How To Train Your Dragon And The Patriarchy
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HTTYD, by Cressida Cowell, is a book series about a young boy named Hiccup who fights terrifying dragons the size of mountains, an evil witch, a mean man who can’t sop ruining everyone’s day, and, most importantly, the patriarchy. Hiccup is a member of the Hairy Hooligan tribe of Vikings on the cold and boggy isle of Berk. The Hooligans are tough, and they pride themselves on their fighting abilities, wild nature, loose relationship to the rules, and their ability to tame ferocious dragons. They mock the civilized Romans who can read and live in places that aren’t constantly freezing. Very quickly we see how the Hooligans fit into traditional ideas of what masculinity is, albeit in exaggerated and fantastical ways. Although, now that I think about it, there are men in Florida who wrangle alligators, so maybe HTTYD isn’t as exaggerated than I thought.
Berk suffers from a highly patriarchal social system, just as our own world does. Patriarchy refers to the disproportionate amount of power held by cis-gender men in society at the expense of others, and the social, political, and economic structures that uphold and maintain this power imbalance. I’m not well versed in feminist theory or feminist geographies, but essentially traditionally defined men set the rules and…
