SPOILERS Discworld Dwarfs

[raisindot]

It's not a matter of enforcement. It's a matter of what easily-frightened administrators feared might possibly happen.

Maybe this was so among librarians. But, getting back to the point, I really doubt that Pterry's decision when and where to feature gay characters was influenced in the slightest by this law. He would have been the last person to let prudish, reactionary laws dictate what he could say or not say in a book (or, at least, once he became one of the most famous authors in the UK, which happened many years before MR was published).

 

[RathDarkblade]

That's the thing, Rath, gay men on tv (such as Mr Humphries) were almost always portrayed as over-camp stereotypes to be laughed at rather than as people. Definitely not the most positive portrayal that could have been made.

Back in those days, transgender wasn't a recognized thing and cross-dressing for purposes other than entertainment was more than likely to result in physical assault (or extreme verbal abuse at best) if seen out in public.

The Dwarf's reactions to Cheery 'coming out' as a female was a very accurate description of what happened to those who felt it safe to come out in the workplace along with their straight colleague's reactions of shock, horror, and disgust against people they had known for years and been friends with. Thankfully, we have come a long way since then but I still got a fair bit of grief because of my professional involvement with Worthing's 2nd Pride event.

All right. I had no idea about that law, so I just wondered if it had any teeth at all (and if it was even enforced). *shrug*

At the end of the day (ooh, how I hate that cliche ), people are people. Gay or straight, bi or queer, black or white, yellow or green - people are just people. All the labels in the world won't change that.

 

[MountainBard]

Brilliant discussion, all! And since a certain moderator has also suggested this topic as one he would like to hear a show on, he is very pragmatically providing me with a lot of material for that show. Well done Tony! As this thread amply demonstrates, one 20-minute podcast cannot begin to do justice to the Discworld's dwarfs. But it will make a good teaser for future episodes or even seasons full of dwarfs, as well as providing some variety away from this season's topic of Wizards and Witches. In case I've lost you, my podcast is The Discworld Portal, and it's available through all your well-known upstanding podcast apps, as well as through one or two which are either utterly obscure or more than a bit disreputable.

 

[MountainBard]

Through my readings of the books, I have been fascinated by the way Terry uses the dwarfs as analogies for various groups. Quite apart from the fundamentalist types that rail against change, I also see a connection with the LGBTQ community.

Getting all recursive, I think that being able to use dwarfs as models both for religious fundamentalism at its most intolerant, at one end of the spectrum and alternative sexuality (which is by definition tolerant) at the other end stands as another example of the genius of Sir Terry Pratchett. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but the overused word "genius" really does apply. He presents us with a full spectrum of a major aspect of the dwarfish nature, thus reminding us we can't stereotype them without being peawits. A peawit, by the way, being defined as someone who judges by the group.

Having accomplished that impressive feat, he also illustrates the middle of that spectrum, reminding us that most dwarfs are like most people: just trying to make their way in an uncaring universe. (Personally I take issue with the uncaring universe notion, but we know Sir Terry was fond of it, and what matters is the "making their way" part of it.)

All the while continue to evolve a portrait of dwarfs and dwarfishness that can make us stop and think about a lot of things, including our language. Accomplishing all this accomplished seamlessly in the "comic fantasy" genre is the pinnacle of genius, because accomplishing any of this in the genre of comic fantasy would seem on the face of it to be nigh-well impossible and probably too pedantic and narrative-killing to be readable at all. And yes I deliberately tried to make that sentence as long as I could.

 

[Tonyblack]

I have often described Terry's writings to be like the 20/21 century's Jonathan Swift. It's the reason I think Terry's writing will still be relevant 200 years from now.

 

[MountainBard]

I have often described Terry's writings to be like the 20/21 century's Jonathan Swift. It's the reason I think Terry's writing will still be relevant 200 years from now.

Precisely.