In a world of faeries and beasts, the abuse and manipulation of women is okay, right? Celebrated author Sarah J. Maas certainly uses this sentiment to paint her male characters as feminists by sweeping their misogynistic actions under the rug.
Over ten years since her first publication, Sarah J. Maas has sold more than 38 million copies of her young adult fantasy books. Young adult fiction readers are no stranger to deeply sexist novels. Most of us are familiar with the Twilight saga, in which the bruised body of the protagonist after sex with her vampire boyfriend is framed so beautifully that many readers don’t bat an eye. Similarly, the controlling personality of the male love interest of popular teen series After is somehow portrayed as seductive rather than sexist.
Sarah J. Maas falls back on these tired tropes and more. Yet what differentiates her from other sexist authors is that she sells herself and her characters as feminist — and betrays the movement in the same breath.
In an interview with Booktopia, Maas claimed that writing “complex, dynamic” female characters is one of her main motivations for writing. Despite this, she exclusively writes protagonists that are ‘conventionally’ beautiful, white women. They can be feisty and strong but are sexually submissive in the bedroom. From merely a visual standpoint, the description of Nesta’s “long bare legs”, “tapered, thin waist” and “full inviting breasts” in A Court of Thorns and Roses series (ACoTaR) seems to more closely resemble the wet dreams of a twelve year-old boy than a feminist author.
But the real nail in the coffin of Maas’s feminist image is her novels’ normalisation of abuse.
In her first Throne of Glass series, the male love interest nonconsensually bites the female lead. However this occurs only once, because as a respectable man he does not, in his own words, “bite the women of other males.” The protagonist later falls in love with him and this moment is framed as positive because it helped her become a stronger woman. In writing this, Maas not only plays into ideas of male ownership over women but actually suggests that the abuse of women can be beneficial for them if the perpetrator has good intentions.
According to fans, the most beloved fae male love interest, Rhysand, from ACoTaR gets off to an equally strong start when he drugs the female protagonist of the series, Feyre, with faerie wine to suppress her memory. He then forces her to sexually dance for him in public until she vomits. So in addition to Maas giving readers complex female representation she gives them… sexual assault made sexy?
By the middle of the second book we have heard hurried excuses for this act. Rhysand has become a feminist king declaring that Feyre is his “equal in every way” and will never be designated to “breeding, child rearing and parties.”
Sold as a selfless, handsome man, Rhysand carries a strong appeal to young readers. He is the subject of fan art, fanfiction and stories, as well as glowing praise. Rhysand’s ‘pretty’ words seal his position as a feminist and then young readers idolise him for it.
Patterns of sexual abuse are excused by Maas’s explanation that faeries are a hormonally-driven species separate from humans. While this is a creative attempt from Maas to conceal the sexism of her work, excusing harmful male behaviour on the basis of biology remains a damaging message for readers.
By defending Rhysand’s past behaviour Maas justifies an abusive relationship to a young and susceptible readerbase. Is the take-away message of her novels that abuse is okay as long as they love you? Not to mention Rhysand’s continuing sexist behaviour throughout the series — take his weird, overbearing protectiveness towards Feyre or his lack of action to protect the many women who are literally tortured by men in the court that he rules over.
Feminism is a complex movement with many, varied and diverse branches and ideas. It is hard to imagine that there is one in which abuse is accepted as love. The toxic tropes of masculinity and abuse of women in her books should revoke Sarah J. Maas’ entitlement to market herself and her novels as feminist. With the media’s formative role in shaping individual ideals widely recognised it is time for authors to stop selling sexist as sexy.
If you want diverse, feminist and inclusive young adult fiction, and alternatives to Sarah J. Maas, read the Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shammon or the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo.
