Narnian Chivalry

There is a lot of Knight and Lady imagery in Narnia that I had forgotten about.

Everyone in Narnia seems very happy and secure in their gender roles, for the most part. Everyone seems to understand and accept an unwritten Code of Gendered Conduct that prescribes what is right and fitting and honorable for men and women to do. Men rejoice in being men, and women rejoice in being women. The one instance I can think of in the books when there is dissatisfaction with the code is in TLTWATW, when Lucy wants to fight in the battle, and Aslan tells her no; but He goes on to say that she has a different, equally important role (to administer the Magic Cordial to the wounded people.) [Interestingly enough, Lucy DOES fight in the battle in Archenland by the time we get to The Horse and His Boy; does this represent Changing Gender Roles in Narnia? I'm sure someone has written a Master's Thesis on it somewhere.]

Only through viewing worlds like Narnia and LOTR can I begin to understand what folks like John Piper and CBMW are talking about when they lay out Roles and Ideas about men and women that they say will make both genders happy. Like an angsty, confused teenager who's thought too long about Creating a New Philosophy of Everything and really just needs a good cry in mum's lap, our gangling culture is, I think, exhausted with its struggles toward Maturity. Not the culture at large, perhaps, but maybe the Christian subculture therein. Of course, maybe it's just me that's tired of wrestling with gender roles, and I'm projecting my feelings on those around me.

But then again, I think there is evidence that our culture is, on some level at least, Confused. Two of our (non-Christian) friends at school were discussing the horrors and shame of a boy pushing a girl to the ground; one of them (I think perhaps of Catholic background) was Indignant, of course, that a Man should harm a Woman in such a way (invoking all the emotional/cultural/phychological implications of the old code of Chivalry that we've largely claimed to have Outgrown and put away.) The other was quite insistant that we should not consider the genders of the Pushing parties at all, but be dismayed by ANY instance of physical violence from one individual to another. Women's liberation has been hard at work to neutralize any gender differences in society, and our friend (the second one) was able to carry such ideas to their logical conclusions.

And our conservative Christian culture is confused, as well- evidenced by the arisal of organizations like CBMW and CBE, differences of opinion about moms who choose to stay home and moms who choose careers, and attempts made to supplant the old Chivalry code with rather half-baked compromises that give everyone everything they want.

And what kind of compromises DO we want, anyway? Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but within the Nebiverse I can tell you: I am glad to have the opportunity to pursue a lot of education and do the job that I want to do. Of course, there is nothing un-chivalrous about women studying math, nor being educated, nor teaching college. But it does fly in the face of a lot of Victorian sentiments about women staying at home and stitching on samplers. Furthermore, I am glad that our culture doesn't frown upon my inability/disinclination to cook (a wide variety of dishes, every day; such qualifications being necessary because I CAN cook some things, and I don't dislike cooking per se, but don't welcome it as an EVERYday sort of thing.) In fact, I do not consider the variety of housekeeping tasks that need to be done in our household as any more my responsibility than they are my husband's- a sentiment that would make Donna Reed's perfectly permed hair Frizz in a state of horror.

On the traditional roles side, I appreciate it when men carry heavy things for me, and I'm MORE than happy to not be registered for the draft.

Am I just being snaky here? Am I hoping to cast off those restraints or confines of the Old Gender Code that feel cumbersome while hoping to retain the benefits and privileges of being a woman that they entail?

If so, I fear that it is very Unwomanly of me. King Peter is frowning. :-(

Having written the last few paragraphs, I think a small light has dawned (don't laugh; I'm sure it dawned for the rest of you long ago, but it takes some of us awhile. And I'm sure it's dawned for me before, too, but things I discover, espeically about THIS issue, seem to resubmerge in a sea of Confusion and Second-Guessing.) Chivalry- the good, happy kind as existed in Narnia- does NOT equal arbitrary Victorian restraints on women (i.e., no math education) and does NOT equal Donna Reedian expectations of The Perfect Housewife. Chivalry goes much deeper than the artificially constructed gender roles that various societies set up; it goes straight to the heart of what it means to BE a man or a woman. Whatever that is...

And when it arrives there, it notes that everyone is very, very Happy.

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That sounds like a great ending point, except that I haven't really answered any of my own questions. So for my (admittedly, small) Audience, here are the questions for you to comment upon:

What does it truly mean to be a Man or a Woman, beyond physical differences? And what causes Differences between Men and Women- anything beyond the physical or the environmental? I know the Nature vs Nurture question has been around forever, but I want to know if there are any differences that go BEYOND those two explanations.

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Postscript: Sharon and I had an interesting conversation about this over lunch yesterday. I told her "there was something really Nice about Narnian chivalry... everyone was so Happy..." and she laughed and said, "because it's a BOOK!!" True, Narnia is a Fairy-tale; and perhaps Gender Harmony is somehow inextricably linked with Naiads and Talking Beasts? And then she did a little conflict theory social analysis of Narnia and pointed out that folks like King Peter and Queen Lucy had sub-minions to do things like laundry for them, so of course they were happy! I countered by noting that I'm sure they were very kind to the laundry people... and the non-royalty folk like the Talking Beavers and Centaurs were happy with their gender roles, too... but at that point the conversation collapsed under the whimsical weight of it own Nonsense and I had to go back to tutoring.