The Books of the Raksura series by Martha Wells does some fun things with gender norms and expectations for the Raksura. We get introduced to these differences via Moon, who does not know what his species is, as he was orphaned at a young age, and his mother was too busy surviving to explain very much. The only thing Moon knows from the beginning of the novel is that a) he has a winged form and a form that more or less looks like a “groundling,” b) people keep mistaking him for a “Fell,” a sentient predatory species that predates on other sentient species and trying to kill him when they find he has a winged form.
Moon has a basic need to be social, and part of a community so he keeps trying to join groundling communities and then getting kicked out, which has understandably made him anxious, paranoid and extremely expectant of rejection. We also learn that Moon finds The Patriarchy to be kind of baffling, as his most recent attempt as of the opening of the book places him with a extremely patriarchal community where he was assigned two women to take care of him/his tent. (Moon’s interpretation of the situation differs a bit from whatever the community he was with was thinking, which is made very clear because it takes him a while to understand one of the two women wanted to have sex with him.)
Via Moon (who is a Raksura though hasn’t really been socialized as one because of the entire “orphaned as a small child” thing) we learn about Raksura gender norms! Gender norms which are pretty fascinating. Within a Raksura colony, females tend to be dominant, and the heart of the colony is its queens, who more or less have veto/final say in most matters. (Any examination of Raksura cultural norms is its own post that I might tackle eventually.) Queens are fertile female “Aeriats” (Raksura with wings). Infertile female Aeriats, and infertile male Aeriats are classed as “warriors.” Fertile male Aeriats are called “consorts.” Consorts tend to be bigger and faster than either female or male warriors. (Though not as big or fast as a queen.) They are also somewhat considered to be more highstrung and emotional, and tend to be caregivers. (Male and female Arbora, Raksuras without wings, are both fertile. In a stressed Raksura colony, some Arbora develop into Aeriat/warriors, much to the Arbora’s dismay.)
Moon’s character arc is a kind of “stuck between two worlds” storyline where Moon has no idea of how to be a Raksura, and feeling like an outsider. At the same time, he’s encountering behaviors that feel very familiar and relatable to his own experiences and instincts. (While also feeling like an outsider because his initial interactions with the colony are not positive because Raksura without a colony are possibly exiles, and an exiled/rogue/”feral” Raksura was probably exiled for a very good reason.) He is frequently within the story confronted with how bad he is at being a consort/a Raksura. His learning curve is very steep and he spends a lot of the time being annoyed about gender expectations he is pretty sure he can’t fulfill. (And he expects rejections or hostility for not being able to conform because Trauma. So when he encounters hostile people he generally expects the worse.)
Now, if this were being presented in a more heteronormative way, the story would end up being very “lone wolf hero gets the tempestuous Amazon Princess.” Because Moon. Is a lone wolf hero type, right? And when you have lone wolf heroic types, they have to get the girl and it has to be very macho even if the society or species is not actually all that macho.
Right?
Nope.
Moon is not a lone wolf hero type.
Moon is Action Girl. Jade, who is pretty tempestuous (because Raksura queens are Just Like That) is not actually an Amazon or a princess. She is a “daughter queen” and her personality is very forceful, and she would very much like to sweep Moon off his feet. She is also very earnest in trying to reassure Moon that he is very womanly a good consort who is expressing his gender correctly…in a very awkward way as can be seen here:
Moon: I am not a pretty princess.
Jade: You are absolutely a pretty princess.
Okay, it wasn’t said in those exact words. Just words approximating those exact words. (Reading Jade trying to reassure Moon caused a brief flashback to a scene Ursula Vernon’s Digger web comic where a Hyena woman is being very condescendingly chivalrous to a male character and it’s hilarious.) Moon is of course extremely baffled, and he still has to deal with wanting to do things one way when it’s expected for him to do it another. (Due to the entire gender norm thing.)
As is usual with Wells’ style it’s all done by careful comparison and implication. She never outright says something. It’s just there, and you eventually notice it. Wells sets up a lot of situations where Moon’s less than subtle but effective techniques is compared/contrasted with queen characters, other consorts of various ages, and with Stone, who is a “line-grandfather.” (A very old consort. Line-grandfathers tend to be much more independent than younger consorts.) The various stereotypes and explanations for behavior are all very organically introduced. (Female warriors being somewhat looked down on because it’s assumed they want to be queens and will be super aggressive, or do something like kidnap children. Consorts being considered very refined and in need of pampering even though they do get to be pretty big and are fast fliers.) You quickly get a feel for what is actual gender representation and which is a stereotype through the character interactions.
I really like how Wells deals with the differences in gender expectations. It’s interesting to see how Moon both fits in with those expectations, and yet doesn’t quite fit in due to having not been socialized. It’s also interesting the way Moon’s behavior pattern, in comparison to Stone’s general personality and behavior implies that Moon is essentially operating at the maturity level of a line-grandfather, rather than a younger consort. (This is both sad and hilarious. Our Boy has Seen Some Shit and is full of trauma so he’s old and cranky before his time.)
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