----- Original Message ----- From: "Tig Thomas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Having said all that, I do think Trease falls down horribly on the subject > of girls. I wince every time Bill makes some patronising comment about > girls' fuss and chatter and flutter, and I think he treats Penny abominably > in Black Banner Abroad. Trease's feminism must have come a long time after > his socialism, if at all.
I really enjoyed your comments, Tig. Don't you think the attitude to girls is due to the fact that the stories are narrated by a teenage boy in the first person? In other words that it is part of Trease's character observation rather than an authorial view?! I think the relationship is really very equally handled in most of the historical books, which is a quite difficult thing for a writer of historical fiction given the actual status of girls and women in most historical periods. One of the most interesting comments on women's roles is in Silver Guard, which was written in 1948. It's a sort of post-feminist feminist observation, as it were (by which I mean the more recent trend towards reclaiming the worth of traditional roles for women as well as arguing for women to be treated equally in men's traditional spheres), where the hero makes some slighting comment about running a house and is torn apart by the heroine who points out how complicated and skilled it is. Sally -- ________________________________________ Girlsown mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] For self-administration and access to archives see http://home.it.net.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/girlsown For FAQs see http://www.club-web.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/girlsown/faq-0.htm
