Grace & Gender
how Kristin Cashore's Graceling continues to subvert gendered expectations of its genre 16 years later
Hey gang! This is another repurposed essay from my first semester of grad school. In fact this was my FIRST essay for that first semester and, frankly, it shows. It’s a little sloppy, a little rushed—but I’m still proud of it. Sometimes it’s nice to see how much we’ve grown.
If you haven’t read Graceling, what are you doing? Go pick it up right now. Or don’t, idk, I’m not the boss of you. I hope you enjoy the essay anyway! Ta - Alex
How Katsa and Po Subvert Gender Roles in Graceling.
When constructing secondary fantasy societies, every element is a choice. For example, we could create a world without bigotry or Capitalism or colonization or, we could create a world in which all those things are present. Some writers may use second-world bigotry as a metaphor for human rights issues in reality (like mutants in the X-Men) or some may simply lean on social inequity as an easy plot device (like Game of Thrones). In Graceling, Kristin Cashore presents a world with a rigid gender binary, reflective of the level of sexism and misogyny that today, we would consider historical and antiquated. Neither the protagonist nor love interest of this novel fit within that binary, and thus Cashore is able to critique the modern gender binary through Katsa and Po’s relationship.
This is evident from their very first meeting, in the careful way Cashore describes the juxtaposition of their physical appearances and attitudes. Graceling begins with Katsa on a mission from the Council to rescue an imprisoned old man from Lienid, a foreign nation. The reader learns quickly that while on these missions, it is important for Katsa to conceal her social and gender identity; in addition to being a Graceling, she is a Lady of a powerful court. Her unique, mismatched eyes would give her away in a heartbeat. So, she wears a hood and boys’ clothes to throw her enemies off. However, as soon as she encounters Po, her truth is revealed. Both of their identities are laid bare: “he was Graced, a fighter. That much was clear. And unless he had no feeling in the hand that had raked her chest, he knew she was a woman” (12). This sentence alone sets the reader up to compare and contrast Katsa and Po throughout the coming fight. Rather than noticing her higher-pitched voice, small stature, or any other passive attribute, Po rakes his hand across Katsa’s breasts, her most obviously female physical indicator.
Immediately, Katsa and Po serve as foils. Both are Graced warriors, both are sneaking around a foreign court in the dead of night. We are introduced to who these characters are by how they contrast. Po says, “I can’t think what a lady would be doing so far from home, running through the courtyard of King Murgon at midnight” (13). It is clear by this point that we are in a world where women are seen as inferior to men; though Katsa is an equally skilled assassin, the fact that she is a woman makes her standout among the other fighters. Her gender alone is a dangerous revelation because Lady Katsa is the only female assassin; the existence of her breasts compromises her entire mission. With this comment, Po further establishes that it is expected that women remain home, inside, safe and sound in the middle of the night.
However, Katsa is not the only one who stands out. She catches “the glimmer of small gold hoops in his ears,” and notices that he is clean-shaven, unlike most men in this world (13). Immediately, she is aware of how different Po is from other men she’s fought. “He was unlike any thug she’d ever encountered. He didn’t feel brutish or stupid or threatening” (14). Though Po is tall and lithe where Katsa is small and forceful, and Po is dressed in glittering finery while Katsa is disguised as a peasant boy, the reader is keyed into the fact that they both stand on the margins of what is expected from men and women in this world. Though Po’s jewelry and mannerisms are attributed to his cultural background being different to that of the other kingdoms in this world, for the audience, he will read as somewhat effeminate compared to our own cultural expectations. Katsa herself does not make any gendered commentary on Po’s appearance, but Cashore knows what baggage the reader will come in with regarding his jewelry and frills.
In the end, Katsa cannot bring herself to kill Po, though she knows it would be the smartest move. Something about him fixates her. “She was a fool and she would probably regret it, but she wouldn’t do it.”. The very next line is Po’s sudden declaration of trust; “he stepped out of her path and waved her forward. She thought him very strange . . .” (14). This word, strange, is one Katsa uses to describe herself frequently throughout Graceling, often in the context of her Grace and role as an assassin. Katsa is aware of how starkly she stands out and blames herself for her inability to fit in. Without telling us explicitly, Cashore is letting us know that Katsa sees herself as a failure of womanhood. She cannot be the things society expects her to be. Po, on the other hand, is nothing like the men Katsa has known before. As soon as we are introduced to Po, we are told that he does not fit the outline of what a man is “supposed to be,” but it’s clear he feels no remorse for being himself.
As we follow Katsa back home from this rescue mission, we learn more about the ways in which she does not quite fit into the world around her. Her maid is the only other female figure in her life, and they are constantly at odds. Katsa hates dressing up, hates her long hair, and hates the way her uncle parades suitors around in front of her. She makes it very clear that she has no intention of marrying or having children, though this is precisely what is expected of her as a woman. Graceling was released in 2008, and though by that time we had progressed beyond the societal belief that women belonged in dresses and were the property of their husbands, much of the adversity Katsa faces in this fantasy world is reminiscent of the adversity women still face today, 13 years after the book’s release. In the real world, women are still routinely paid less than men, expected to perform traditional femininity and punished when they fail, and though no longer considered the “property” or her husband, marriage is still a general expectation. We are just beginning to understand, on a societal-level, how harmful it can be to live within a gender binary. Though words like “nonbinary” and “gender-nonconforming” have entered the larger conversation, people of all genders are still struggling against the archaic ideology that men are strong, women are weak, and these are the only two options. Katsa and Po fit in neither category. Up until this point, Katsa had been trying to live her life within the parameters of womanhood as it had been presented to her. After meeting Po, her understanding of gender roles and of herself shifts.
Ultimately, after spending time away from court and with Po, Katsa is able to achieve an very-aughts YA fantasy version of gender euphoria. She cuts her hair short, like a man’s, and dresses only in trousers. She runs wild in the mountains and provides entirely for herself; she makes clothing for her friends, she feeds them, she builds weapons from her natural surroundings to provide and protect. She has fought for the right to be just as independent as a man, and triumphed. Again, Cashore’s message rings through the secondary world into our own; we are more than our gender assignment.
Fantasy worlds often mirror reality. Writers have the ability to critique real world issues within these fantasy settings, to inspire and empower readers who may be struggling against the same or similar adversity presented in the fictional setting. In Graceling, Cashore uses a society with antiquated misogynistic views to highlight the ways this bigotry still persists in the modern world and provides a model for readers on how to live outside those expectations. In this first interaction between Katsa and the character who will later become her love interest and closest confidant, the reader is able to get a sense of how their relationship will play out. Po challenges Katsa, here and throughout, physically and emotionally. While we are beholden on Katsa’s interpretation of events from the close third person narrative, Po’s demeanor and contrary outlook on life are obvious from the very start. This is someone who will challenge Katsa’s perception of reality, and in doing so, challenge the reader’s. Graceling takes a real-world prejudice and places it under a microscope. The reader is able to learn with Katsa, organically, rather than being told whether something is right or wrong. Katsa eventually reaches a more nuanced understanding of her own gender and, theoretically, the reader can now do the same.
That’s all for now!
Alex