Female sexuality in the world of Westeros is rarely something that is taken into consideration.
Instead of fighting as a knight or riding into battle and glory, giving birth is their battlefield.
It is her job to worry about these matters.
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Would Rhaenyra Be a Good Ruler Even as a Woman?
When Daemon steals her late brother’s dragon egg, she goes on dragonback herself to demand it back.
Her instincts are correct, and she knows that Daemon will not actually hurt her.
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As Daemon will later tell her, marriage is a political arrangement.
In these moments, we can see where Rhaenyra and Alicent’s lives both parallel and diverge.
Rhaenyra follows a different path.
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He says multiple times that he simply wants her to be happy.
Otto states this when he encourages Alicent to push the king to make Aegon the heir.
He tells Alicent, “It wouldn’t matter if she were Jaehaerys himself born again.
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Rhaenyra is a woman,” adding, “It is Aegon that’s been robbed.
He’s the firstborn son of the King.
To deny that he is heir to the throne is to assail the laws of gods and men.”
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This is made clear to Rhaenyra when she sneaks out into the city at night with Daemon.
While roaming the streets of King’s Landing, they come across a play about the succession.
It is an obligation, not a choice.
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And she means that in a literal sense after her mother died trying to produce an heir for Viserys.
Pleasure is not a risk she can afford.
No one blinks an eye at that.
Women are confined to the castle and made to have children.
If they can’t, they are failures, ready to be replaced.
Finding joy or pleasure in sex is wanton and disgraceful.
The shame associated with having pleasurable sex for a woman is certainly not a new concept.
It’s something instilled by patriarchal societies as a way to confine women and shame them.
The episode paints Rhaenyra’s exploration of her own sexuality as something exciting.
She is never shocked or ashamed about her actions, but rather curious and thrilled by them.
Questioning her virtue is an act of treason because her “innocence” is tantamount to everything.
But why does it matter if either woman has sex before marriage?
I could father a dozen bastards, and no one in your court would blink an eye."
But that does not matter, because she is a woman.
The men at court openly acknowledge that that is a simple fact.
There is a double standard, and they must hold to it.
They’re both stuck in their positions, friendless, and alone.
They are far from equals.
