Kate Elliot and I talk about the common misunderstandings people have about the roles real women played in history, and how this impacts the way fantasy gets written. When women are given complex, powerful roles in historically-inspired stories, is that wish fulfillment and political correctness? Or is it just... realistic? --- To go more deeply into this topic, I highly recommend the following essay by Kate Elliot:  "Writing Women Characters Into Epic Fantasy Without Quotas."  https://www.tor.com/2016/03/23/writing-women-characters-into-epic-fantasy-without-quotas/ --- Keep up with Kate on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KateElliottSFF Her blog: http://www.kateelliott.com/ And her newsletter: http://subscribepage.com/kateelliottnewsletter --- If you enjoy Females in Fantasy, please rate and review it on iTunes! Become a monthly supporter of the podcast to listen to special episodes, watch video versions of interviews, get exclusive merch like bookmarks, stickers, mugs, and more: http://patreon.com/femalesinfantasy Podcast follow links: Shop: http://shop.femalesinfantasy.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/femalesnfantasy Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/femalesinfantasy