Feminism In ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas

1. Rhysand &  Feminism

Rhysand from the ACOTAR series is probably one of the most popular book boyfriends that charmed millions of girls and boys all over the world and TikTok. But honestly? He’s always made me smirk far more than blush. And I don’t understand his phenomenon - for me, Rhysand is just caricatural. Not hot. And similar with his 'feminism'.

1.1 Rhysand as a grotesque character

Rhysand appears for the first time in the series during the Calanmai night in ‘A Court of Thrones and Roses’. He is depicted as the most masculine man of all masculine men, as the most dark man of all dark men, as the most sensual man of all sensual men. But Rhysand instantly turns into a parody of himself. From dangerous and hot, Rhysand turns into a Molière character whose traits are absurdly exaggerated. It is like he obscurity-maxxes what only makes him pathetic. 

Sadly, a similar case is with Rhysand’s feminism. When you try too hard as an author to write a character with one exaggerated trait, it ends up as a parody. Thus, while Rhysand’s most emphasised feature is his wokeness and feminism, it all leads to the impression that it is all a memetic caricature.

Rhysand is such a perfect example of performative feminism in ACOTAR, written even before this term existed. If only he could, Rhysand would drink matcha reading performatively Margaret Antwood. And of course, Rhysad is all talk and the ratio between his feminist statements and actions is hilarious. Because it doesn’t matter if you verbalise your feminism when you don’t follow feminist beliefs in real life.

1.2 Rhysand &  His feminism Under The Mountain

Rhysand, presented in the next volumes as a supreme feminist, presents himself in the worst way as a woke person Under the Mountain. He objectifies Feyre throughout the whole ‘Under the Mountain’ arc. And you can claim that it is all a mask, that he actually protects Feyre and his friends back in Velaris. And maybe that’s true. But you can’t explain what Rhysand does when making a pact with Feyre. He marks her as if she was a calf! As if she was his possession! It is so humiliating I don’t think I have to explain it.

I know that all those girls on TikTok that are obsessed with Rhysand and treat him as the greenest flag would lose it after this statement. They would claim that it is - again - the Amarantha’s fault, that Rhysand does it all for his family. Okay. Watch this. 

1.3 Rhysand &  his feminism in ACOMAF and ACOWAR

"Feyre is High Lady* of the Night Court. My equal in every way"
_{Rhysand in 'A Court of Mist and Fury' by Sarah J. Maas}

* to remind you, in English words generally doesn't have specified gender. Thus, using a separate word for a woman, just like 'a lady' emphasises the female form and a difference between male and female doing the same job. 
I'm not even going to mention the etymology of the term 'a lady' which originally meant 'the wife of a lord'. Not so feminist in my opinion. 

In ACOMAF - ‘A Court of Mist and Fury’, the second volume of the series - the central story is the pact Feyre and Rhysad signed in ACOTAR. Feyre promised that she would visit Rhysand in the Night Court once in a month for a week. And I remind you - this is the volume Rhysand presents his feminism in. However, he treats Feyre as a kidnapped bride or trophy, absolutely not as a free human - or more Fae - being. Furthermore, Feyre becomes a subject matter of the conflict between Rhysand and Tamlin, like she was some kind of a belonging of either of them. 

In ACOMAF, Rhysand acts like some kind of a feminist apostle, pointing Feyre that Tamlin paranoically controls her. Funny enough, Rhysand restrains Feyre in the same way! Moreover, Rhysand's obsession with controlling Feyre's love life paired with his feminist words is even more funny.

While Rhysand knows that he is Feyre’s mate, but they still don’t date each other, Rhysand too often suggests that he wouldn’t approve if Feyre had a love life apart from with him. Of course, he doesn’t tell it that straight-forward, only passive-aggressively. However, Rhysand thinks as if he owned Feyre as a partner only because he is her mate. It's pretty patriarchal to think that your love automatically makes a woman obligated to become your possession…

But that’s only the beginning of Rhysand’s hypocrisy when it comes to feminism.

2. Rhysand feminist hypocrisy: Feyre’s pregnancy 

When Feyre and Rhysand finally start to date, Feyre eventually gets pregnant. And that’s my greatest argument that reveals Rhysand’s performativity. Thus, while my previous rant may not bring those TikTok girls to their senses, this is the most valid problem with feminism in ACOTAR. And it makes me shake with rage SO badly.

Rhysand literally goes crazy after discovering Feyre’s pregnancy. Absolutely literally. Rhysand starts to control Feyre’s life through and through, which is especially disgusting considering his previous hate for Tamlin. And honestly? I don’t see a difference between Rhysand in ‘A Court of Frost and Starlight’ and ‘A Court of Silver Flames’ and Tamlin. I really don’t.

Rhysand literally fences Feyre in a magic barrier, separating her from the outer world. It's crazy that Feyre can’t be touched directly by other characters other than Rhysand without his consent… It may be even worse than Tamlin’s behaviour, because Feyre’s ex at least didn’t control the body of Feyre. Thus, Feyre can’t be kissed on the cheek by Cassian in one scene. Moreover, Feyre can’t normally communicate with her sister Nesta without Rhysand approval because “he is worried about Nesta”. Obviously, Rhysand still is pissed off with Tamlin, but ironically, he acts exactly the same.

2.1 Tamlin and Rhysand. feminism in acotar males

And I love how Feyre doesn’t even notice how controlling Rhysand becomes! However, every little mention about Tamlin makes Feyre anxious, but when her husband literally acts like her ex, everything is perfect. I love, LOVE how Tamlin is toxic because he controlled Feyre, and at the same time Rhysand is a romantic for the same reason. Incredible hypocrisy. 

Feyre doesn’t notice that Rhysand literally treats her as if she stopped being an independent individual. That her husband perceives Feyre as an incapacitated person, not a pregnant woman! Obviously, all of these things are explained as a consequence of the Mating Bond. I shouldn’t even be explaining how harmful this is.