Jasnah and men, particularly Amaram

[theofficetroll he/him]

Honestly, I read WoK as Jasnah being homosexual or bisexual and having a passing (or not so passing) attraction to Shallan.

I don't think she's a man hater, but she may have been abused or rebuffed because of her sexuality and have a hard time relating to men.

 

I don't think we've seen anything of what the social and religious stances on sexuality are on Roshar, so it's hard to know if there would be negative implications for it in Vorin society.

 

When I read the part about the wedding, I read her reaction as either being sad that Shallan was so interested in marriage, which is an institution that Jasnah herself doesn't seem to be interested in (possibly due to sexuality) or that she was sad that Shallan wasn't returning Jasnah's attentions if she is attracted to her.

[writelhd she/her]

From the prologue:

 

“Perhaps if you found pleasant associations,” Gavilar said, “you would enjoy the feasts.” His eyes swung toward Amaram, whom he’d long fancied as a potential match for her.

 

It would never happen. Amaram met her eyes, then murmured words of parting to her father and hastened away down the corridor.

 

The "it could never happen" thought and subsequent rushing away by Amaram could be a reference to some dark history of an unknown type between Jasnah and Amaram, and yes, that's a compelling plot-thickening.

 

But, she could also just be thinking that for other reasons. Like maybe she just doesn't want to get married, as others have mentioned, for various reasons, or doesn't want to marry him in particular for a much more mundane incompatibility reason than him hurting her somehow in the past.  It could even be referring to the fact that she just proclaimed her atheism and didn't that cause quite a stir, and may be assuming that nobody who still adheres to the devotaries would be willing to marry her.

[Aleksiel]

She just hasn't met Kaladin yet   

[Heir of the Void he/him]

Or, presenting an alternative take, Jasnah likes men. Possibly a lot. From there, assuming the take that Jasnah likes to be in control of everything around her, (or possibly feels compelled, some form of OCDesque thing may be in play) and sees that as an aspect of herself she can't control as well as her research (or other people) and thus shuts it off entirely.

 

From this angle, the 'distraction/time wasting' thing might also come into play.

 

As for the Amaram topic, it’s possible that she has seen him for who (or what) he truly is, i.e. a backstabber who is also involved in some form of nefarious enterprise, which could explain how she knows what the Ghostbloods are.

[writelhd she/her]

It is true that he seems to be part of an organization that later tried to poison her.  So it's a good thing they never got hitched. 

[Moogle]

It is true that he seems to be part of an organization that later tried to poison her.  So it's a good thing they never got hitched. 

 

I think Amaram is opposing the organization that tried to poison Jasnah, actually.

 

Kabsal was a Ghostblood, and so was the Shardbearer that tried to attack Amaram. Amaram seems to be involved with someone named Restares, who leads a different secret group. Restares could possibly be Taravangian.

[name_here]

There actually was a gay male in A Memory Of Light. I liked how that was handled, really. Someone made a comment about how he had interacted with women, and was informed that he preferred men. Then the subject was dropped because there was an apocolypse to worry about.

 

I'd say that doesn't really count as tokenism; sure, he might be the only known gay guy in the cast, but that is totally irrelevant to his plot importance. His orientation wasn't really relevant to the matter at hand so it only got a passing mention.

 

Anyways, Jasnah is currently in quantum lesbianism, in that none of her actions or viewpoints to date indicate that she is not but there is no particular reason to expect that she is. But I don't think that her opinion on marriage says much on that count. I mean, she could always enter into a politically useful marriage with a gay male.