A Goodreads user
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I really appreciate how your male main characters are non-traditionally masculine. Penric is probably the best example of this. In Mira's Last Dance, he seems fairly comfortable as Mira. I was worried it was going to be transphobic, but it never was. Would Penric consider himself gender-neutral or gender-fluid in today's parlance?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Pen would consider himself straight. So is 10/12ths of Desdemona. (Or 8/10ths, if one declines to speculate on the gender identities of the lioness and the mare.)
Balancing these competing views is one of Pen's many tasks in accommodating his demon.
Also playing in is Pen's deep medical education and experience. When one of your jobs is teaching anatomy to medical students through human and other dissection (a winter course, back in Martensbridge), you pretty much get over any kind of body-consciousness. Between the long medical careers of Amberein and Helvia, and his own shorter but extremely intense one, Pen has pretty much seen it all by age 29, and must sometimes remind himself that other people are shyer or more prudish. "Anyone with their skin still on looks dressed to me," as I believe he phrased it once.
Ta, L.
Balancing these competing views is one of Pen's many tasks in accommodating his demon.
Also playing in is Pen's deep medical education and experience. When one of your jobs is teaching anatomy to medical students through human and other dissection (a winter course, back in Martensbridge), you pretty much get over any kind of body-consciousness. Between the long medical careers of Amberein and Helvia, and his own shorter but extremely intense one, Pen has pretty much seen it all by age 29, and must sometimes remind himself that other people are shyer or more prudish. "Anyone with their skin still on looks dressed to me," as I believe he phrased it once.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Juan
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
More than a question, I want to thank you very much because your books, especially those of Miles Vorkosigan, helped me to overcome a bad moment in my life. Thank you very much, what was your inspiration to create Miles? Sorry if the message was badly written but I used the google translator and little knowledge in English
Albert C
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hi Lois, this is Albert from Minneapolis, we have met at CONvergence many years ago. I would like to know if you have been approached either via agent or directly on adapting your Barrayar stories to screen. Miles and his family are very interesting characters and that universe has many intriguing facets so I was wondering if you have any thoughts on it on TV or big screen?
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