While there's definitely been a shift towards rebalancing gender roles and female leads in SFF in the last couple of decades, lately there's also been an upswing in the number of books marketed as 'feminist' which are anything but. Some of the tropes and portrayals of female characters are just silly, and some are more sinister. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the problems inherent in pitching a book as feminist when it's success is predicated on recycling the same tired, sexist tropes readers and writers have been combatting since the 70s. On the slab this week: A Court of Silver Flames - S J Maas, The Cities of the Dead - Alys Arden, Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs, The Avengers (Marvel Studios) and many more. Part 2 of a two episode topic.
Please note that this episode will contain major spoilers for every book or film discussed.
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 196: Tale as Old as Time - Why Fairytales Endure
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 195: Key & Codex - Secret Societies in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 194: Creaky Floorboards & Locked Doors - Learning Tension and Suspense from Gothic Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 193: Tragic Heroes and Unexpected Children - More Tropes We Love in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 192: Fitted Breastplates & Feminine Mystique - Sexist Absurdities in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 191: It's Harder that You Think - Writing Sex Scenes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 190: Art and Artifice - What Jane Austen has to say to a Modern Readership
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 189: Last One Alive - Final Girl Tropes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 188: I'm Not Gay, I'm Just Evil - The Queer Coded Villain Trope in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 187: Designer Flu & Superhumans - The Conspiracy Theory Trope in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 186: Going Through Changes - Shapeshifters in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 185: This is Not Forgiveness - Redemption Arcs in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 184: Auguries and Omens - Bird Symbolism in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 183: The Future We Deserve? - Learning Hope From Science Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 182: Full Immersion Fantasy - the Appeal of RPG
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 181: Of Their Time - the Changing Faces of Diversity and Prejudice in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 180: 10,000 - A Celebration of Dissecting Dragons
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 179: Truth, Lies & the Big Misunderstanding - Honesty and Deception Tropes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 178: Of Course, This Means War - Narrative Conflict in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 177: Of Good and Evil - Depictions of Morality in Speculative Fiction
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