Brianna da Silva

Tag: patriarchy

Brianna da Silva written by Brianna da Silva
April 17, 2020 0

White Feminists, Please Stop Doing This

I’ve been reading Tamora Pierce’s classic Song of the Lioness series, about a girl named Alanna who dresses up like a boy and becomes a knight in defiance of her culture’s sexist gender expectations.

While flawed and outdated (the series was originally written in the 1980s), these books deeply resonate with me. However, I have a major criticism of the third book in this series, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, in terms of the faulty feminism it represents.

Read more

Brianna da Silva written by Brianna da Silva
March 31, 2019 1

Reclaiming the temple: Chapter 4

This is Chapter 4 of my story about femininity, sexuality, and faith. Read Chapters 1, 2, and 3 first.

In my Spanish 1 class, there was a boy named Daniel.*

Daniel was a smart, redheaded guy who quickly stood out to me. Admittedly, he wasn’t all that physically attractive — largely because adolescence had not been kind to him yet — but unlike all the other boys in my class, who irritated me with their outbursts of immaturity and disrespect, he seemed to have a decent head on his shoulders. He actually cared about learning.

In my book, being the studious, self-righteous snob that I was, such maturity counted for a lot.

Read more

Brianna da Silva written by Brianna da Silva
July 17, 2017 1

Why epic fantasy needs to ditch the patriarchy

The epic fantasy genre is loaded with patriarchy. Just take a look around. You’ll see it in novels, movies, games, and art.

Patriarchy overwhelms epic storytelling, as all the important characters – including the protagonist, antagonist, and mentor – traditionally tend to be male. Female characters are usually resigned to the role of love interest or sexualized background warrior.

Read more