High-born and rather full of himself, at least in Shadow Dragon
George comes across poorly in Shadow Dragon, I agree. FE3 and the designers' notes give him the depth and appeal he has. But, given his backstory, he would seem to be the kind of person to denigrate a large swathe of society-- nobles in particular, empty-headed golddiggers and all. And that kind of class bias can be just as irrational as gender bias.
And, to be honest, if it was a "trait of the times," I would still have expected it to show up in Marth, Abel, Merric, and Jeorge to some extent
Mm, I'd say the gender bias undercurrent is there in "Distant Light" (both in the chapter that's posted and the two I'm still polishing). And many, many characters display a negativity toward the Macedonians that stems, in part, from the simple fact that the Macedonian army is largely composed of young girls in short skirts. I don't know; I've thought that I've been pretty blunt about the bigoted nature of the Archanean world in my writings, but there can certainly be a disconnect between what an writer intends and what a reader gets out of it.
Cain's closing comment isn't nice, but neither are the facts on the ground in FE3: half a dozen virtuous and capable women hand over all authority to a teenaged boy because he'll be better at their jobs than they could ever be. Given that situation, some doubt in the equality of females when it comes to the civic/military sphere is, in my opinion, understandable. Females are allowed to exist on a pedestal of spiritual authority, where they can care for orphans or play some other nurturing role, but they don't get to rule. That I have Cain expressing that particular doubt isn't intended as a slight against him so much as it expresses the extent to which he's engaged in that civic/military sphere (whereas Abel divorces himself from it and gives in to more private obsessions).
They also live in a society that decries rape but tolerates it as long as the perpetrator is high-ranking enough (Jiol, Lang and friends). It's just not a very nice place overall, and I'd rather confront that tension than shy away from it.
no subject
George comes across poorly in Shadow Dragon, I agree. FE3 and the designers' notes give him the depth and appeal he has. But, given his backstory, he would seem to be the kind of person to denigrate a large swathe of society-- nobles in particular, empty-headed golddiggers and all. And that kind of class bias can be just as irrational as gender bias.
And, to be honest, if it was a "trait of the times," I would still have expected it to show up in Marth, Abel, Merric, and Jeorge to some extent
Mm, I'd say the gender bias undercurrent is there in "Distant Light" (both in the chapter that's posted and the two I'm still polishing). And many, many characters display a negativity toward the Macedonians that stems, in part, from the simple fact that the Macedonian army is largely composed of young girls in short skirts. I don't know; I've thought that I've been pretty blunt about the bigoted nature of the Archanean world in my writings, but there can certainly be a disconnect between what an writer intends and what a reader gets out of it.
Cain's closing comment isn't nice, but neither are the facts on the ground in FE3: half a dozen virtuous and capable women hand over all authority to a teenaged boy because he'll be better at their jobs than they could ever be. Given that situation, some doubt in the equality of females when it comes to the civic/military sphere is, in my opinion, understandable. Females are allowed to exist on a pedestal of spiritual authority, where they can care for orphans or play some other nurturing role, but they don't get to rule. That I have Cain expressing that particular doubt isn't intended as a slight against him so much as it expresses the extent to which he's engaged in that civic/military sphere (whereas Abel divorces himself from it and gives in to more private obsessions).
They also live in a society that decries rape but tolerates it as long as the perpetrator is high-ranking enough (Jiol, Lang and friends). It's just not a very nice place overall, and I'd rather confront that tension than shy away from it.