I wish I was a Steerswoman

Okay, this isn’t me. Or the Steerswoman. But let me explain.

The Steerswoman/Steersman is essentially a nomadic academic. They are trained on the high seas and are tasked with exploring the world and sending their intel back to a place called the Archives. The catch is that they cannot lie — if a person asks a question, they must answer, and the must answer truthfully.

There is one critical caveat, though. If the Steerswoman asks a question of someone, they must answer it truthfully. If they do not, they are under the Steerswoman ban and any question they ask of any Steerswoman will not be answered — in perpetuity.

What results is a group of travelling academics with virtually complete access to any information they want, and as such — a kickass library of known information. As the most annoyingly curious, nature girl — this sounds like my personal heaven.

I spent most of my childhood barefoot in the bottom of canoes, skiing down the slopes, and being incredibly nerdy. The volume of questions was insurmountable, and I was absolutely incorrigible. But I was also a little lonely.

Like the Steerswoman, I was often alone in my pursuits. None of my friends stuck with reading fantasy, or even reading at all. My friends at school wanted to go to the mall and didn’t understand why I was going to cottage country or to the family farm every weekend. I found everyone had moved on by the time I came back from summer camp. I didn’t have a cell phone for most of this, so the friends I made out in the wilderness were as lost to me as those summer sunsets.

I was Danny Zuko, but Sandy never changed schools.

So when I picked up the unassuming novel from Rosemary Kirstein, circa 1989, I immediately knew this character. The one who was always on the outside of society, observing. Finding personal passions to follow down rabbit holes. Self-motivated and determined. Analytical and logical by instinct. Wanting to know the why and how of everything she comes across, and feeling like everyone should know about it. Self-sustaining, but maybe not by choice.

That was why it made me so happy to see her make a friend. One so different from her, yet complementary and loyal. A partnership that was greater than the sum of its parts. Slaying the Bechdal test in every. single. scene.

It showed me a version of myself I didn’t know I was craving. A validation that I wanted from those around me for the better part of 30 years. A reflection of who I have come to be, within my corner of the world.

While I surely would not be accepted as a Steerswoman (yes, its true, I did steal the cookies from the cookie jar), and have amazing friends, family, and an partner to adventure with, I feel like an honourary Steerswoman. A person who strives to explore, to understand, and to be honest even when it hurts. Someone who follows their heart, has the strength to be their true self, and track down answers for life’s problems even when it’s hard. Someone who relishes in the knowing, the value of sharing freely, and lives by their principles even when it gets complicated.

Call me crazy, but I think you should be one of those people, too.

Hi, I am Sasha Suvorova. I write about things I care about and dabble in original fiction. If you like that kind of stuff, support and feedback really help!

Thanks for reading :)