Posted by Jock on February 27, 2002 at 20:56:12 from 213.77.240.215:
In Reply to: Re: Male chauvinism posted by Peter H on February 24, 2002 at 19:50:42:
Fascinating! One aspect which seems to have been overlooked in this discussion so far is that both the Swallows and the Amazons have adopted a psuedo-naval hierarchy linked to their ages, not their gender. This governs their internal command and control structures and the etiquette between the two crews.
So the pigeon should have been sent to Titty. But Nancy chooses to send it to Roger. Perhaps she wants to ensure that he feels included right from the beginning of the adventure? Who knows? A strong powerful and confidant female acts in a supportive way in relation to a weaker and less confidant male. To me Peter H's explanation not only seems plausible, but is how, in my own experience, Nancy-like characters actually behave in real life.
That’s not to say that Prue’s more general point about social etiquette in the 1930’s may not valid. Go back a generation to the Britain of Dickens as described in “Dombey and Son” to see how destructive such attitudes once were. But on balance and as they say, after examining all the evidence, I don’t believe that Ransome intended us to believe that Nancy unthinkingly and by default slipped out of the Swallows and Amazons own etiquette into the starchy etiquette of the GA.