• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Rabia Gale

alchemical fantasy

  • Home
  • Works
    • The Reflected City
    • The Sunless World
    • Taurin’s Chosen
    • The Heartwood Chronicles
    • Stand-Alones
  • Newsletter
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • Contact
pet peeves

pet peeves

One of my pet peeves as a reader is the way labor and childbirth are depicted in fiction (anybody willing to guess why I’ve been thinking about that lately? *grin*). On one hand, you have the spectacular Hollywood labor, beginning with the woman’s water breaking dramatically in an upscale store, followed by a mad dash to the hospital, lots of screaming and cussing of the unfortunate spouse or partner, until baby makes its appearance. On the other, there’s the Fantasy Prologue birth in which an exhausted white-faced woman has just given birth to the Prophesied Child, whereupon she will quit life, leaving the midwife and the old sorcerer to figure out what to do with the kid. (And these women always labor in bed–something I have never been able to do. Hello, stand up and walk around, let gravity give you and the baby a helping hand!)

Neither of these two scenarios does justice to the range of emotions and experiences of labor and birth. That is a shame, because emotions can and do run high, there is pain and euphoria, laughter and intensity, tragedy and comedy and even mundaneness (picture me dressed in hospital gown and bedsocks, reading a book while in “labor”). Relationships are tested and connections forged in the shared experience. And then there are all those emotions when a mom holds her baby for the first time. There is so much story potential in this universal human experience, but it has been left largely unexplored in the lives of fantasy female protagonists.

But then, you don’t see too many fantasy female protagonists with children (children happen later once the character is retired from their leading role–apparently moms are not allowed to have any adventures) which is a rant for another time.

Now, your turn. What are your reader pet peeves?

Filed Under: rants

Get Each Post in Your Inbox

Sign up here to receive each blog post in your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Miquela says

    August 4, 2008 at 10:14 am

    I can understand where you are coming from on the labor front, but maybe one of the reasons that more time is not spent on it is because it is rarely–the actual labor, I mean–a focus of the story, at least I’ve never encountered it to be so. That being said, it still doesn’t excuse the writer from seeking out a bit of originality or a different angle. Another thing is that childbearing seems to be one of those things that it is hard to get right from a mother’s POV because the mothers who give their versions always say something different and they can be pretty argumentative if you try to say it can be another way. I know. I’ve gone there before with mothers. I’ve had mothers act like they know THE way birth goes and don’t you dare try to tell it differently. So the childless and the men will stick to what is considered safe just because it has been done, done, and done again.

    But then, you don’t see too many fantasy female protagonists with children (children happen later once the character is retired from their leading role–apparently moms are not allowed to have any adventures) which is a rant for another time.

    Srila, one of the POVs in my WIP, is a mother. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Rabia says

    August 4, 2008 at 11:39 am

    I know. I’ve gone there before with mothers. I’ve had mothers act like they know THE way birth goes and don’t you dare try to tell it differently. So the childless and the men will stick to what is considered safe just because it has been done, done, and done again.

    That’s interesting, because as a mom of three, I KNOW that all labors and births are different. All of mine certainly have been, and I’ve read about and listened to enough birth stories to know that all women labor differently. Don’t let those other women boss you around. 😀

    Srila, one of the POVs in my WIP, is a mother.

    Good for you. 😀 I look forward to reading this story once you’re done!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Join the Mailing List

I send out monthly newsletters, and share some special content with subscribers only. Join me!

(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Search

Latest Release

Mist and Memory

A sinister and shadowy organization. The young mages who oppose it. The hunt for ancient relics has begun. Cloud Village Arc: Lisette never thought she would return to the mountains she fled as a child. But when Tamsin, a Heartwood alumna, invites Amber, Naia, and her on a job in the area, Lisette figures it’s [read more] about Mist and Memory

Recent Posts

Afterthoughts: Witchblaze

January 31, 2021 8 Comments

A YA anime-inspired web serial

April 30, 2019 1 Comment

The Darkest Days Fantasy Bundle

July 10, 2018 Leave a Comment

Now Out: Ghostlight

May 31, 2018 Leave a Comment

Categories

© 2023 Rabia Gale | All Rights Reserved | Design by Robin Cornett | Header Artwork by David Revoy: Used with permission | Privacy Policy