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@ Maud'Dib - If the various women in his life were (a) around all of the time and (b) recognized each other as rivals and were antagonistic towards each other over the issue, then you'd have a stronger point.
This is more trying shove a square peg through a round hole, though.
Murphy - they had a Mulder & Scully style "will they/won't they" thing going on for a while, yes.
Molly - Harry has deep and serious reservations about their relationship going in that direction.
Susan - well, that ended badly.
Anastasia - oh, man.
Elaine - extremely important to his history, but not interested in each other in that way, and not really involved in his current life.
Lara Raith - wants to own Harry. Harry despises her. Though unless she's gotten an upgrade lately, Harry's actually out of her league now.
Mab - Heh. Mab values Harry, which is a very different thing from loving him. I don't think she views mortals (or even lesser order immortals) as competition.
Mab gets a further note because that initial, very detailed, description of Mab is Harry's first impression of her - before he knew or understood what she really was. He just thought she was merely a really strong fae. He didn't know what that actually entailed.
All of Harry's further descriptions of Mab have been tinged with varying degrees of fear and awe.
Harem anime usually revolve around the women vying for affections of the main character and competing in some way with each other. Molly and Murphy are the only 2 that really fit in with traditional harem anime tropes, and the fact that he has hooked up with any of them defies harem anime tropes. Not to mention they are rarely love interests at the same time. You have to remember that there is generally a year between books in world, and most of his relationships don't last more than 2 books.
Mkay, I said it was "akin" to Harem Anime. Akin meaning something similar.
But you both sound like you know your Harem anime so I'll defer.
So favorite Dresden book?
Mine is Summer Knight - Jims writing hit it's stride here. I think I read that book in one very long day. Could not put it down.
Dead Beat is also right up there. It's hard to top Sue the Zombie T-Rex.
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Dead Beat. I'd read Storm Front and Fool Moon, went "huh, those were neat," and then got directed to Pratchett and, well, read a LOT of Pratchett. That was a huge backlog of stuff to get caught up on.
At some point later, I wound up with Dead Beat from the library and read that.
Reading Dead Beat caused me to go back to Grave Peril and read everything (including reading Dead Beat again).
While a number of the books are very good, Dead Beat's what caused me to actually read everything else in the first place. So I'll have to give the "favorite" slot to Dead Beat.
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. . .
Mab - Heh. Mab values Harry, which is a very different thing from loving him. I don't think she views mortals (or even lesser order immortals) as competition.Mab gets a further note because that initial, very detailed, description of Mab is Harry's first impression of her - before he knew or understood what she really was. He just thought she was merely a really strong fae. He didn't know what that actually entailed.
All of Harry's further descriptions of Mab have been tinged with varying degrees of fear and awe.
Agreed.
I think it was in Summer Knight, whichever one that they wound up fighting in the a special place that contained the stone table that would shift the balance... at one point Harry looks out and sees two things of such elemental and primal power struggling against one another on a level that makes tides look passe... and then he realizes they are the metaphysical energies of the Winter and Summer Queens, doing their normal dance...
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. . .
Mab - Heh. Mab values Harry, which is a very different thing from loving him. I don't think she views mortals (or even lesser order immortals) as competition.Mab gets a further note because that initial, very detailed, description of Mab is Harry's first impression of her - before he knew or understood what she really was. He just thought she was merely a really strong fae. He didn't know what that actually entailed.
All of Harry's further descriptions of Mab have been tinged with varying degrees of fear and awe.
Agreed.
I think it was in Summer Knight, whichever one that they wound up fighting in the a special place that contained the stone table that would shift the balance... at one point Harry looks out and sees two things of such elemental and primal power struggling against one another on a level that makes tides look passe... and then he realizes they are the metaphysical energies of the Winter and Summer Queens, doing their normal dance...
It was also the one where
. . .
Mab - Heh. Mab values Harry, which is a very different thing from loving him. I don't think she views mortals (or even lesser order immortals) as competition.Mab gets a further note because that initial, very detailed, description of Mab is Harry's first impression of her - before he knew or understood what she really was. He just thought she was merely a really strong fae. He didn't know what that actually entailed.
All of Harry's further descriptions of Mab have been tinged with varying degrees of fear and awe.
Agreed.
I think it was in Summer Knight, whichever one that they wound up fighting in the a special place that contained the stone table that would shift the balance... at one point Harry looks out and sees two things of such elemental and primal power struggling against one another on a level that makes tides look passe... and then he realizes they are the metaphysical energies of the Winter and Summer Queens, doing their normal dance...
It was also the one where
** spoiler omitted **
There's a reason this phrase keeps coming up in my Kingmaker game =)
Favorite book....
Dead Beat is definitely high ranking, as is Summer Knight.
Any Denarian book (Death Masks, Small Favor, Skin Game) tends to rank high on my list.
Turn Coat sticks out to me as the place where things stop being small-time and Butcher started building toward his larger-scale plots in more earnest. Likewise for Changes, though I think I enjoyed Turn Coat more.
Dead Beat. I'd read Storm Front and Fool Moon, went "huh, those were neat," and then got directed to Pratchett and, well, read a LOT of Pratchett. That was a huge backlog of stuff to get caught up on.
At some point later, I wound up with Dead Beat from the library and read that.
Reading Dead Beat caused me to go back to Grave Peril and read everything (including reading Dead Beat again).
While a number of the books are very good, Dead Beat's what caused me to actually read everything else in the first place. So I'll have to give the "favorite" slot to Dead Beat.
Yep. That's pretty much how it went for me and my family. Was shotgunning the fantasy section of the library, many years ago, and came home with Dead Beat. Picked it up, and it was good. Really good. Showed it to my mom and the rest of the family. Only ongoing series in the very exclusive club of books that get read aloud during road-trips.
. . . Only ongoing series in the very exclusive club of books that get read aloud during road-trips.
Haha. I have a buddy who really likes the audio book versions. Several are voiced by James Marsters (a.k.a. Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He (my buddy) says Marsters makes a very good job of it.
Actually all of them but one (Ghost Story).
. . . Only ongoing series in the very exclusive club of books that get read aloud during road-trips.Haha. I have a buddy who really likes the audio book versions. Several are voiced by James Marsters (a.k.a. Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He (my buddy) says Marsters makes a very good job of it.
Hmm. I haven't tried listening to audiobooks before, but if it's James, I might have to try it. Thanks.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Hmm. I haven't tried listening to audiobooks before, but if it's James, I might have to try it. Thanks.. . . Only ongoing series in the very exclusive club of books that get read aloud during road-trips.Haha. I have a buddy who really likes the audio book versions. Several are voiced by James Marsters (a.k.a. Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He (my buddy) says Marsters makes a very good job of it.
James totally nails the narration! I listen to all the Dresden books, in no small part because he does such a good job.
He's done all of them except book #13 (Ghost Story). It was very disappointing that he wasn't able to read it (I think due to a scheduling conflict). I ended up getting that one in dead-tree form, because I couldn't get over the difference in narration. :-(
Hmm. I haven't tried listening to audiobooks before, but if it's James, I might have to try it. Thanks.. . . Only ongoing series in the very exclusive club of books that get read aloud during road-trips.Haha. I have a buddy who really likes the audio book versions. Several are voiced by James Marsters (a.k.a. Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He (my buddy) says Marsters makes a very good job of it.James totally nails the narration! I listen to all the Dresden books, in no small part because he does such a good job.
He's done all of them except book #13 (Ghost Story). It was very disappointing that he wasn't able to read it (I think due to a scheduling conflict). I ended up getting that one in dead-tree form, because I couldn't get over the difference in narration. :-(
Yea, for me at this point, James' interpretations ARE the voices of those characters for me. When I read the books (though usually if i revisit them I listen now) I hear his voice in my head.
Yea, for me at this point, James' interpretations ARE the voices of those characters for me. When I read the books (though usually if i revisit them I listen now) I hear his voice in my head.Hmm. I haven't tried listening to audiobooks before, but if it's James, I might have to try it. Thanks.. . . Only ongoing series in the very exclusive club of books that get read aloud during road-trips.Haha. I have a buddy who really likes the audio book versions. Several are voiced by James Marsters (a.k.a. Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He (my buddy) says Marsters makes a very good job of it.James totally nails the narration! I listen to all the Dresden books, in no small part because he does such a good job.
He's done all of them except book #13 (Ghost Story). It was very disappointing that he wasn't able to read it (I think due to a scheduling conflict). I ended up getting that one in dead-tree form, because I couldn't get over the difference in narration. :-(
Yeah, listening to Ghost Story just made me picture Lionel Luthor wearing Harry's duster.
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FYI, Bulmahn STRONGLY hinted that the Occultist in the Occult Adventures Playtest is heavily based on Dresdenverse wizards.
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Given how Butcher is a Pathfinder fan, he'd probably love to hear this. :)
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Given that Jim Butcher is at least as much a gaming geek as most any of us (and has said he uses Pathfinder to run a zombie apocalypse Keep on the Borderlands), he may even read this.
-TimD
That would be kinda awesome.
I would think Jim would use his Dresden RPG. I bought the PDF but have yet to play a game (story of my life).
The Dresdenverse would be a fun place to play in. Just wish I could convince my game group to try new things.
I picked it up years ago but likewise haven't done anything with it.
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I'd love to see some Pathfinder conversion for the Codex Alera's elemental animism. I admit not being the biggest fan of the series probably due in part to it's Roman roots but I thought the magic system was very innovative. I want a elemental fury damnit!
Oh, and Happy Belated birthday Jim!
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I would think Jim would use his Dresden RPG.
There are some funny panel moments with him talking about it... I'm trying to remember the term he uses, I think it's "cheese-weasel" when referring to his play style.
Basically he has said that it is the one game he CAN'T play as he'd be a nightmare for the GM? ... and likewise if he GM's, he might accidentally give away plot stuff that's not ready to yet be revealed, even to his Betas.-TimD
Given that Jim Butcher is at least as much a gaming geek as most any of us (and has said he uses Pathfinder to run a zombie apocalypse Keep on the Borderlands), he may even read this.
-TimD
Well, if he does, maybe he can shoot me a PM, since I want to ask him a pretty convoluted question and I don't have the means to fly to some convention in the US. Or even England, where he'll make a stop in April, it seems.
Oh, well, just dreaming a bit. <sigh>
;)
I don't remember that one from Side Jobs, but I may be just be blanking out on it... nothing beats the entry written from Murphy's POV. ^^
I don't remember that one from Side Jobs, but I may be just be blanking out on it. . . .
The title for that one is It's My Birthday Too.
He may have got his revenge - he wrote a short Dresden story where a group of LARPers get chewed up by Black Court vampires. At Halloween, if memory serves.
Valentine's Day. Thomas's birthday is Valentine's Day, hence the title.
For what its worth, everyone I'm still in touch with from my old LARP group swears the guy in the author photo had attended our local LARPs (possibly the big Halloween ones).
I know he does boffer LARPs and he's probably done the rock-scissors-paper variety at least once, given the narration in "It's My Birthday Too".
There's actually a "game with Jim" section on his site about LARPing at his chapter of NERO (which, if memory serves, is now actually Heroic Interactive - I believe that portion of his site has likely not been updated in awhile).-TimD
No, you people are going too far. Harry is most definitely in possession of some sexist world views - I recall an inner monologue he had at some point where he explains how women magic wielders are so much more dangerous than men because of how seductive and manipulative women are.
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No, you people are going too far. Harry is most definitely in possession of some sexist world views - I recall an inner monologue he had at some point where he explains how women magic wielders are so much more dangerous than men because of how seductive and manipulative women are.**spoiler omitted**
The fact that I have no clue who Elain is means we are probably talking about separate events here. IIRC, the time I was referring to was in the beginning of the first book. Might have been in that pub with the silent bartender, I believe.
Regardless, this one individual thing is not the entire point. The point is that numerous times we get glimpses of the way Dresden thinks about women. You can shrug some off as "being a gentleman", others as "he was in a particular mood at that time", yet others as "he probably doesn't *actually* mean this"... but they accumulate to a pile of evidence you can't ignore. Dresden certainly has some sexist world views. I believe the only intelligent discussion you can have about the subject is just how much of a sexist Dresden is (in my opinion, not terribly so), not whether he is or isn't.
The fact that I have no clue who Elain is means we are probably talking about separate events here.
The fact that I have no clue who Elain is means we are probably talking about separate events here.** spoiler omitted **
Maybe her description would help jog the memory. Elain is pale, tall, thin, sexy, with healthy skin and ...wait this is starting to sound like every female character in the Dresden series.
Maybe her description would help jog the memory. Elain is pale, tall, thin, sexy, with healthy skin and ...wait this is starting to sound like every female character in the Dresden series.The fact that I have no clue who Elain is means we are probably talking about separate events here.** spoiler omitted **
No way - Murphy is short IIRC :P
I don't think they deal with Elain until a few books later. She was his high school girlfriend that he was still recovering from at 30.
. . . The point is that numerous times we get glimpses of the way Dresden thinks about women. You can shrug some off as "being a gentleman", others as "he was in a particular mood at that time", yet others as "he probably doesn't *actually* mean this"... but they accumulate to a pile of evidence you can't ignore. Dresden certainly has some sexist world views. I believe the only intelligent discussion you can have about the subject is just how much of a sexist Dresden is (in my opinion, not terribly so), not whether he is or isn't.
I can see your point. I would add to it this.
chivalry
noun (pl) -ries1. the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, esp courage, honour, justice, and a readiness to help the weak
2. courteous behaviour, esp towards women
3. the medieval system and principles of knighthood
4. knights, noblemen, etc, collectively
Chivalrous behavior, is, by it's nature, sexist. A person who thinks of themselves a chivalrous or aspires to chivalrous behavior is making assumptions about others ability to contribute/participate in certain arenas (i.e. readiness to help the weak).
However, I was also reared to be polite, and in that particular model of social conditioning, there are assumptions as to what is considered polite to males and what is considered polite to females, and those behaviors are not the same.
I don't think they deal with Elain until a few books later. She was his high school girlfriend that he was still recovering from at 30.
...him and me both.
So, yeah, he had quite a bit of anguish hang-ups over her. He didn't even know she was alive until the third or fourth book...when she pops up serving the summer court!
==Aelryinth
No, you people are going too far. Harry is most definitely in possession of some sexist world views - I recall an inner monologue he had at some point where he explains how women magic wielders are so much more dangerous than men because of how seductive and manipulative women are.**spoiler omitted**The fact that I have no clue who Elain is means we are probably talking about separate events here. IIRC, the time I was referring to was in the beginning of the first book. Might have been in that pub with the silent bartender, I believe.
Regardless, this one individual thing is not the entire point. The point is that numerous times we get glimpses of the way Dresden thinks about women. You can shrug some off as "being a gentleman", others as "he was in a particular mood at that time", yet others as "he probably doesn't *actually* mean this"... but they accumulate to a pile of evidence you can't ignore. Dresden certainly has some sexist world views. I believe the only intelligent discussion you can have about the subject is just how much of a sexist Dresden is (in my opinion, not terribly so), not whether he is or isn't.
Dresden is certainly sexist. He isnt evil. But he is textbook definition sexist. He makes broad judgements about people based on their sex. In later books, you see a shift and the 'white knight' save all the women folk from their own irrational dispositions gets replaced by a closer to balanced world view, but you literally cannot identify as chivalrous, particularly not chivalrous to a fault and not be sexist.
Dresden is by his own admission and his actions, and thoughts, sexist. There is such a thing as non-harmful sexism (holding out a chair, opening a door etc), but he definately participates in the boneheaded and prejudiced sexism too. Things like being far quicker to make choices FOR his female allies then his male allies (think of how he treats murphy vs how he treats micheal). Things his first thoughts on just about every woman he meats is an evaluation of her sex appeal.
You can talk about why he has such distorted world views. He hangs out with people well over 100 years old (other wizards and supernatural creatures). He was manipulated and apparently betrayed, nearly to his death by his first love and foster sister Elain, half the 'women' he interacts with regularly are fey, his mother was apparenty killed shortly after his birth, all of these are pretty good reasons for all sorts of hangups about women, but regardless, he's definately sexist.
Yeah, that is grade A BS. He has a tendency to withhold information from all of his allies, for their own protection. Michael is a different case, in that he basically gets all the information he needs straight from the big guy in the sky, anyway.
Harry withholds just as large amounts of information from male allies like Butters, Thomas, Will and whomever I am forgetting now.
I also wholeheartedly disagree that being chivalrous is sexist. That is a point of view which I reject as being needlessly combative.
sexist [sek-sist]
adjective
1. pertaining to, involving, or fostering sexism :
a sexist remark; sexist advertising.noun
2. a person with sexist attitudes or behavior.
Hmm... that's not really helpful in defining anything... lets go to sexism.
sexist [sek-siz-uh m] noun
1. attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles.
2. discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex, as in restricted job opportunities; especially, such discrimination directed against women.
Ok. Using that definition of pertaining to, involving, or fostering attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles, Harry is somewhat traditional, but only comparison to his "normal" friends as has been pointed out already. Compared to members of the Wizards' Council and other eldritch monstrosities that he sometimes fights/hangs out with, he is positively progressive.
If we judge by a person with attitudes or behaviors that discriminate or devalue based on a person's sex, I'm not sure if Harry qualifies. He would rather keep women out of combat (always seems to try but never really works) and one could argue that behavior is actually a species survival trait (protect the ones that take nine months to bear children verses the ones that take only a few minutes to hours to contribute their part of the process). He tries to treat everyone fairly but also tries to keep everyone (in the muggle end anyway) in the dark (at first) to keep them out of trouble, then usually recants and gives everyone all the information so that they can make an informed decision. It's less that he is a sexist and more that he is a magical elitist. It's his hubris that, sort of, gets in the way, and then he balances that with rationality.
Chivalry grew out of a very elitist and sexist mindset (women were property and nobles were better than everyone else) but the overall idea meant well and grew into something better than it's beginnings. Chivalry now (I would argue) is do the right thing and help those with less than you, which is also somewhat a value judgement because what do you mean by less? Less Power? Less Money? Less Talent? It is simultaneously possible for someone to be your lesser in some ways and your better in others. It also makes the assumption of 'the right thing' based on your religious/spiritual/philosophical view, which isn't always the same as others. However, I would suppose that if one were attempting to be chivalrous, one would tend to have a more traditionalist/religious mindset over a philosophical one.
Is it wrong to dwell on a thought when you are sexually attracted to someone? I'm going to say, only if you let it color your behavior. Yes, Harry does take more note of attractive females, but would we be having this same discussion if, say a female magician spent gads of time describing attractive males she happened to notice, like say... Anita Blake.
No. I don't think we would even be considering the sexist angle. Which tells me that it might be somewhat of an unfair double standard. Men can't spend any time oogling women but women can oogle all they want, especially when they've been taught to be a little smoother at it.
Yeah, that is grade A BS. He has a tendency to withhold information from all of his allies, for their own protection. Michael is a different case, in that he basically gets all the information he needs straight from the big guy in the sky, anyway.
Harry withholds just as large amounts of information from male allies like Butters, Thomas, Will and whomever I am forgetting now.
I think this has more to do with Harry being a minor Control Freak than it does his views on gender issues. Nothing really makes Harry flip out much more than not being In Control of a situation. He's pretty great at ad-libbing, when he has to, but he's more than once gotten called on the carpet for holding his cards too close to the chest and trying to play chessmaster.
Yes, Murphy's the one doing it most often, though I'd put Thomas and Michael as close seconds. But Murphy is also the secondary character who's in every book. Michael didn't get introduced until Death Masks and has only been a major character in about four books since. Thomas is about the same - he gets passingly mentioned in nearly every book after the one he's introduced in, but he's only a major, focused-on character in a handful. Molly a little more so, due to being Harry's apprentice, but she also becomes a major cast member a few books after Thomas and Michael; ditto with Butters. Will and the Alphas are even more so - highly relevant in a small few books (Fool Moon and Small Favor, off the top of my head, not counting side stories), mentioned off to the side in many others, but otherwise overlooked for the majority of the series.
Heck, I think the only recurring character who has never had to drag Harry aside and give him a stern talking-to about the way he hoards secrets and valuable information is Sanya, one of the least-appearing of the recurring cast.
I think there are a few things that define Harry's sexism. Withholding information is not one of them. He withholds information because he wants to protect those he loves. Sure all his friends are capable but from his perspective he sees the big picture. Only Harry knows the politics involved with Maab, the courts, the council etc. Yes Murphy and Michael can handle an immediate threat but handling a threat is often the least of the problems and the handling of the threat often opens up a Pandora box.
So I can't fault Harry there.
So a quick examination of the special brand of Harry Dresden sexism
My legs were longer; I got there first. I opened the door for her and gallantly gestured for her to go in. It was an old contest of ours. Maybe my values are outdated, but I come from an old school of thought. I think that men ought to treat women like something other than just shorter, weaker men with breasts. Try and convict me if I’m a bad person for thinking so. I enjoy treating a woman like a lady, opening doors for her, paying for shared meals, giving flowers-all that sort of thing.
It irritates the hell out of Murphy, who had to fight and claw and play dirty with the hairiest men in Chicago to get as far as she has.
So Harry knows she does not like and he even knows why and he still does it. Sexist might be too loaded of a word for this behavior but he is at least being a jerk to his friend.
But this is a good entry into Harry's mind. He thinks he's being a good guy and things rather highly of his "values". What a guy <sarcasm> … he treats woman as "something other than weaker men with breasts". He treats them like a lady. What does that even mean? IMO his values should end in this matter were her objection begins. He is putting himself over his friend.
Besides. I could never resist going to the aid of a lady in distress. Even if she wasn’t completely, one hundred percent sure that she wanted to be rescued by me.
It’s that term Lady again…all we know is that a lady is something other than a weaker man with breasts.
Murphy glared at me. “You keep saying ‘she,’ ” she challenged me. “Why the hell do you think that?”
I gestured toward the room. “Because you can’t do something that bad without a whole lot of hate,” I said. “Women are better at hating than men. They can focus it better, let it go better. Hell, witches are just plain meaner than wizards. This feels like feminine vengeance of some kind to me.”
“But a man could have done it,” Murphy said.
“Well,” I hedged.
“Christ, you are a chauvinist pig, Dresden . Is it something that only a woman could have done?”
And here is Murph calling out Harry for the pig he is. It’s a great exchange and Murphey was right all along. Murphey is just too awesome.
Taken on its own or even book to book Harry Dresden’s brand of sexism seems little, but add up the sum of the novels and you really get a feeling that Dresden has work to do. He has hang ups and trust issues with women and because the entire series is through the prism of his eyes & mind the entire series has these hang ups. Harry is far from perfect and who is? I’d throw him in the lovable scamp/flawed hero category of characters. And he would be in good company there with the likes of Han Solo and Constantine. The danger of getting too PC with a character like this is by removing those rough edges you make him less a scamp. Jim paints a great picture of a guy who is his own worst enemy. Harry makes a lot of mistakes and trips over himself constantly and that humanity (good and bad) is very much part of his charm.
I’m not here to pile on Jim, his books are a hell of a lot of fun. I’ve gotten more friends of mine hooked on the Dresden series than any book series I’ve read. I’ve had to replace Storm Front multiple times because they got loaned out or fell apart from too much use.
But Harry is sexist…deal with it.
I think there are a few things that define Harry's sexism. Withholding information is not one of them. He withholds information because he wants to protect those he loves. Sure all his friends are capable but from his perspective he sees the big picture. Only Harry knows the politics involved with Maab, the courts, the council etc. Yes Murphy and Michael can handle an immediate threat but handling a threat is often the least of the problems and the handling of the threat often opens up a Pandora box.
So I can't fault Harry there.
So a quick examination of the special brand of Harry Dresden sexism
** spoiler omitted **
So Harry knows she does not like and he even knows why and he still does it. Sexist might be too loaded of a word for this behavior but he is at least being a jerk to his friend.
But this is a good entry into Harry's mind. He thinks he's being a good guy and things rather highly of his "values". What a guy <sarcasm> … he treats woman as "something other than weaker men with breasts". He treats them like a lady. What does that even mean? IMO his values should end in this matter were her objection begins. He is putting himself over his friend.
If you don't know how to treat a woman like a lady, there is no grounds for discussion in the first place.
And while I of course cannot claim anything more than my personal experience, in my 39 years of life I cannot recall a single woman (or a man, because I also open doors for them, it is just common courtesy to me) who objected to having a door held open for her.
While I am pretty sure someone is going to pop up as soon as I say this, but in my experience it universally has been men getting offended on the part of women for such "sexism" as holding a door open for them. Which, to be honest, I regard as a much more sexist point of view, because it makes it seem as if they don't believe that women can defend their point of view by themselves and so those men make a lot of assumptions for those women. Given the many strongly opinionated and intelligent women who are on this messageboard, I'd much rather hear from one of them what they think about Harry Dresden's point of view than from another guy who thinks that he knows exactly what they are thinking.
But Harry is sexist…deal with it.
Nope. Not in the way you are setting him up to be. As I said some time ago, our definitions of the word are very different.