The "Women in Refrigerators" Trope in Fantasy: Does it have any merit? fantasywriters

Basically, this trope means that a female character is killed, raped, tortured, or somehow diminished so that a male character can develop. It's one of the most pervasive tropes in fantasy writing and media: everything from Hindu mythology (Draupadi) to Gladiator (Maximus' Wife) uses it. In particular, ASOIAF uses it over and over and over again (Lyanna Stark, Elia Martell, Victarion's Wife, etc).

In recent years, feminist critics have attacked the trope. Some have suggested that writers of fantasy texts stop using it.

But I was thinking about this: "Women in Refrigerators" has been around for millennia at this point. Clearly, it resonates with the human experience, otherwise writers would have stopped using it centuries ago.

So in short, as writers should we seek to avoid using this trope? Is it lazy? Hackneyed? Offensive? Or do you think it has its uses?

Submitted November 27, 2014 at 09:59PM by ___Rhand___ http://ift.tt/1xLTACe fantasywriters