This paper looks at the portrayal of male submission in the series of fantasy novels by Anne Bishop. Straight male submission is a much maligned kink, with stereotypical images of pathetic men cringing at the feet of contemptuous women. Bishop uses the fantasy world to suggest a new way of viewing masculine submission; she creates a world where the more powerful the man, the more he craves a bond with a woman, and the more he needs to serve her. Bishop thus presents male submission as evidence of male power. My paper will explore the effects of this dynamic on the gendered behavior within the books, and consider if the underlying submission “queers” stereotypical masculine behavior. The paper will also briefly explore the larger issue of how fantasy, in creating alternative realities, allows alternative sexualities such as kink to be normalized rather than pathologized.
About the presenterAnnalisa Castaldo
Associate Professor at Widener University, specializing in Shakespeare and other Early Modern Literature. I also have an M.Ed in Human Sexuality from Widener.