Adapted from a thread on Bluesky
I have this complex love-hate relationship with GoT/ASoIaF; I love the characters and some of the worldbuilding, but the brutality and sheer misogyny of Westeros really wear me down.
I’m not saying GRRM is sexist or even that the books are. While there are a few cringy men-writing-women scenes, the actual themes are more positive. It was pretty clear to me that the Seven Kingdoms are not a nice place and you aren’t supposed to think they are.
(It does get pretty tiring reading the umpteenth passage of “Lady Alice of House Maison was forbidden from doing anything interesting because she was a girl” or actual sexual violence though)
That said, the defaultism of the fandom does bother me. The logic goes something like:
- It’s meant to be a realistic parallel of medieval Europe
- Medieval Europe was awful for women
- Therefore it only makes sense that Westeros is a sexist nightmare
(what irks me other than it just being a poor if not outright tautological argument is that it drowns out more interesting, nuanced discussion)
But there’s an implication here that realism is inherently good, or even that it’s the only acceptable option. That a fantasy world should model history as closely as possible, and thus a fantasy world should be a nightmare.
One of the best lessons I ever learned was that realism is not inherently good. If it doesn’t serve the story- or the gameplay, as I originally heard this in the context of video games- it’s better to break from reality.
The world of ice and fire could have been built any way the author wanted. There are other arguments that posit that it’s built this way to tell certain stories and convey certain themes. (IIRC this is GRRM’s position, more or less)
That’s a good argument, far better than “because realism”.
At the end of the day, though, Westeros being a misogynistic nightmare with everyday cruelty and a brutal magic system is a creative choice. It’s not inherently better or worse. GRRM has the right to build the world he wants. And I, the audience, have the right to dislike it, or aspects of it.
(I am irked by the lack of “no sexism” and “conventional high fantasy” AU fics, though, come on, the RWBY fandom has “what the trailers implied” as a whole ass subgenre)