Game of Thrones

[skrumle]

does anyone watch this? i've seen bits and pieces (maybe 4 different 5-10min segments) and it seems hideously misogynistic... every scene i've seen has either had women fully naked or else exposed in some way in it, whereas only 2 have had men partially exposed (and one scene they were oiled up warriors on horses so hardly equivalent to a woman standing naked before a fully clothed man being "evaluated").

the reason i've seen some of it is because my H has been watching it and he tried to defend it claiming that it's typical HBO, no worse than early seasons of SATC, etc but i disagree completely based on what i've seen - am i wrong, should i actually watch it??

Is a work that is set in a sexist world necessarily a sexist work?

Doesn't it depend on what then happens within the sexist world, how characters are portrayed when they go along with it and when they rebel against it?

If "you created a sexist world therefore your book is sexist" were the rule then that would also apply to A Handmaid's Tale.

Felicitywits - I too have read all the books and have enjoyed every word. Yes he did create the world but it is based on that specific era of history. It is its basis in fact that makes the magic and wonder more believable. For me at least.

In the latter books there really are a few notably strong female characters that successfully rise despite the misogyny of the time.

In the books dynaris (sp - trying to get dd to sleep) is 13/14 when she is married & learns to "please" her husband. The eldest stark girl is waiting on her period to be married off. Imo you just don't need this stuff in a fantasy novel or any novel unless strictly historically accurate. Would it have been any less exciting, interesting or whatever if they had been 18?

It would have been massively less realistic if they had waited til 18 for any of the arranged marriages.

What justification, in this kind of setting, would there be for not marrying off your daughter/sister/political pawn once they had reached heir-producing age?

Because even in medieval times girls typically weren't actually bedded by their husbands at that early age; people recognised that very young brides typically didn't do so well in the heir-producing stakes! The betrothal might well have taken place at a much earlier age, and even the wedding itself, but the consummation was generally kept to a bit later..

The consumations are generally kept. Until the girls have come of age. Ie had their first period and are therefore able to procreate.

It is wince inducing based upon todays standards but the story isn't based within todays societal norms.