“How absurd it was that in all seven kingdoms,
the weakest and most vulnerable of people - girls, women - went unarmed and
were taught nothing of fighting, while the strong were trained to the highest
reaches of their skill.”
The passage above shows the issues Katsa is facing with her
identity and gendered expectations in this text. Katsa sees women everywhere as vulnerable and
in need of protection. In Katsa’s culture just like in western culture today,
women are seen as lesser and as objects to be protected. Yet, Katsa is not like
the stereotypical woman of this time and does not fit into society’s
expectations for her. She is strong, brave, and fights against many men. This confuses
Katsa because she is unsure of her place in her word and why more girls are not
being taught to defend themselves like she was. She is not vulnerable like
other women and can protect herself and others. Rather than seeing herself as a rebel and
above the rules of society, Katsa thinks she is an anomaly and unnatural. When
in actuality, it is society with the problem not her. This is unfortunate
because Katsa should not use these talents to identify herself as weird or odd.
She should be identifying herself as inspiring and as a role model for the
girls in her society to realize their true capabilities and not accept the
narrative put on them. She could be the figure who changes this stereotype in
her culture and could ultimately change the lives of girls in the kingdoms. This is a
classic representation of why perspective is important and why gendered
expectations are dangerous for people's identities and sense of self.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteI like that you comment on Katsa's positive future, in the sense that she can be a role model to other young girls and women everywhere. We see this towards the end of the novel, when she decides to teach basic self defense and fighting on the ship, in Monsea after Bitterblue comes to power, and her intensions for the Kingdom of Lienid following that. I think this is an important point and a revolutionary action that Katsa takes, in attempt to better the lives of women throughout the world, thus changing the assumptions that women should be lessor.
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeleteI agree that Katsa's reference to herself as being "unnatural" are problematic because instead of suggesting to other girls that if they are like Katsa they are still normal girls, it suggests that they are odd, freakish if they identify with Katsa. However, what your post leaves out is that Katsa does accept her own power as inspirational and necessary at the end of the novel when she decides to train the girls of Bitterblue's court in self-defense. She does become the figure who changes this stereotype for the lives of the girls in the Seven Kingdoms.