Those feelings absolutely came across reading it <3
I likewise read those books young, and only really noticed the gender-role stuff when I reread Wrinkle and Wind when I was in grad school. Thinking about it, I feel like there's a shortage of good fathering in L'Engle's books -- the main bit I remember is Meg's father in the bits of Wrinkle in Time after they find him. I know Calvin is a father in the later books, but I mostly don't remember it (I remember Dragons in the Waters has early teenage Polly hanging out with a sketchy older dude, which must also read differently now!). And the Austin father I just find forgettable. And well the books do have Canon Tallis acting as a father figure, but he's nobody's actual father.
I don't think I've read any of the books other than Wrinkle and Wind since I was a teenager, which explains why I didn't notice the age gaps. (And also my experiences as a teen that age with boys 2-3 years older turned out to be surprisingly wholesome.)
Looking at your list of examples of women with careers in L'Engle, there's kind of a sense that to be a woman with a career you have to be absolutely world-class at something, which is a trope I dislike. But that may partly just be the L'Engle distortion that everyone is fantastically good at what they do.
(I remember when I was in my early teens L'Engle was talking about writing an adult Meg book in which she goes to math grad school once her kids are grown up. It never actually happened, probably for the best as I'm not sure I'd have liked it any better than An Acceptable Time.)
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Date: 2025-01-04 01:30 am (UTC)I likewise read those books young, and only really noticed the gender-role stuff when I reread Wrinkle and Wind when I was in grad school. Thinking about it, I feel like there's a shortage of good fathering in L'Engle's books -- the main bit I remember is Meg's father in the bits of Wrinkle in Time after they find him. I know Calvin is a father in the later books, but I mostly don't remember it (I remember Dragons in the Waters has early teenage Polly hanging out with a sketchy older dude, which must also read differently now!). And the Austin father I just find forgettable. And well the books do have Canon Tallis acting as a father figure, but he's nobody's actual father.
I don't think I've read any of the books other than Wrinkle and Wind since I was a teenager, which explains why I didn't notice the age gaps. (And also my experiences as a teen that age with boys 2-3 years older turned out to be surprisingly wholesome.)
Looking at your list of examples of women with careers in L'Engle, there's kind of a sense that to be a woman with a career you have to be absolutely world-class at something, which is a trope I dislike. But that may partly just be the L'Engle distortion that everyone is fantastically good at what they do.
(I remember when I was in my early teens L'Engle was talking about writing an adult Meg book in which she goes to math grad school once her kids are grown up. It never actually happened, probably for the best as I'm not sure I'd have liked it any better than An Acceptable Time.)