Game of Thrones offers many examples of toxic masculinity in its “games” waged family against family, kingdom against kingdom, and even Dead against Living — all the White Walkers do seem to be biological males. Women are basically queens or queens-in-training, whores or whores-in-training, bought, bargained, and positioned like the wooden sigils on the various war strategy tables seen throughout the series. This femininity is docile, pliable, fragile, and without power separate from the men that grant that power to them. The two most glaring character exceptions to this lack of agency are Arya and Daenerys: one a runaway dabbling in swordplay, wannabe knighthood and identity theft; the other in dragon rearing, slave rescue and army building. Comparing their journeys, one can see two very different paths these women take in order to hijack masculine power and create their own unique gender identities, one, I would argue, successfully retaining a feminine self, and one losing that self completely.
About the presenterJohn Barrett Allen
John Barrett Allen is a professor of writing at Commonwealth University. Current writing projects include two manuscripts: “Sh-Boom, Sh-Boom, Life Could Be A Dream Sweetheart” a playlist memoir, and “Taproot” a horror novel. Recent work appeared in Hippocampus, Microfiction Monday Magazine, and Front Porch Journal. He is a vocal actor (currently Old God in the Disposers Fiction Podcast Series), fitness coach, and occasional bartender. His interests include writing pedagogy, learning, pop culture, baseball and chess.