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Gender Dynamics in ELotH:TES

Page history last edited by Tim 15 years, 11 months ago

Back to Literary Criticism

see Men for beginning of discussion.

Epic Legends of the Hierarchs has been hailed by groups from the greenest card-playing pre-teens to the most erudite literary scholars' discussion forums as a modern masterpiece. Its combined titles have sold more copies than the Bible, with readership numbered in the billions. The plethora of spin-off lines have made the series still more accessible, and saturated modern culture so thoroughly that it is difficult to find any place on Earth so isolated that the names Char Reyarteb or Harbinger Portent are not immediately recognized. Still, there is one sizeable readership that has remained completely untouched by this monumental epic: women.

In the early days, when the Wizbits Elemenstor Battle CCG was first released, Collectible Card Games were the exclusive domain of adolescent boys. Although some girls did express interest in such pastimes, it was difficult for them to find experienced players who could teach them the rules without being reduced to drooling husks. As a result, very few girls were familiar enough with the original ELotH card game to be interested in the written works. This disinterest is widely blamed on the notable absence of female characters in the series, other than wenches, damsels in distress, and evil old witches.

The Wizbits cartoon was partially successful in drawing some female interest to the series. Merchandise based on the characters of Zula and Penny targeted the girls' toy market, with some hits (Zula's Bead and Barrette Boutique, Penny's Tuba Tub Time Set) and misses (Penny's Big Beefcake Buffet, Zula's Super Special Sparkly Secret Shelving Unit). However, when the series was cancelled, girls lost interest in droves, rather than turning to the published sagas for comfort.

However, the fairer sex immediately latched onto the idea of ELotH fan fiction, and began delving deeply into the forbidden romantic lives of its most prominent characters - so deeply that "El-Slash" has become a catchphrase for unspeakable sexual deviancies and practices that would make porn stars blush.

Comments & Discussion

(Pathetic that an article in the Literary Criticism(!) section dealing with gender dynamics in the Elemenstor cycle totally fails to reference any of the recent scholarly work by such noted commentators as Mariannye Subjorgenova. Really, instead we get a talk about a El-Slash, that plague on the entire cycle. The undergraduates who clog up my seminars on the Elemenstor cycle think because they watched a god-damned cartoon as a kid and then wrote some hoary fiction based on it, they have some real understanding of the deeper issues. This entire section should be discarded and re-written from scratch. Perhaps by Mariannye herself, who is probably the only reader with the background needed to come at this at the necessary level. Seriously, people. -joam)
Another notable absense: Goldimaris of Blee.
(Rebuttal: Mariannye Subjorgenova hardly qualifies as a "female" commentater on the series, since "her" sex change operation did not occur until after "his" "seminal" treatise on the Elemenstor sagas was published under the name and references of Mario Subjorgenova. For a much more accurate investigation of the subject, see Brunilla Yogsythe's series of essays, published together under the title The Eagles, the Elemenstrators, and the Endrobe: Why do Wizards Fear Women?)

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