I Am No Man

The English language often uses male pronouns to include all humans. “Mankind,” for example, is often used to encompass all humankind. Sexism in prose is hardly a new concept for feminists to confront. I first encountered this topic in college when my philosophy professor assigned Jennifer Mather Saul’s “Feminism and Language Reform” from her book, Feminism: Issues & Arguments. Since then, I’ve read countless essays on the sexism of the English language; it’s a topic that I think about often.

My favorite example of this linguistic sexism is from the trilogy, The Lord of The Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. (Many of my favorite things are from The Lord of the Rings. I’ve read the books more times than I can count, and I even have a tattoo in elvish.) Throughout the books, the gendered language Tolkien uses to describe the different types of fantastical beings demonstrates the casual sexism of the English language. One such storyline in The Lord of the Rings that illustrates this point is that of Éowyn, a character I especially admire. For those of you not familiar with the trilogy, Éowyn is the niece of Théoden, the King of Rohan. Rohan is a kingdom of men, which is to say, humans. Éowyn earns her fame by dressing in drag, secretly riding into battle against her uncle, King Theoden’s, wishes, and ultimately, killing the Witch King of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgûl, a terrifying band of dark riders. She’s a badass, and I love her.

I’m probably losing some of you; I know we’re not all fans of the fantasy genre, but I have a point, and I swear it’s a good one if you can just stick with me.

Throughout the books, we’re told that no man can kill the Witch King. That’s the language used: “no man.” This is sort of glossed over in the movies, but in the books, it is repeated over and over. There are passages that go into great detail about how armies literally drop their weapons and cower in fear when the Witch King’s mere shadow touches them. He doesn’t even have to land, just flies over armies, and they are incapacitated by fear. Bottom line: he’s a scary dude incapable of being killed.

During a culminating battle, Éowyn ends up facing the Witch King. At this point in the story, the book and movie differ, but basically, while Éowyn is terrified, she stands her ground, something no male soldier has ever done. In the movie, he laughs at her and says, “No man can kill me.” She busts off her helmet, shakes out her shampoo-commercial hair, declares, “I am no man,” and stabs him in the fucking face. The book is slightly less on the nose but follows the same basic story line.

“I am no man.” What an iconic line. People make fun of it all the time -- there are memes and everything -- but I love that line. Obviously, when the Witch King says, “No man can kill me,” he means no person. I know that; I’m not a moron. And I know that Éowyn’s vagina is not what enabled her to kill the Witch King, although that would have been awesome. She’s able to kill him, because she has courage no one else has, because she believes she can.

The English language often leaves women out of the equation. In our vernacular, when we use the word men, there’s an unspoken rule that it applies to all humans, not just men. Exempting women from our vocabulary just because it’s easier, or because that’s what we’ve always done, is senseless stifling. While being omitted as a woman on such a large scale is incredibly frustrating, the silver lining to being left out of everyone statements is that sometimes we forget that the rules-of-men apply to us, lifting the burden of their limiting nature.

In the case of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the legend that “no man” could kill the Witch King was intended to mean that no person could. Clearly, someone forgot to tell Éowyn that. Throughout the books, Éowyn was treated like an outsider. As a result, she did not internalize the supposedly universal rules of men or believe that they applied to her. Being excluded from the conversation can provide women the distance needed to question the validity of societal rules and their ubiquitous application to us. There is power in our dissent. So no, Éowyn’s vagina didn’t enable her to kill the Witch King, but her courageous femaleness sure as hell did.

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Annie is a lawyer and dog mom of three. She started playing rugby in 2014 in the hopes of fulfilling her lifelong dream of getting a cool nickname. She promptly fell in love with one of her teammates and got a wife instead. Her teammates still call her Annie.