E. J. Beaton on writing a gender-equal fantasy novel

E. J. Beaton is the author of the fantasy novel The Councillor, out now from DAW/Penguin. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for Poetry. Her previous work includes a poetry collection, Unbroken Circle (Melbourne Poets Union), and she has been shortlisted for several prizes including the ACU Prize for Poetry. She studied literature and writing at university, and her PhD thesis included analysis of Machiavellian politics in Shakespearean drama and fantasy literature. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Today, E. J. Beaton is on the blog to share some thoughts on why she chose a gender-equal setting for her fantasy debut. Read on …

E. J. Beaton

Gender-Equal Fantasy

If we strip away sexism and misogyny, what kinds of stories become possible?

When writing my debut novel The Councillor, I decided to set the narrative in a world with gender equality. This allowed me to tell the story of an intellectual woman embroiled in intrigue without including the hurdles of sexism. It also gave me a springboard to show women in positions of power in a feudal society, to include female collaboration, and to depict relationships without gendered double standards.

World-building can lay the foundation for stories, as many innovative fantasy authors have shown. Rather than discussing sexism, I wanted to use a gender-equal setting to tell a story where women could take on any role – and perhaps even embrace their ambition.

Intrigue without patriarchy

Gender-equal worlds open up a vivid and vibrant range of jobs for female characters. In a fantasy society with no patriarchy, women can be royals and nobles, but they can equally be muscular army captains, hard-working merchants, subtle apothecaries, assassins, attendants, stable-hands, and – crucially for my story – scholars.

Examples of male intellectuals in fiction abound, but well-known clever women are rarer. Through some textual play, a history of female scholarship can sit behind the surface of a gender-equal world: characters may casually cite female historians and poets, for example, illustrating the role that women have played in the transmission of knowledge. Gender equality amongst thinkers can also shape the story. A well-read female protagonist might draw upon her book-learning as she takes on her rivals, for example, or even question the values she has studied.

One of the great boons of a gender-equal setting is that female leaders need not work solely with male peers. In such a world, a young woman might be trained by a female mentor, or might form an alliance with a female colleague. Gender-equal fantasy makes such collaborations easier and allows for characters of all genders to work together in the face of treachery, plots, and assassination attempts.

No more rape scenes

In her article on the fantasy heroine, Jane Tolmie notes that female characters often distinguish themselves in fantasy stories by suffering and fighting oppression: “Motifs of rape, domestic abuse, forced marriage and other forms of gender-based oppression and violence are markedly interlaced within contemporary fantasy novels” (148).* Summing it up, Tolmie states that “patriarchy itself serves as the female adventure” in fantasy and provides the criteria that “define extraordinary women.” (155)

These stories of women enduring brutal misogyny can be cathartic, especially in the way that they map onto real-world oppression. They can weave compelling emotional journeys in their own right. Yet the spectrum of fantasy has room for novels without misogyny, too.

Not only does a gender-equal setting mean that a story can be free of scenes featuring rape and forced marriage, it also provides liberation from expectations about sexuality. Female characters in a gender-equal society need not feel the pressure to be virgins. They need not feel ashamed of having had a string of lovers, or for using contraception. The unexpected infusion of gender equality in a fantasy world can show, rather than tell, how it might feel to live in a reality where rape, coercion, and shaming are not only non-existent, but impossible to imagine.

Active and passive roles

Romantic and sexual storylines can play out differently in an equalised world. In a society where women are socially equal to men, male characters need not lead the way through the paces of desire. I came to realise this while writing The Councillor, in which the main character is occasionally attracted to a rival who goes still at her touch and invites her gaze. It’s interesting to see what happens when you invert the inherited roles of active male and passive female lovers, especially since literature has long positioned female characters as receivers. Writing a bisexual protagonist also meant showing the scope of active female desire across genders.

Consent factors into gender-equal societies, too. Female characters may naturally seek to judge interest, establish consent, and gauge the real extent of desire. Given the reach of rape culture in the real world, the female consent-seeker can shine a spotlight on our unquestioned norms around sexual roles.

Perfection and imperfection

After the global MeToo movement, and at a moment when Australia’s sexual harassment and rape crisis has reached even Parliament House, it may seem difficult to picture a world without sexism. So much of the effort of feminism is resistance. We rarely get the opportunity to take a mental stroll through a world where our fight isn’t needed. In the face of such stress, a patriarchy-free society can show us how people might interact without the voice of misogyny whispering in their ears.

Yet this doesn’t mean that female characters must be perfect, unimpeachable heroines in a gender-equal world. As an author, I’m interested in flawed and complicated people who struggle with internal problems as much as external threats. Another form of women’s liberation is the liberation from stereotyping, tokenism, and shallow representation. And so, in a gender-equal world, I’d like to still see women making mistakes as they try to overcome hurdles – not the hurdles of sexism, but the myriad of other problems we confront as a result of our own carefully-concealed ambitions, cravings, and desires.

—The Councillor by E. J. Beaton (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.

*Jane Tolmie, “Medievalism and the Fantasy Heroine”. Journal of Gender Studies. 15.2 (2006), 145-158.

Beaton

The Councillor

by E. J. Beaton

This Machiavellian fantasy follows a scholar's quest to choose the next ruler of her nation amidst lies, conspiracy, and assassination

When the death of Iron Queen Sarelin Brey fractures the realm of Elira, Lysande Prior, the palace scholar and the queen&;s closest friend, is appointed Councillor. Publically, Lysande must choose the next monarch from amongst the city-rulers vying for the throne. Privately, she seeks to discover which ruler murdered the queen, suspecting the use of magic...

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