Calling all women

[Mithalwen]

Cailin has made some good points.

I also think that the fact that most of the characters are non-human minimises the gender thing. Bilbo child sized and slightly childlike as he ventures into the wider world but he is not a little boy. So even though on mature reflection the thing could have been subtitled if not the Hemingwayan " men without women" then "males without females" I don't think I even noticed as a child.

However, I do find it depressing that people who have presumably to some extent chosen to study Literature have not got the self discipline to get through the Hobbit. I mean I am never going to be a Dickens fan but I did my penance of 50-100 pages a day when I had to.... I used to find that I would quite enjoy the last 200 pages having slogged through the first 700......

[mark12_30]

The obligatory two kopecks:

I'm a tomboy. Tea parties don't interest me much. Dolls gag me or scare me; sometimes both. Riding through the wild, though, in a tattered old cloak, and singing songs-- now that's a good time. Tiptoeing quietly through the woods unheard, or invisible, and meeting elves and dragons is even better.

Having said all that-- Fordim, I can't help you much, because when I consider your diilemma I scratch my head and wonder, <<begin brief rant>> what is WRONG with you chicks? Can't you see beyond the gender of the participants into the abstraction of what is going on? Does it HAVE to be about skirts versus pants to make it interesting? How about right versus wrong, truth versus lies, life versus death???

Sorry. I'll get off of my soap box now. <<End rant.>> Good luck, Fordie. Let us know how it goes.

PS. My fourth grade teacher read it to the class. Big hit. She also read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte's Web, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, James and the Giant Peach... I've forgotten a few others. Cool teacher.

PPS. Rereading this post makes me laugh. I've been trying to have a (hobbit-style?) tea- party for, oh, ten years now. Never happens. Somehow I'd rather go hiking or mountain-biking. Not that I don't love my girlfriends; oh no. But how about a bike ride instead of the social scene? See you at the trailhead...

[The Saucepan Man]

The results of my own very unscientific research. Make of it what you will ...

I took my 7 year old daughter to see the new Harry Potter film today. On leaving the cinema, I asked her who her favourite character was.

"Hermione," she said without hesitation.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because she's a girl," she replied.

Being immediately reminded of this thread, I tried a few other books and films.

Her immediate response to the same question asked in relation to the Faraway Tree books (which we have read recently) was Silky, the Fairy (one of the few female characters amongst the folk of the Faraway Tree). After some thought, however, she changed her decision to the Saucepan Man - "Because he's funny".

Her favourite character in Shrek was Princess Fiona - and Donkey (the latter, again, because he's funny).

As for the LotR films (we have not read the book together yet), her answer was "Shadowfax", followed by "No, Arwen".

I also recall that, when we went to see The Invincibles, her favourite character was Violet, the daughter of the family.

"Would you enjoy a story if it had no girls in it?" I asked her.

"No," she replied adamantly.

"But you enjoyed The Hobbit, didn't you? That doesn't have any girls in it."

"It has a girl in it at the end."

"Who's that?" I asked, finding it difficult to imagine that she was referring to Lobelia.

"Oh, I don't know ..." she replied.

To be fair, it is some 2 years since we read The Hobbit together, and she certainly enjoyed it at the time. I'm planning on reading it again soon to her and her 5 year old brother. We shall see whether she enjoys it as much now ...

As I said, make of this what you will.