And I can buy that, which is why I'm surprised at how many claimed they were inaccurate. Seriously,
newyorkersedai Send a noteboard - 26/07/2011 01:44:28 AM
Marriage is an art. The Two Rivers women have it going on.
Because as much as I think that people are people, guess what? When a romantically-involved woman does something that involves sacrifice for you on her part, just f'ing accept. Trying to make things easy on her or take care of yourself will turn you into a bad guy.
Also: don't underestimate what a woman will forgive, or what she'll let pass by with less reaction that a man would, men often need to feel more important or in control than they are, and are often so proud/headstrong, that they will run themselves into the ground instead of taking advice or help.
In some ways, RJ's commentary on the sexes was focused more on what may seem like zingers on women's behavior. He says a lot of things about men too, and he really did a lot in the early books to give the women a share equal to the men's.
The characters he gave us were flawed in their own ways - Faile's high expectations and combination openness/secretiveness, Nynaeve's need for control, and Elayne's intellectual shallowness. I suppose that feminine aspects of them are put to the forefront, but they are all operating under their own baggage and imperfections.
The men, too, are far from ideal: in particular, Rand's a control-freak who tends to "handle" people (esp. women) that come into his life, while Perrin also gets caught up in his own thoughts, but more "passively." The guys are often brash despite their inexperience, prone to acting stupidly from anger or wounded pride, and tend to lack both solid decision-making skills and the ability to ask for help. And they also drop their guard completely when a woman (esp if she's attractive) asks for help.
Neither gender is free from fault, much less "prone-to" faults like the gender stereotyping that you can say occurs in WoT. If you ever played an rpg game, you know that "wizard" = physically weak, and "drawf" = "strong but slow." They're not always true, but... I tend not to take the imperfections of specific roles (Faile, Tallanvor) as part of Jordan's broader (and more direct) comments.
RJ had a lifetime of experience with women who were "free to be women" (growing up in an all-female household) and men who were "free to be men" (2-3 tours in Vietnam, attending the Citadel). He had ages to observe the sexes, individually and together. And please note that his interests including pool, pipe collecting, and reviewing ballet. This isn't Berlusconi that we're talking about; I think RJ's yin and yang were closely-aligned. I think it tends to show here, whatever the series' main protagonist.
Like saidin and saidar, or TP and OP, each side has predictable tendencies. Everyone has their own quirks and their own balance, it's true. I swear, tho, I'll warn my young nephews against letting a woman worry about you, then finding out it was nothing...
This message last edited by newyorkersedai on 26/07/2011 at 02:04:09 AM
What;s your favorite RJ comment on the sexes?
06/07/2011 02:04:56 AM
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Women cannot admit they were wrong and will partner up with their worst enemy against a man over it.
07/07/2011 12:20:16 AM
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I remember a thread started by Phil Reborn long ago...
07/07/2011 05:21:12 AM
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Oh, heaven, I've been there!
08/07/2011 12:04:35 AM
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what you've never heard of "bros before hos"?
08/07/2011 08:03:47 PM
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Agreed
08/07/2011 11:38:59 PM
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That's not exactly what the incident was about.
10/07/2011 07:29:14 PM
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Yes, and the way Egwene expressed her thoughts on the matter is quite disturning too
11/07/2011 12:56:59 AM
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That wasn't what I was refering to
12/07/2011 07:26:59 PM
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certainly not by today's standards, but to play devil's advocate here...
12/07/2011 09:04:07 PM
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I don't think any of his comments on the sexes are accurate for real people
07/07/2011 02:53:29 PM
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I largely disagree
07/07/2011 11:59:52 PM
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It depends on who the 6 women and his dual girlfriends were.
08/07/2011 03:15:14 PM
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Agreed
08/07/2011 07:46:30 PM
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*NM*
08/07/2011 09:18:44 PM
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Hi fionwe1987! *NM*
08/07/2011 11:36:48 PM
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Hi! The reason I rolled my eyes...
09/07/2011 06:31:20 AM
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Yes! I agree!
09/07/2011 02:30:21 PM
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Re: Hi! The reason I rolled my eyes...
09/07/2011 07:42:48 PM
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Re: Hi! The reason I rolled my eyes...
10/07/2011 07:35:37 PM
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that's not why stereotypes exist
09/07/2011 04:18:45 AM
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whether positive or negative, stereotypes all come from the same place
12/07/2011 04:29:23 AM
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Cosmopolitan = artificial and unnatural; Your situation is the aberration - his is more the norm *NM*
13/07/2011 01:09:00 AM
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Re: Cosmopolitan = artificial and unnatural; Your situation is the aberration - his is more the norm
16/07/2011 01:02:37 PM
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You have to make sure your husbands do what you want, while making them think it was their idea.
21/07/2011 04:28:39 AM
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And I can buy that, which is why I'm surprised at how many claimed they were inaccurate. Seriously,
26/07/2011 01:44:28 AM
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