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Faramir could have been a daughter.
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Sure, but then he wouldn't have met Frodo, which was an important event. And there also wouldn't have been the whole Denethor sending his son to die thing, which played an important role in the book.
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maybe other generals could have been women
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Oh, sure, if you want to sacrifice some realism for the sake of inclusion.
Notice that Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth and Faramir were not just statesmen- they were warriors who led their men out onto the battlefield and traded blows with orcs and dueled swordsmen. Now, I'm not trying to be sexist in this next part, so I don't even want to hear anything about it, I'm just stating facts- men are going to be your best warriors.
Especially in the case of making generals and lords female- the lords were supposed to be the very top when it came to fighting. Aragorn, Boromir, Faramir, Eomer, and Imrahil were all extraordinarily amazing warriors, the best of the best.
Why are there separate events for men and women at the Olympics? Because even the best women cannot compete with the male athletes. If you'll look at world track records, every single record for young high school boys is better than the woman's world record in the same event. Heck, there've been many years in my tiny little state (where track isn't really a big deal) that the women's Olympic champion wouldn't have even placed in the top three. And again, that's just in my not very populous state. There are many many men in the world who are faster than the fastest woman. There are many many men in the world who are stronger than the strongest woman. The simple fact is, the best of the best in a difficult physical contest (like fighting) are going to be males, thus it would be foolish to have female generals running around in Lord of the Rings.
So please, let's not pretend that it would've been normal or realistic to make Faramir or Imrahil into a woman and yet keep the role the same.