Being in female clothes again deals a massive blow to Polly’s identity. She is crawling up the walls to get back into her uniform even after the plot has unravelled, the day has been saved, and her gender has been revealed to everyone. She needs her socks back, and feels naked without them.
In a time of war, with their country on the brink of destruction, Polly and the other recruits bring down an enemy stronghold and rescue the remains of the (male) army. But in the process, they are unmasked as female. Despite their heroic achievements, the women face grave punishment for the crime of disguising themselves as men.
Sgt Jackrum, the gruff and shouty leader of “men”, has been such a prominent figure in the story so far, not only teaching the young recruits about how to survive but proving to be a supportive ally even after he learns about their gender. He calls a closed court, demanding a certain number of generals and other high-ranked persons stay while others leave. At which point, he reveals that approximately one third of the current army, including everyone in the room, are women pretending to be men.
It’s an absurdity, but this revelation is important because it says so much about their society. For the women in question, the shock is mostly that they did not know about each other. They all thought that their secret was unique.
The narrative still has more reveals to come—the rather anti-climactic confirmation that Maladict is female like the rest of the group, and the far more earth-shattering final uncovering of the truth about Sgt Jackrum himself.
Jackrum’s reveal comes as a shock, even knowing that it was coming—though on a reread it becomes obvious how many clues are hidden in plain sight, such as his saying ‘On my oath, I am not a violent man’ as a regular catchphrase shortly before being very violent indeed. His declaration that the recruits are ‘his little lads’ and insistence on referring to them as such feels similarly like a vocabulary trick he is playing on the world.
Does Jackrum’s reveal as a woman dent his status as a magnificent ally for the women under his command? Is his grand gesture in support of these young women less impressive once you know that he is a she? I thought so the first time around—certainly that was a big part of my frustration with this novel back in 2003. The tale of an old woman in disguise who helps other young women with their disguises felt less brave and heroic to me than if Jackrum was male.
Likewise, is Mal’s calm acceptance of the women fighting at his side suddenly a whole lot less impressive once he is (belatedly) revealed to be Maladicta?
With both Maladicta and Jackrum (and even the suspiciously supportive defence lawyer) finally revealed as female, the only Borogravian ally to the women who is physically male is Lt Blouse. This young aristocratic officer qualifies for his position in all the ways that the army thinks matters, but is patently less cut out for war than most of the female recruits—though his amateur dramatics skills do come in rather handy. Having been useless in a military sense for most of the book, he comes into his own when he learns the truth about the female recruits, and unquestioningly gives them his support.
But does Lt Blouse’s gender make him a better ally than Mal or Jackrum? When I first read the book, I believed this to be the case, and I felt that the Maladict and Jackrum reveals (as well as that of the lawyer) were tacked on rather than significant. I hit a wall with the story as a younger reader because it felt like their gender reveal rendered their support null and void—not to mention sneaky and selfish rather than heroic.
I was wrong.
Men who publicly support feminism or issues that affect mostly women are regularly lauded as heroes for saying exactly the same thing that women have been saying for years. Even though it is an act of humanity, not masculinity, to make that stand.
Also, women are not always the best allies for other women, especially women in power who have struggled to get where they are. Glass ceiling, baby, that’s what it’s all about. Good female allies need to be appreciated because it’s not by any means guaranteed that a woman will support you rather than throw you under the bus.
There are assholes everywhere, and cowards everywhere. Being brave on someone else’s behalf is not a selfish act, regardless of gender.
Monstrous Regiment is a story about women. Women and women and women. And while I want to roll my eyes at my younger self for going through that reaction Jackrum’s gender, I also think that experience is part of the intended reader experience—those questions are, I believe, exactly what Pratchett wants us to be asking ourselves.
Jackrum is the only person in power who chooses to help Polly and her recruits with their gendered issues, both before and after they have been outed as female. The same is true of all the other women she has recognised and helped over the years—and those dozens of female generals she confronts in the courtroom could have done the same thing BUT CHOSE NOT TO. Monstrous Regiment is not a story about men supporting women in their quest to be soldiers and fight for their country, it is a story about whether other women will support those women.
In Monstrous Regiment, as in the real world, often they don’t.
Jackrum’s violent and passionate public support of the young female recruits is awesome regardless of whether he is a man or she is a woman. If anything, the fact that she is a woman makes her stance braver because of the risk that she herself will be outed—and it’s rather fascinating that she does not out herself in the courtroom even when surrounded only by women, almost as if she has forgotten that she is one of them.
Indeed, after winning the legal battle on behalf of her little lads, it’s Sgt Major Jackrum herself who needs to be rescued from gender preconceptions—they have been avoiding retirement because there is nothing waiting for them in their civilian life after the army. They feel they can never reclaim their son and grandchildren because after living their whole professional life as an army man, they would only ever be an embarrassment to their family.
Polly is able to pay back some of Jackrum’s support by giving her a new way of looking at the dilemma—retirement from the army doesn’t mean she has to give up her male identity unless she chooses to do so. She can as easily turn up as a long lost dad and granddad to reclaim her family…
And indeed, when the ‘iconograph’ arrives to show Polly that Jackrum did indeed choose reclaim that lost family, it’s left ambiguous as to whether they to live out their days as a Grandpa or Grandma. Ultimately, it’s not something we need to know—surrendering to civilian life is Jackrum’s great final quest, and their gender identity is none of our business.
‘I… expected better of ’em, really. I thought they’d be better at it than men. Trouble was, they were better than men at being like men. They do say the army can make a man of you, eh? So…whatever it is you are going to do next, do it as you. Good or bad, do it as you. Too many lies and there’s no truth to go back to.’
Sgt Major Jackrum, advice to a young soldier upon retirement.
Polly’s own happy ending is that she gets everything she wanted—her brother safe and alive, and The Duchess restored to their family. The addition of Shufti and her baby to the tavern even means she has a sensible female friend to help out around the house.
But then the war stirs again, and soldiers are needed.
I am reminded at this point of one of the great gender-switching fantasy series of all time, Tamora Pierce’s Lioness Quartet. Alanna hides her gender throughout her whole training to become a knight, intending to tell the truth once she is Sir Alan/Alanna and then to go into self-imposed exile, not expecting anyone to forgive her for her deceit. After her true nature is revealed, and her sympathetic friend Jonathan takes his father’s throne, he declares that women can legally train to be knights, forever into the future. But, they don’t, for a whole decade, until one girl (in a later series by Pierce, The Protector of the Small) is brave enough to try—and her journey is much harder than Alanna’s ever was.
Polly is in a similar situation—she is technically allowed to go into the army under a female id
entity this time around, but is not sure she is welcome.
We weren’t soldiers, she decided. We were girls in uniform. We were like a lucky charm. We were mascots. We weren’t real, we were always a symbol of something. We’d done very well, for women. And we were temporary.
As she gears up to fight the war her own way, Polly looks at the uniforms that were provided once it was officially declared that the women soldiers were heroes instead of criminals: long skirts and bum rolls, plumes that make them look like dolls. She puts the skirt on, because sometimes it’s useful to not look threatening, but she wears her trousers underneath.
Clothes matter. Anyone who thinks clothes are frivolous and irrelevant has simply not thought about the real effect they can have on people who are vulnerable because of their gender, or class, or other lack of privilege.
Polly sets off to stop a war, in the end, wearing trousers and a skirt. Maladicta joins her, and there are new recruits, too, who don’t have to repeat history by pretending to be something they’re not—unless they want to.
‘Oh, you can join as men if you want,’ said Polly. ‘We need a few good men.’
The girls looked at one another.
‘You get better swear words,’ said Polly. And the trousers are useful. But it’s your choice.’
A choice like that is something worth fighting for.
Also by Tansy Rayner Roberts
BELLADONNA UNIVERSITY
Fake Geek Girl
Unmagical Boy Story
The Bromancers
MOCKLORE
The Mocklore Omnibus
Ink Black Magic
Bounty
MUSKETEERS IN SPACE
Musketeer Space
Joyeux
SHORT FICTION:
Love and Romanpunk
SUPERHEROES:
Kid Dark Against The Machine
Girl Reporter
CASTLE CHARMING
Glass Slipper Scandal
Dance, Princes, Dance
NON-FICTION & ESSAYS
It’s Raining Musketeers
Pratchett’s Women
Sheep Might Fly
Love & Romanpunk
Thousands of years ago, Julia Agrippina wrote the true history of her family, the Caesars. The document was lost, or destroyed, almost immediately. (It included more monsters than you might think.)
Hundreds of years ago, Fanny and Mary ran away from London with a debauched poet and his sister. (If it was the poet you are thinking of, the story would have ended far more happily, and with fewer people having their throats bitten out.)
Sometime in the near future, a community will live in a replica Roman city built in the Australian bush. It’s a sight to behold. (Shame about the manticores.)
Further in the future, the last man who guards the secret history of the world will discover that the past has a way of coming around to bite you. (He didn’t even know she had a thing for pointy teeth.)
The world is in greater danger than you ever suspected. Women named Julia are stronger than they appear. Don’t let your little brother make out with silver-eyed blondes. Immortal heroes really don’t fancy teenage girls. When love dies, there’s still opera.
Family is everything.
Monsters are everywhere.
Yes, you do have to wear the damned toga.
History is not what you think it is.
Love & Romanpunk, a short story collection.
Available from Twelfth Planet Press.
Praise for Love & Romanpunk:
“I was absolutely stunned by Love and Romanpunk. I expected quality. I did not expect revolutionary brilliance…”
Seanan McGuire
“A series of interlinked short stories featuring the descendants of the Caesars, there’s monster-killing, whimsy and a real dark heart to the book…”
Trent Jamieson
The same dry wit runs through all of the stories, and the plots have a little in common with gorgon hair: they twist around and can bite you unexpectedly.
Cheryl Morgan
“The obvious comparison for Rayner Roberts’ work here is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They both have vampires, slayers, and meaty relationships. But Love and Romanpunk is its own, self-contained vision, one that turns the wit and heart up as much as any story could sustain. Rayner Roberts’ lean prose draws you in from the first few paragraphs and keeps that pace going straight through.”
Locus Magazine
This book was first published as a series of articles on http://tansyrr.com in 2011/2012
“Socks, Lies & the Monstrous Regiment” (2014) is original to this collection
This collection © Tansy Rayner Roberts
(2014, 2018)
First Edition published by Fablecroft 2014
Second Edition published by the author 2018
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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Pratchett's Women: Unauthorised Essays on Female Characters of the Discworld Page 8