that possibility.
Also I'm already epic tired of this Chosen One bullshit narrative. Being a good Duke isn't about being secretly the first boy bene gesserit and a super special mentat and the smartest guy in the room. Being a good leader is about assembling a bunch of people who individually excel in their specialities, and preferably are far better than you at them, but you have the knack of making their work fit together towards a common goal. You don't need to be super special, let alone all the kinds of special at once. You just need to know what your people want and how to organise them to get it.
It's like the book is one giant :eyeroll: but wrapped in some actually good writing?
Ugh.
because when I looked at that whole section of shelf I was just, like, ugh
but it has been a while since I read them.
But then the setup is that there's this whole order of knowledgeable powerful women with pretty much superpowers and did I mention power? But what is their whole goal?
To make a guy with the powers
who can really show them how it's done.
Ugh.
And I mean, it's an interesting and vivid 'verse so far, got layers, has actual plural women, they even have significant conversations together, it Bechdel passes so much better than the stack of books I've read recently, it has many good points, and I know many people kind of worship the things...
... but ugh.
I just don't want to like them, somehow.
So if I don't like it by the end of the book, all the Dune books are going, no problem
somebody somewhere will read them.
But, like, why so ugh? When I am identifying good points?
I don't know.
Though I already find it tedious that women are only women if there's a reason to be women. Like, there's a scene with random soldiers, introduced as soldiers, no pronouns. So naturally I imagine a mixed group. But no, because the next thing said about them is that they'll want to know if 'their women' got there safe, and that the planet has more women than men.
... ugh?
And Lady Jessica has many good points but thus far she has mostly been fussing about how her Duke won't marry her, and she never gets invited to meetings, which don't have any women at them.
How does space future have such garbage background sexism?
Like every time I think a crowd scene has women in it the story just shuts down that possibility.
Also I'm already epic tired of this Chosen One bullshit narrative. Being a good Duke isn't about being secretly the first boy bene gesserit and a super special mentat and the smartest guy in the room. Being a good leader is about assembling a bunch of people who individually excel in their specialities, and preferably are far better than you at them, but you have the knack of making their work fit together towards a common goal. You don't need to be super special, let alone all the kinds of special at once. You just need to know what your people want and how to organise them to get it.
It's like the book is one giant :eyeroll: but wrapped in some actually good writing?
Ugh.
no subject
Date: 2016-03-03 07:01 am (UTC)Looking at it through the lens of feminism, yes it's... lacking. However, stick with it. It does interesting things with the whole 'Chosen One' stuff, and I believe that the series as a whole uses the Bene Gesserit much better than the initial story would suggest. (I've only read the first two books - the first one repeatedly, because I adore it, but I didn't like the second one so stopped. Also the local library didn't have any more... Which shows you how long ago it was.)
no subject
Date: 2016-03-03 04:00 pm (UTC)I did not like your favourite book :-(
What did you find interesting about the 'Chosen One' stuff?
no subject
Date: 2016-03-03 06:27 pm (UTC)And re. the Chosen One stuff then it's the fact that he can't control it. It's bigger than him, and he gets used by it. It's not a happy ending.