she was not asking for it

[ellenkushner]

My friend Tempest is a sneaky little devil.  She wrote this gorgeous, thoughtful post about TPOTS and didn't even tell me.  It's part of an essay (yes, I know we say "blogposts" now, but it is an essay) called Portrayals of Rape in Fiction: An Exploration of Where It’s Done Wrong or Right and Why - and if you haven't read the book, it's spoiler-o-rama.  But if you have read The Privilege of the Sword, and are interested in this aspect, you might like to see it, and to join the discussion there.

Sorry if these posts seem more like little press releases, and if I'm not answering all your comments.  I do read with glee.  My new Bordertown story is finally beginning to fall beneath my repeated merciless assaults.  But, phew!  I hope the next one's not like this.....!

Comments

[xanath.livejournal.com]

I haven't read TPOTS yet, but I didn't mind the spoiler. Like the reviewer, I have a strong dislike of using the rape trope to move the plot along, when there's no reason or real justification to have it happen. Just to set up a Big Bad is neither a reason nor a justification. And that's why I think you got it right. Rape isn't used to prove that Ferris is a bad guy; he's a bad guy who acts in character, and for him that includes the rape.

[cassiphone.livejournal.com]

That essay is actually the reason that I finally took PotS off my to read pile and read it! The spoilers didn't hurt it at all, I was actually kind of glad to know ahead of time about that aspect of the story and how it was handled, and there were still *lots* of surprises.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

That's an interesting article: thank you. (I don't agree with her on Life, because, as an academic myself there are aspects to how that played out that are all too real and need flagging up, at least in the UK, but I see why she thinks as she does.)

[miep.livejournal.com]

tempest is so cool.

also, just reread finder. again. I do love me some elves in the city. Can't wait to see what the Btown folks have cooked up.

[ellen-denham.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link--great article. You definitely handled the rape scene well in your book.

It's quite timely for me as I'm considering having the heroine of my current novel-in-progress suffer an attempted rape. In this case, I'm mainly using it to show that she is considered an "uppity woman" in a mostly patriarchal society and this minor antagonist, a man she has to work with, thinks he can put her in her place. (He also has made all sorts of wrong assumptions about What Kind of Woman she is that makes him think she deserves it, but that's a long story.) I think she's actually going to defend herself with a knife or razor and then have to flee because she's afraid she's killed him.

[toctoc.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this--it's a great little essay on a topic that has concerned me much in the past.