Nothing will give a man more confidence than a handy from a dwarf woman.

Am I the only one who is bothered by one of the races listed being "trees." As Treebeard said: "Tree? TREE? I am no tree. I'm an ent." Also, the entwives were mentioned, but not individuals by name, as they had gone missing. It was suggested that perhaps the moving trees in the Shire were the entwives.

And how are you supposed to tell the difference between dwarf men and women anyway? Sure, most of them are said to be male, but otherwise, it's kinda hard to tell...

She was not signed on for Series X.

Because LotR is centered mostly around medieval-style combat, of which women were seldom a part.

Um, the Maiar and Valar, iirc, do not reproduce in any fashion that could be mapped onto human sexuality, and only wear human forms because of the old "a form you are comfortable with". Note Sauron's remarkable lack of giving a shiat.

It's easy....

With dwarves, you can't tell which are women...

and with elves, you can't tell which are men.

/Boom, Tish.
//Seriously, try the fish.

The chart is missing orcs, trolls, eagles, spider things, dragons, and possibly whatever Beorn and Tom Bombadil were. (Wasn't Bombadil one of the Maiar? I've forgotten.)

Jim_Callahan: Um, the Maiar and Valar, iirc, do not reproduce in any fashion that could be mapped onto human sexuality, and only wear human forms because of the old "a form you are comfortable with". Note Sauron's remarkable lack of giving a shiat.

I don't think the Valar or Maiar actually reproduce with each other. It's been about a year since I read The Silmarillion last, but I think Melian was the only Ainur to have children, and that was with an elf, not another Ainur.

If it's dwarf women you want seek out your local ren faire.

Most of the main characters of Sex and the City are female.

I demand this affront to gender equality be rectified.

You know what's really a sausage-fest? A submarine movie.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Why is that sad?

Looks like women avoid Middle Earth as much as they avoid the fans of it.

BolloxReader:

Or we could pretend that a hundred year old book should not automatically reflect modern sensibilities.


But...but...but....then I won't have anything to get artificially outraged about today...we can't have that.

Maybe they stay in the kitchen.

Counter_Intelligent: Meh. The greatest horror movie ever had a cast of only men.

Brokeback Moutain?

What a stupid article. Yes, let's examine a story written in the 40s, set in a fictional medieval society that (like real historical societies) had strong traditional gender roles, covering events that those roles would have forbidden women to participate in, and then criticize it for featuring mostly male characters. What a brilliant idea.

Oh, and let's conveniently ignore the strong female characters of Eowyn and Galadriel. And, since the subject of the Valar came up, let's also ignore the fact that the only Valar whose name and protection are repeatedly invoked in LotR is female (and yes, the Valar/Maiar do have male and female natures, though in their cases it's represented as a spiritual trait rather than a physical one).

How about in the Star Wars movies? 5%?

He could barely write a personality on his male characters, so it's probably not a bad thing.

I hope they let J.R.R. Tolkien know this, I'm sure he'll go fix it.

/Stop greenlighting this io9 shiat.

They're in the dwarf kitchens making shortcake.

Pharmdawg: They're in the dwarf kitchens making shortcake brewing ale.

FTFY. The hobbit ladies are the cooks.

Bukharin: [www.chicagostagereview.com image 500x625]

You've just shown me what has been missing in my entire life. Thank you.

Speaking of the LOTR movie... the biggest mystery is where Aragorn's eyebrows went.

/seriously, once you notice they're gone it distracts you in every one of his scenes.

how many women were in "Saving Private Ryan"?

Nem Wan: You know what's really a sausage-fest? A submarine movie.
[www.cbc.ca image 300x202]
And there's nothing wrong with that.

The first class of submariners to allow female officers was graduated something like 6 months ago, so this may change in future movies.

//Well, in the US anyhow.

Sgt Otter: I for one, am outraged at the lack of strong male characters in "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."

same could be said for "The Help"

NetOwl: The chart is missing orcs, trolls, eagles, spider things, dragons, and possibly whatever Beorn and Tom Bombadil were. (Wasn't Bombadil one of the Maiar? I've forgotten.)

Both Beorn and Bombadil were Maiar.