@kickassfanfic reblogged your post and added:
Reason #ilostcount why I think mandos are overrated
I’m not sure of your general opinion, admittedly, and the reasons for it, but I think that’s a little unfair of an assessment on that particular post, seeing as it’s largely a commentary on how unevenly Traviss writes Mandalorians and how her own blatant sexism and misogyny factor into a culture that is established to have more or less gender equality and does not even (at the very least) linguistically differentiate on a gender binary.
I had meant it less as a commentary on Mandalorian hypocrisy and more on Traviss’ authorial hypocrisy and pointing out where evidence of Traviss sexism lies. Traviss is incapable of writing women in a way that is respecting of their agency, and generally shunts them around the narrative as plot devices, and generally seems to think a strong female character is one who conforms to a toxic masculine ideal. (Also, her writing is full of toxic masculinity.)
Generally, as the culture is developed broadly, it’s one of gender equality, largely lacking in sexism, allowing of broad gender expression, etc. etc.
It’s just, Traviss has no understanding of what these concepts would actually look like and thinks that domestic labor near exclusively for women is acceptable, unless the woman can punch really hard. The portions of what Traviss has written about Mandalorians that ring most false to me are the parts where she’s attempting to write her own views into them when they simply do not fit. Mandalorians exist in a framework where gender inequality makes no sense, everything from linguistic artifacts to historical and contemporary lifestyle to armor design (in the EU at least, though Ursa Wren’s shapes are decidedly less Feminine™).
And, I think, it’s not really something that can be attributed to “this is how Mandalorians are”. It’s much more to “Traviss is sexist and is shoehorning her views into an incompatible framework that ironically she herself set up”
