Hi everyone! I know I am a bit late to the discourse, but I feel that this needs to be said.
As a person who is both transgender and gay, I have grown up seeing only cisgender, heterosexual people (most of them white) represented in any media I have consumed. Especially in the fantasy genre. Robert Jordan is one of the better authors in this regard, but all of his representation is riddled with homophobia and his own prejudice. At several points in the book, I had to do constant mental gymnastics to feel comfortable enough to keep reading. The story and worldbuilding were great, but any LGBTQ+ rep was done very poorly.
Especially as a transgender person, the way Aran'gar was written was very difficult to read. They were assigned male at birth, but then reborn in a female body. They were shown to be attracted to both men and women, but very predatory, especially towards women. This smacks of transgender stereotypes and the debate on the validity of trans people and the debate on our rights to use the bathroom that lines up with our gender identity. In order for me to be able to finish the series, I had to actively choose to view Aran'gar as a bisexual, transgender woman who was reborn into a body that felt right to her. All the while, knowing that that was not at all how she was written. It still makes me dysphoric and uncomfortable to read the books that she is in.
I think that the Wheel of Time series deserves an update in order to make all current and future fans feel comfortable to read and watch such a wonderful series, and I am so hopeful for the TV adaptation! Fans deserve to see such a wonderful story that, for once, doesn't put all the focus on a bunch of cisgender, heterosexual, white males.
Five things to expect from the Wheel of Time TV show
in TV Show
Posted
Hi everyone! I know I am a bit late to the discourse, but I feel that this needs to be said.
As a person who is both transgender and gay, I have grown up seeing only cisgender, heterosexual people (most of them white) represented in any media I have consumed. Especially in the fantasy genre. Robert Jordan is one of the better authors in this regard, but all of his representation is riddled with homophobia and his own prejudice. At several points in the book, I had to do constant mental gymnastics to feel comfortable enough to keep reading. The story and worldbuilding were great, but any LGBTQ+ rep was done very poorly.
Especially as a transgender person, the way Aran'gar was written was very difficult to read. They were assigned male at birth, but then reborn in a female body. They were shown to be attracted to both men and women, but very predatory, especially towards women. This smacks of transgender stereotypes and the debate on the validity of trans people and the debate on our rights to use the bathroom that lines up with our gender identity. In order for me to be able to finish the series, I had to actively choose to view Aran'gar as a bisexual, transgender woman who was reborn into a body that felt right to her. All the while, knowing that that was not at all how she was written. It still makes me dysphoric and uncomfortable to read the books that she is in.
I think that the Wheel of Time series deserves an update in order to make all current and future fans feel comfortable to read and watch such a wonderful series, and I am so hopeful for the TV adaptation! Fans deserve to see such a wonderful story that, for once, doesn't put all the focus on a bunch of cisgender, heterosexual, white males.