what Outlander newbs need to know

[apelila]

Just a cute little blurb about The Outlander series.

I don't get the Starz channel, but maybe it will come out on Netflix sooner rather than later.

www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/8-things-you-need-to-know-about-diana-gabaldons-outlander-series/

[aurora]

I don't get Starz either. I wonder if Amazon Prime will try to pick it up like they did with the HBO original series?

But with respect to the post, I really hate this one:

6. Girl Power
The best thing about a thoroughly modern woman traveling back in time are all the opportunities she gets to be like, “WOMEN ARE THE GREATEST,” and Claire does this often. She has no time for fools or misogyny. Granted, this occasionally means people try to kill her and maybe some folks think she’s a witch, but that comes with the territory. That said, in the first book there is some disturbing Jamie-punishing-Claire-via-spanking stuff that happens. But I’m willing to view that through 50 Shades-colored glasses if you are.

No, I'm not willing to view that through any perverted lens. It's a horrible situation, and though I know that Jamie eventually comes to understand Claire's point of view I'm still really conflicted about the whole thing, and I don't think Claire is nearly angry enough about it.

[hopecounts]

Jul 11, 2014 10:22:41 GMT -5 aurora said:

I don't get Starz either. I wonder if Amazon Prime will try to pick it up like they did with the HBO original series?

But with respect to the post, I really hate this one:

6. Girl Power
The best thing about a thoroughly modern woman traveling back in time are all the opportunities she gets to be like, “WOMEN ARE THE GREATEST,” and Claire does this often. She has no time for fools or misogyny. Granted, this occasionally means people try to kill her and maybe some folks think she’s a witch, but that comes with the territory. That said, in the first book there is some disturbing Jamie-punishing-Claire-via-spanking stuff that happens. But I’m willing to view that through 50 Shades-colored glasses if you are.

No, I'm not willing to view that through any perverted lens. It's a horrible situation, and though I know that Jamie eventually comes to understand Claire's point of view I'm still really conflicted about the whole thing, and I don't think Claire is nearly angry enough about it.

You have to remember that Claire is still from a time that did not view Domestic Violence the way we do.
It was still viewed as a family matter, DV awareness didn't really come about until the 70s/80s. 
So for a woman from the 40s it would be inaccurate to have her be outraged about it to the level we are/would be. 
I think her response is pretty historically accurate, Claire made it clear she was not OK with it and that she wouldn't just accept it but would make Jamie pay for it if he tried it again. This is pretty much how such things were handled in her time, a woman would either get her family involved or handle it herself if she didn't just take it (which many did since there were basically no legal protections for them and divorce was still unrecognized by both the Church of England and the Catholic Church) 
It's a case of the writer having to choose between realism and modern sensibilities, personally I like that she went with realism and the realism of the books are one of my favorite things about them. 

[aurora]

hopecounts, I can see your point about Claire's own timing (even though I still don't like the matter!), but I still think viewing it through some sort of perverted 50 Shades... lens isn't the right way to understand it. (Disclaimer: I have not actually read 50 Shades myself, just read about it because of all the controversy.) I still think it's fine for us, as modern readers, to be horrified by the abuse of women throughout much of history and not to see it as OK ourselves, even if we appreciate the author writing from a historically correct perspective.

In sum, maybe my disgust is really toward the "things you need to know" writer rather than Gabaldon.

[hopecounts]

Jul 13, 2014 10:32:29 GMT -5 aurora said:

hopecounts, I can see your point about Claire's own timing (even though I still don't like the matter!), but I still think viewing it through some sort of perverted 50 Shades... lens isn't the right way to understand it. (Disclaimer: I have not actually read 50 Shades myself, just read about it because of all the controversy.) I still think it's fine for us, as modern readers, to be horrified by the abuse of women throughout much of history and not to see it as OK ourselves, even if we appreciate the author writing from a historically correct perspective.

In sum, maybe my disgust is really toward the "things you need to know" writer rather than Gabaldon.

Depends on what you think of 50 shades
Having read it, I think the main male character is abusive so I don't think it's necessarily a bad comparison. 
But I do agree with you that the way the list writer is presenting it is not cool.