Canon Valjean is both really smart (teaching himself to read and enjoy it + building a business from scratch) and an excellent marksman, so female!Valjean could definitely have those properies as well! And like the strength, it would be something suspect, because she's not a woman ~ staying in her place~.
(It occurred to me that the rape threat in the Gorbeau scene might even not be precluded by Valjean being male - we don't get his POV during that scene, and while Hugo tells us he basically blocked out anything to do with sexuality while in prison, there might still be unsettling thoughts niggling at his mind in that moment. Anyway, a female Valjean would definitely be aware of it.)
Ugh, yeah, the physical advantages are unfair. :-( But I think they are not as profound as a lot of people like to believe - otherwise, why would people put so much effort into discouraging women from lifting? If we were naturally weak, surely some deadlifts won't change that? It's almost like they believe deep down that we aren't separate species or something...
I hear you on the escapism, but Les Mis is so much about how societal injustice affects people that personally I want stories to engage with that on some level - the wish fulfillment, to me, is when people overcome the injustice enough to have their happily ever after. :-P Fem!Tony, on the other hand, would totally work, especially since inventing cybernetic enhancements is what Tony does anyway.
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Date: 2016-04-06 08:46 am (UTC)(It occurred to me that the rape threat in the Gorbeau scene might even not be precluded by Valjean being male - we don't get his POV during that scene, and while Hugo tells us he basically blocked out anything to do with sexuality while in prison, there might still be unsettling thoughts niggling at his mind in that moment. Anyway, a female Valjean would definitely be aware of it.)
Ugh, yeah, the physical advantages are unfair. :-( But I think they are not as profound as a lot of people like to believe - otherwise, why would people put so much effort into discouraging women from lifting? If we were naturally weak, surely some deadlifts won't change that? It's almost like they believe deep down that we aren't separate species or something...
I hear you on the escapism, but Les Mis is so much about how societal injustice affects people that personally I want stories to engage with that on some level - the wish fulfillment, to me, is when people overcome the injustice enough to have their happily ever after. :-P Fem!Tony, on the other hand, would totally work, especially since inventing cybernetic enhancements is what Tony does anyway.