Margaret's Reviews > The Woman Who Rides Like a Man

I was 12 when I discovered the Song of the Lioness quartet, and they made a massive impression on me. At that point in my life it was amazing to find a series of books with such tough, relatable heroine. Alana was everything I wanted to be: strong-willed, compassionate, driven, and dead set on living on her own terms.

It's been a decade since I first read these books, and they still stand up pretty well. Alana still strikes me as an excellent role model for teenage girls, and she's as endearing to college-aged me as she was to preteen-me.

That being said, I have one massive problem with "The Woman who Rides Like a Man". There's an uncomfortable degree of cultural insensitivity in Alana's dealings with the Bashir (a desert tribe who adopt her). The tribe is othered to the point of Orientalism, their customs little more than a caricature of Middle Eastern culture. I was also discomfited with the fact that Alana was portrayed as a white savior, swooping in and bringing massive "moral" changes to the Bashir's traditions. It struck me as a blatant display of cultural imperialism.

The Woman who Rides Like a Man has it's issues, but those problems can be the starting point for some great discussions. Because it raises questions about gender roles, moral relativity, and cultural issues, it could be a great selection for a teen reading group.