Is Jasnah Kholin gay?

[Humpty he/him]

I think the best fit for Jasnah is Sigzil. He is an unassuming kind of character who probably wouldnt mind following the lead of a woman. unlike most other men. Very well educated and way smarter than the other male characters in either book even kaladin. And if its not sigzil then my second pick would be Kaladin and her.

[Argel he/him]

IIRC, Hoid and Jasnah are one week away from the nearest town. Plenty of time for something to happen.... 

On a more serious note, it's possible Jasnah and Kaladin may not meet, or only briefly in SA3. He starts off on his way to Heathstone and we don't know how that will play out. And Dalinar wanted him to check on Kholinar as well. It's possible they will stay in touch via spanreed and thus never meet. 

[Zoaez she/her]

Personally I'd be offended if the strong willed scholarly feminist is lesbian. Not that there is anything wrong with being attracted to same sex, more that it is such a strong stereotype and over used it would be nauseating to read. My feelings definitely come from personal experience so I know I'm bias. "Oh you got top score in chem, are standoff ish and don't want to go on a date with me, you must be gay". Bleh, so irritating that you can't just be the person you want to be with out everyone trying to put you in a box.

Also, just because you have control of your hormones doesn't mean you are asexual either, although I'd find that more believable if Brandon whent that route (that or bi). When I read through the books I got the impression Jasnah is late 30's early 40's, your lebito is much calmer than a teen. She is also the type to be fully in command, body included. So even of she had raging desires she would not let that distract her from her life work. I bet she did concider or have relationships when younger but at some point concluded it would get in the way of her priorities. Let's face it, marriage for her would be political, involve children, damper her free time, and ability to travel for study. Also I doubt there are quality contraceptives in Roshar so physical relationships would carry high risk on her part.

But anyway, my natural antagonism to that trope aside, Brandon already wrote a strong willed bold woman in that roll (as mentioned) and he is not a boring author. I would be shocked to my core if he went that route. Also I think he would have writen it in already. Like mention of Jasnah having a close friend by her side, lady in waiting or scholar. Shallan studied up on Jasnah so Brandon would have had a chance to pop it in with out a later reveal being contrived. (Kinda like he hinted at her abborence to be bound to a man or for would be ravishers).

 

7 hours ago, Humpty said:

I think the best fit for Jasnah is Sigzil. He is an unassuming kind of character who probably wouldnt mind following the lead of a woman. unlike most other men. Very well educated and way smarter than the other male characters in either book even kaladin. And if its not sigzil then my second pick would be Kaladin and her.

Yes, I'm feeling most of bridge four (as in all the bridge men ) will become surge binders. The good guy side is looking pretty empty right now. Sigil + becoming a radiant would have great appeal to Jasnah pait up. I feel like she would eschew marriage in favor for a work + relationship. He's so calm and loves his own collection of knowledge. Can he read women's script?

4 hours ago, Argel said:

IIRC, Hoid and Jasnah are one week away from the nearest town. Plenty of time for something to happen.... 

On a more serious note, it's possible Jasnah and Kaladin may not meet, or only briefly in SA3. He starts off on his way to Heathstone and we don't know how that will play out. And Dalinar wanted him to check on Kholinar as well. It's possible they will stay in touch via spanreed and thus never meet. 

I thought they were flirty, in that way you can be when someone is annoying you... but not really. When the thread devolved into shipping, my first thought was of him. Mysterious, witty (heh), able to annoy the nobels, powerful, brilliant, ect. He could be an equal she could have respect for. (I think respect is a bigger trigger for Jasnah than anything else).

[goody153]

I don't think Jasnah is gay(after all she still puts up alot of work looking like a hot girl for somebody who is known to be defiant) but rather asexual or whatever the term is for uninterested in pursuing romantic relationship. I think she's too much interested in scholarly and Knight Radiant stuff for those. 

And she probably isn't thrilled as much with anybody romantically pursuing her anymore considering she's like the daughter of the former king and the princess of alekthar that those who pursued her before probably did not meet her expectation and she lost interest overall.

Edited July 31, 2016 by goody153

[Batemenace]

I was at a signing some time ago and the event was running long so those of us at the end of the line got booted outside. There were maybe ten or so of us and we were all huddled pretty close together (this was winter after all). There was a gay couple in the group and they asked Brandon about gay characters in the Cosmere, and he said that the only LGBT character he had included in the Stormlight Archive so far (at that point Words of Radiance hadn't quite come out yet) was Drehy.

[RenegadeShroom]

6 hours ago, Zoaez said:

Personally I'd be offended if the strong willed scholarly feminist is lesbian. Not that there is anything wrong with being attracted to same sex, more that it is such a strong stereotype and over used it would be nauseating to read. My feelings definitely come from personal experience so I know I'm bias. "Oh you got top score in chem, are standoff ish and don't want to go on a date with me, you must be gay". Bleh, so irritating that you can't just be the person you want to be with out everyone trying to put you in a box.

Also, just because you have control of your hormones doesn't mean you are asexual either, although I'd find that more believable if Brandon whent that route (that or bi). When I read through the books I got the impression Jasnah is late 30's early 40's, your lebito is much calmer than a teen. She is also the type to be fully in command, body included. So even of she had raging desires she would not let that distract her from her life work. I bet she did concider or have relationships when younger but at some point concluded it would get in the way of her priorities. Let's face it, marriage for her would be political, involve children, damper her free time, and ability to travel for study. Also I doubt there are quality contraceptives in Roshar so physical relationships would carry high risk on her part.

But anyway, my natural antagonism to that trope aside, Brandon already wrote a strong willed bold woman in that roll (as mentioned) and he is not a boring author. I would be shocked to my core if he went that route. Also I think he would have writen it in already. Like mention of Jasnah having a close friend by her side, lady in waiting or scholar. Shallan studied up on Jasnah so Brandon would have had a chance to pop it in with out a later reveal being contrived. (Kinda like he hinted at her abborence to be bound to a man or for would be ravishers).

(Disclaimer: I'm neither gay nor a woman, so take this with a grain of salt.) Such men also like to accuse feminists and women who reject them sexually/romantically of being fat, hairy and unattractive. I don't see a reason why their solipsism should interfere with good representation in fiction. Just as fat women, hairy women and conventionally unattractive women exist, so do lesbian women, and they should have representation in fiction just like everyone else. And for all that it might be a stereotype, I know for a fact that there are plenty of scholarly, strong willed, feminist WLW (women loving women) who would be absolutely delighted if Jasnah is also a WLW! There's a serious dearth of queer women in fiction, and IMO if Jasnah were a WLW that would do far more good than the minor harm it would cause. Especially since high fantasy as a genre is already severely lacking in diversity with it's characters, and this would put a queer woman as a major viewpoint character, who is slated to be one of the main characters later in the series.

Also, I'm curious what Ranette has to do with whether or not Jasnah is queer? I assume you were referring to Ranette in the third paragraph. For one, the two characters are wildly different, the only things they'd really have in common is that... they're WLW? They're strong willed? Being strong willed is hardly a unique attribute, pretty much every female character of any relevance to the plot in any of Brandon's books is strong willed. Having a grand total of two WLW characters across thirteen books is not what I'd call repetitive or boring; else I'd have to look at every heterosexual character across all the Cosmere and proclaim Brandon boring for it because many of them share some personality traits with one another. It's a double standard.

Additionally, I wouldn't say that a character's sexuality is contrived if it's not hinted at early on. No more than any other character detail that we just don't get the opportunity to see until later.

[Naurock]

I don't really think she's a lesbian. Also, like many have stated before just because shes strong-willed and independent it doesn't mean she is automatically gay. 

 

I kinda just felt she was so focused on saving the world that she ignores all chances for love as she will see this as a time waster and all of her attention needs to be directed towards learning as much as she needs to stop it.

[Erklitt]

1 hour ago, Naurock said:

I don't really think she's a lesbian. Also, like many have stated before just because shes strong-willed and independent it doesn't mean she is automatically gay. 

 

I kinda just felt she was so focused on saving the world that she ignores all chances for love as she will see this as a time waster and all of her attention needs to be directed towards learning as much as she needs to stop it.

I agree that one big reason for her staying alone is that she simply doesn't have time for romance. So much more is at stake. However I think there is something more. I don't quite remember where and what it was, maybe in her Prologue to WoR (?), but somewhere there was a hint at some kind of trauma. And according to Navani there was a dramatic change in her when she was six. I believe there is some mystery about her, but I don't think it's her sexual orientation.

[Naurock]

1 hour ago, Erklitt said:

I agree that one big reason for her staying alone is that she simply doesn't have time for romance. So much more is at stake. However I think there is something more. I don't quite remember where and what it was, maybe in her Prologue to WoR (?), but somewhere there was a hint at some kind of trauma. And according to Navani there was a dramatic change in her when she was six. I believe there is some mystery about her, but I don't think it's her sexual orientation.

I don't seem to remember this, all I remember is Navani remembering Jasnah as a small child always being very matter of fact.

 

The thing your talking about in the prologue seems to be when she met Ivory, her spren. And it seems to be immediately after she declared she didn't believe in their religion.

[thegatorgirl00 she/her]

1 hour ago, Erklitt said:

I agree that one big reason for her staying alone is that she simply doesn't have time for romance. So much more is at stake. However I think there is something more. I don't quite remember where and what it was, maybe in her Prologue to WoR (?), but somewhere there was a hint at some kind of trauma. And according to Navani there was a dramatic change in her when she was six. I believe there is some mystery about her, but I don't think it's her sexual orientation.

The hint about the trauma is from when she kills the muggers.

Quote

There was something in her voice, an edge Shallan had never heard before. What was done to you? Shallan wondered with horror. And who did it?

 

[Erklitt]

@Naurock Yeah, I just scanned through the Prologue again and couldn't find what I meant, except maybe some silent communication with Amaram that implied something had happened between them. But I admit there's not enough there to warrant the 'trauma theory'. Maybe it was somewhere else, or at some time I put too much store by that moment. I still think Navani sounds like there was a rather sudden change.

Just got the alert for this:

2 minutes ago, thegatorgirl00 said:

The hint about the trauma is from when she kills the muggers.

 

Thanks, exactly! And then there's this. I was wrong about the age of six, this is what I meant:

Quote

"She wouldn't let me be a mother to her, Dalinar," Navani said, staring into the distance.  "Do you know that? It was almost like ... like once Jasnah climbed into adolescence, she no longer needed a mother. I would try to get close to her, and there was this coldness, like even being near me reminded her that she had once been a child. What happened to my little girl, so full of questions?"

WoR ch. 67 Spit and Bile p. 940 kindle edition 

 

[theravenchilde she/her]

I'm gonna go with the simpler route of "Jasnah should be gay so I can kiss her." Don't need no logic hoops there, just my own hopes and dreams.

[Vissy]

That's what shipping is all about and it's what it should be all about! I wouldn't mind if she was LGBT(q). But I don't really care about her sexuality that much, I rather want to see her reaction to Kaladin.