When I recently was part of a panel of Steampunk at RWA 2010 we got some very interesting questions from the audience. One of which was “What roles can women play in Steampunk stories, given the traditional roles of Victorian women?”
My answer was somewhere along the lines of “In Steampunk women can do whatever they want.”
Women and girls can be anything in Steampunk–from ladies to air pirates. They could be pushing social norms or they could be the norm. In Leviathan, Deryn works on an airship (though she pretends to be a boy). In the Girl Genius comics, Agatha is the one inventing things and going on adventures. In Clockwork Heart Taya is a winged courier.
A woman in a Steampunk story could wear *trousers* like Madame Lefoux in Changeless or could be like Captain Octavia Pye in Steamed who captains an airship in a skirt and corset.
Steampunk women can still be ladies. Perhaps she doesn’t defy society at all–but that doesn’t have to mean she’s sitting at home drinking tea. Alexia in Soulless is a lady, granted she’s a spinster and a bluestocking, but she’s a lady. She also makes it work for her, going on adventures, solving mysteries, and whacking Vampires with parasols. Percy in The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is a student. Lyra in The Golden Compass gets into all sorts of trouble.
She could also be chafing under social norms. In my Steampunk YA, my main character doesn’t want to take the path her mother, and society, has laid out for her. The themes of coming into your own in a society (or family) that frowns on your choices can make for a great read–especially in YA where it’s all about grey area, pushing the boundaries, and finding where you fit in the universe.
Maybe she’s stuck in a situation that she feels powerless to get out of–or she’ll fight tooth and nail to improve her situation. The Victorian era has a darker side that I think could be explored a lot more in Steampunk stories. She could have been forced into a loveless marriage, perhaps she’s a prostitute, she could be a child who works in a factory, a “street sparrow”, or a victim of Imperialism. These, too, could make for stories with great character development and tell stories that aren’t yet being told. Darker stories have a place in Steampunk, too.
She could be plucky or permissive, a fighter or a nurturer, turning life on it’s ear or making the system working for her, dreaming of a better life or giving up everything to go after what she wants. She could be wealthy, poor, or self-reliant, should could live anywhere, anytime, anyplace. She could be driven around in a enabled carriage or be building an airship. She could barely read or be a professor.
That is the sheer beauty of Steampunk. So go ahead, tell the story that needs to be told of whether it’s the tale of a bold air pirate, a scrappy street sparrow,or a fine lady.
Women in Steampunk can be anything. They can be anything at all.
My current Steampunk work in progress has a woman as the primary character — she’s the daughter of the Archduke, a highly trained bounty hunter, and the eventual leader of the resistance that topples the corrupt government.
All this while dealing with an ex-fiancee, an absentee mother pulling the strings, and her massive fear of air travel.
Every Steampunk story idea I’ve come up with has included a woman as the main character; I find it a whole heckuva lot more fun to write a woman in the lead role.
In other words: Sing it, sister!
That’s the spirit, women defying (and defining) social norms are always so much fun to write.
And, in Kenneth Oppel’s excellent YA trilogy – Airborn,Skybreaker,Starclimber – young socialite, Kate de Vries, is always the smartest, bravest person in the room. 😉
as she should be, lol.
Great pooints, Suzi. Thanks for sharing.
thanks for stopping by.
I’m happy to see this view of women in steampunk. I wrote a story where my MC is a young time-travelling, ghost hunting Victorian lady. She’s spirited and independent but mindful of her era’s norms. My first attempt involved an airship with an all female crew and a young woman spy aboard.
All female crew–very fun.
I like the idea that through lierature authors are able to show young women that there are as many personality types as there are women in the world. They do not have to conform to any set idea of what a woman should be, but they can challenge the status quo and do any thing they want.
That’s the wonderful thing about books is that it lets us experiance all sorts of things without ever leaving home.
Suzanne, I was at the Steampunk Workshop at RWA 2010 and it was, by far, the best workshop that I attended. And I did mention that to the RWA. It was very well attended and while joting down notes I came up with a great story idea that I am working on.
Thanks so much for the information and inspiration and I hope you do more talks and workshops and that I am able to attend when you do.
Best regards,
Loni Emmert
Wow, thanks for the great complement. I’m glad you enjoyed the workshop.
Suzanne m’dear, I’m so glad you’re picking back up on this topic (again, you ladies did such a lovely job with the RWA panel) because it’s so important.
I love the idea of women who know the rules so that they can break them, and authors who have fun playing with both the restraints of the time period and also working agaist them. The traditional roles of women can become a source of conflict in and of themselves.
While Percy doesn’t become a ‘strong’ heroine until Darkly Luminous, book 2, the most important aspect of her – in my mind – is the idea of redefining beauty since by all standards she is a ‘freak’.
I think all women can relate to dealing with societal expectations, no matter what the era, and why I choose to write Fantasy along with my romance is that truly anything could happen, and that women and men can do whatever we create for them to do.
Great post! Huzzah! (And thanks so very much again for the mention, you are so good to me)
You know I love you!
I think in this age of “kick butt” heroines we shouldn’t forget that strong women come in many forms.
Great article:) Having read a lot of Steampunk, I am so glad to see women characters and writers for that fact come into their own. After all it is revisioning history so why can’t a women do anything?
Fantastic:)
Rebecca W.
[…] illuminate my point, I’d like to call your attention to suzannelazear‘s post on Women in Steampunk from the blog STEAMED!. The article focuses on the question of women within Steampunk literature, […]