Twisted Characters in C.J. Cherryh's books, esp. Ariane Emory

>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant>
>Subject: cherryhlist -- forwarded with author's permission
>Date: Sun, 14 Feb 93 14:38:03 GMT

From: zink@panix.com (David Zink) Subject: Re: The the great ongoing misogyny/misandry discussion

(...)

As for creating twisted female characters, I am amazed that people can reference Cyteen without noticing that the Elder Ariane is among the most vicously twisted characters Cherryh ever wrote.

	-- David Zink

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>From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin@maths.tcd.ie>
>Subject: CherryhList -- Sexism
>Date: Mon, 15 Feb 93 9:38:47 GMT

> As for creating twisted female characters, I am amazed that people can
> reference Cyteen without noticing that the Elder Ariane is among the most
> vicously twisted characters Cherryh ever wrote.

Perhaps that is because she appears so, so, conventional? I think it is that Ariane is nasty in a way that people are used to perceiving in the normal world and don't conciously react to her. (Insidious, I say again :-).
Is Emory I a hero or an anti-hero? She is really a nasty piece of work but she does great things for her society (or does she?). Is she a hero with a few personality problems or is she an anti-hero who only wreaks good that she can benefit from?

					Jo Grant
					jaymin@salmon.maths.tcd.ie

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>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Tue, 16 Feb 93 9:10:44 GMT

> As for creating twisted female characters, I am amazed that people can
> reference Cyteen without noticing that the Elder Ariane is among the most
> vicously twisted characters Cherryh ever wrote.

She is unpleasant, immoral and downright nasty, alright, but is she 'worse' because she's a woman? Her unpleasant political shenanigans seem fairly gender-neutral, but I think in her private life, the reader may see her more negatively due to their own cultural spctacles. This isn't to excuse her in any way, but I just wonder whether her treatment of the Warricks in general (and I'm including Paul and Grant) and Justin in particular would be as shocking if the main actors had been an older male authority figure and a 17-year old woman. Or would that just seem more 'normal'?

			Lesley