Best defence?

[Luie]

Well,

At my school I often read a lot. And one of the most frequent authors that I've been caught reading is C.S. Lewis. And at my school I sit across from two girls. And they often shoot down the fact that I read C.S. Lewis' books. They attack him for being a "Blind Christian who's writing is very dull and inexpressive" I often just ignore them, or tell them "That's a matter of opinion I believe."

But lately they've been really offending me, they're calling him sexist? To which I have no response. I can't defend him or myself. So it's getting really irritating, and I'm trying my best to just ignore them. But it's so hard. He's my favourite author, and I hate to see them mock him. Or call him names, or some silly thing.

So, can anyone help me out? I'm sure C.S. Lewis isn't sexist. I need something good that will shut them up. And since I've been a viewer of these forums for some time I decided to look for help here. This only takes place at school.

I'm in eighth grade, am currently in a prep school, with As-Bs. And yet this is the only problem in my life. These two bothersome ladies…

Any help is appreciated!

[mjmann]

Hello Luie,

If you read some of Lewis' letters, you would certainly find a certain amount of evidence for his being a little sexist. The one example I have in mind is a letter regarding a trip to a friend's house. Lewis wanted to retire with his male friend but was forced to listen to the man's wife chatter on as well. However, that can be balanced against his attitude to women in his books and real life.

Per esempio... who is it that finds Narnia and has the closest relationship with Aslan? Lucy.
Who is the sensible one out of Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole? Jill Pole.
The one who has the revelation in Till We Have Faces is Orual. The one who is chosen by the gods is her sister Pysche.
For every Fairy Hardcastle there is a Polly
Before going to the front (in the Great War) Lewis agreed to look after his best friend Paddy Moore's mother should the latter die.
Despite Mrs Moore's difficult behaviour he never threw her out, never put her down, always stuck with her.
Lewis was comfortable writing to women as well as men, girls as well as boys. Among the latter were people like Dorothy L Sayers.
He had intellectual respect for women - witness his attitude to the philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe after their debate in the late 40s.
He could be filled with praise of girls. I am thinking of Jill Freud (who I mentioned in the Narnia forum) who stayed with him during WWII and who was a very great help to the family.
He married!

I think one could go on. If your 'bothersome ladies' continue to do so why not (if possible) ask for actual proof of their claim? What I hope the above shows is that whereas one could find individual examples of Lewis being in some ways sexist, he would have not written his stories in the way that he did or lived in the way that he did if he had anything like a deep seated dislike of women.

Oh, I should mention Susan. Lewis has been slated for the way he treats her in The Last Battle. She does not go to heaven-Narnia because she has lost interest in that place. Instead, she becomes interested 'in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations'. I do not believe that this is evidence of sexism but is rather a statement about Susan's spiritual life. She has let it go to be replaced by a love of the frivolous things of the world.

Are you a Christian? If so, don't forget to pray for your bothersome friends.

Malcolm

[Bill]

[Paul F. Ford]

[Luie (at school)]

[john]