jhkim (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jhkim) wrote,@ 2006-01-09 00:04:00 |
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About "A Brother's Price"
So I'm talking about Wen Spencer's "A Brother's Price" here, and I'd like to talk about what I like about it.
What I enjoy most is its positive approach. While it borrows and reverses many tropes from historical romance, it is not a simple indictment or parody of that genre. Rather, it positively constructs a related genre -- which builds on traditional romances, but differs in many ways.
Many times, role-reversal is negative and/or deconstructionist. The story has no power of its own, but rather simply serves to point back at the original stories. Done poorly, gender role-reversal can be a simple tract against the sexism in other stories -- pretending it can "get back" at men by oppressing fictional male characters. The story is the gender role-reversal, with no purpose beyond its single gimmick. Once you've seen one of these, you've seen them all.
In contrast, A Brother's Price is extremely forgiving of the sexism in its characters. Its plotline is not directly about gender, but rather a story of class differences. What's intriguing and subversive is that it presents a very conservative view. It praises the practicality, staunch militarism, and old-fashioned family values of the Whistler family -- contrasted with the frivolous higher nobility. It is a story where the protagonist finds happiness and power in his traditional role. It is not a one-sided indictment of real historical or modern society. Rather, it is a study in how gender roles are socially constructed, by presenting a story which uses gender role-reversal rather than being gender role-reversal.
What I want is more stories like this. There are as many potential stories with reversed or altered gender roles as there are with traditional gender roles. We should have a dozen more novels to explore this genre and its possibilities. While some people may react "Why have another story with role reversal?" -- my reaction is "Why don't we have more stories with role reversal?"
So I'm talking about Wen Spencer's "A Brother's Price" here, and I'd like to talk about what I like about it.
What I enjoy most is its positive approach. While it borrows and reverses many tropes from historical romance, it is not a simple indictment or parody of that genre. Rather, it positively constructs a related genre -- which builds on traditional romances, but differs in many ways.
Many times, role-reversal is negative and/or deconstructionist. The story has no power of its own, but rather simply serves to point back at the original stories. Done poorly, gender role-reversal can be a simple tract against the sexism in other stories -- pretending it can "get back" at men by oppressing fictional male characters. The story is the gender role-reversal, with no purpose beyond its single gimmick. Once you've seen one of these, you've seen them all.
In contrast, A Brother's Price is extremely forgiving of the sexism in its characters. Its plotline is not directly about gender, but rather a story of class differences. What's intriguing and subversive is that it presents a very conservative view. It praises the practicality, staunch militarism, and old-fashioned family values of the Whistler family -- contrasted with the frivolous higher nobility. It is a story where the protagonist finds happiness and power in his traditional role. It is not a one-sided indictment of real historical or modern society. Rather, it is a study in how gender roles are socially constructed, by presenting a story which uses gender role-reversal rather than being gender role-reversal.
What I want is more stories like this. There are as many potential stories with reversed or altered gender roles as there are with traditional gender roles. We should have a dozen more novels to explore this genre and its possibilities. While some people may react "Why have another story with role reversal?" -- my reaction is "Why don't we have more stories with role reversal?"
