[Pitchwife]

Bêthberry, hat is very much the impression I got as well, and many of the objections against warrior-Galadriel remind me a lot of the irate protests when the BBC cast Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor a few years ago. It's the same discussion still going on.

However, I feel bound to play devil's advocate for a bit and point out that if the question is women's agency, then putting a weapon in a character's hand is just one way of showing agency, and not even a particularly imaginative one. For example, Lúthien is as active and self-determined a character as they come and certainly did more to ensure the success of the quest for the silmaril than Beren accomplished himself, but she managed all that without using a physical weapon. It seems to me many critics of warrior-Galadriel (certainly those I've seen posting on the Downs) would have been fine with a more Lúthien-like Galadriel using magic instead of a sword - which would also have been truer to what we read about her in LotR and the Silmarillion.


So what's the problem? It seems it's fine for a woman to be badass as long as she does it within the parameters of traditional gender roles where it's men who are tough, physical, aggressive, whereas women are sensitive, spiritual, caring (and let's not forget sexy! The Lay of Leithian has some downright creepy verses in the passage where Lúthien stands before Morgoth). The problem with 'ackshun gurls' is that they're perceived to be usurping a role and behaviour previously reserved for men (similar to how Jodie Whittaker was perceived to usurp the hitherto male role of the Doctor) - so if you're a guy and have hitherto defined yourself all your life by conforming (or at least trying to conform) to the male gender role described above, but now all of a sudden women do all that too, what have you got left? That is the part that hurts, the part where you lash out.



To be clear, I don't think presenting Galadriel as a swordswoman was a stellar decision on the makers' part - it's a rather lazy visual shorthand for agency, and it seems like they felt they needed to have their own Brienne to keep up with Game of Thrones; but it doesn't bother me, and I think there are worse problems with RoP's writing of Galadriel - like, what in the name of diplomacy did she think she was going to accomplish by being all haughty and lick my boots (oh wait I'm barefoot) with Míriel? Shouldn't Finrod's sister have been a little more sympathetic towards mortals?