message 0040

• Gender roles in C.J. Cherryh's writing; incl. Azi and aliens (huge thread!)

>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Mon, 30 Nov 92 13:46:58 GMT


Subject: Cherryhlist: Cherryh's men 

	I'd like to ask people what they feel about Cherryh's portrayal
of her male characters. So many men  on the net seem to feel she gives
men a bum deal, making them have emotions and all. One fellow I was in
communication with didn't like any of the male characters because they
were basically too wimpy and he couldn't identify with any of them, or
see them being good 'SO' material. I pointed out that a lot of Cherryh's
male characters have had traumatic experiences, and thus are just reacting
in what one might think is a realistic way. (I mean, come on, a kid gets
gang-raped and you think it's not going to affect his life?)
	So, what do you think of Cherryh's male characters? Are they too
wimpy? Too emotional? Is it just that perhaps she isn't taking current
American models as normative? (I know lots of men who seem very Cherryhish,
maybe she's been in Ireland :-) How do you think she succeeds with more
mature, 'conventional' male characters (Conrad Mazian, Giraud Nye, Lt. Graff,
Morris Bird, Angelo Konstantin, Edmund Porey, Tom Edgars, Maj. Janz, Yanni
Schwartz, etc, etc) And if I can name all those 'conventional' male
characters off the top of my head, how come "all" of Cherryh's men are
criticised for being 'unrealistic' due to being unconventional?

					Lesley