The main thing about women in WoT isn't that there isn't well written or strong women, it's that there's a pervasive gender bias between men and women in how they view eachother
The men are basically always acting like a husband who's afraid of being in the doghouse with his nagging wife. Like "ugh women, can't live with em, lets get out of here and figure out what to do before they start giving us chores"
Meanwhile, the women are always acting like their idiot husband won't be able to put his shoes on without them. Like "ugh men, they'll never be able to figure this out, we'll just have to do it ourselves"
Then they'll both tackle the problem. Neither side is actually incompetent.
It can be grating but it never really bothered me. IMO, it's a really good example of how people can view the same situation entirely differently. I think it had a good impact on me as a teenager when I first read these - I could see that objectively both sides were seeing things "wrong" but also I could see why they seeing them that way. It was coloured by their own perspective and life experiences.
One thing the Wheel of Time DOES NOT DO is portray women as simpering damsels that need men to solve their problems for them.
Good post. 100% agreed.
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Hi! I'm Quinton. Did you know that Emilia Clarke will be my wife in 2023?