Looking for books about men and women living well with each other

[nancylebov]

I just read The Just City by Jo Walton*, and it's a spectacular book.... but there's rather a lot about rape (of women by men), and about women getting stuck with most of the childcare, and I find that I'm tired of reading about misogyny.

In some moods, and moreso in the past, I've wanted to read about societies where women are oppressed, and about women getting revenge, with a special fondness for C. J. Cherryh's "The Haunted Tower"-- that's the one about the far future mayor of London's mistress and the ghosts in the tower of London, but the last time I read it, it had worn out. It's not that I want those stories to go away or that other people shouldn't read them.

I expect there's fiction about societies where it's the default for men and women to treat each other well, but my mental filing system isn't turning them up. Any suggestions?

*I just realized I'd been recommending a non-existent book called The Good City. I hope google will make up for my lapse.

Comments

[gingicat]

The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri Tepper.

[adrian_turtle]

Nancy, inside the "Women's Country" community, men and women are expected to treat each other well, but much of the story is set outside the community (and on its margins). So it includes a fair amount of misogyny.

The "Inda" series, by Sherwood Smith has a richly detailed society that's not based on anybody treating each other well. But structural misogyny is remarkable by its absence. More impressive, men and women have largely separate spheres, but women's work (military defense, scholarship) is not regarded with contempt.

Are you looking to avoid books about people/communities that accept rape and sexual exploitation generally, or just those that accept misogyny? CJ Cherryh has several books that seem to take it for granted that a sufficiently powerful woman can get away with rape. (But I don't expect ethical people to be the ones who reach positions of great power during interstellar war.)

[darkoshi]

I'd suggest the Gate of Ivory trilogy by Doris Egan. I read it a long time ago and don't remember any details, by my lasting impression was of how nicely the male and female protagonists got along with each other.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/06/i-refuse-to-die-wearing-provincial-trousers-doris-egans-ivory-books

[gingicat]

Absolutely true regarding Gate to Women's Country. I do like that she comes back from outside with a "why was I not paying attention to what was REALLY going on" attitude.