I'm curious--what kind of sexist issues were you picking up on in the TV show?
It wasn't so much that we found things sexist, but that there were problematic elements in different scenes. I've been reassured that they are not problematic in the wider context of the novels but, as someone who has only the TV show to go on...
The first sex scene between Dany and Drogo is rape. Not coercion, not seduction, but rape. Under that context, later indications of her coming to care for him have a very different undertone. From what I've been told, in the novels the scene reads far more as a seduction than a rape, and puts the later scenes where she takes control sexually etc in a much more positive light.
On another front, the portrayal of Drogo has been really shallow. I understand that there is a language barrier at play, but it seems like the TV producers have made a concerted effort to avoid humanising him as much as possible. He is just this glaring, mute mass of exotic barbarian savagery. If they even showed him speaking in his own language to his own men, or speaking to Dany through an interpreter, or showing any emotion at all, the mannerisms that would be required would at least portray him as a human being. Again, from what I've been told, whilst the books do write about him from Dany's perspective, they show him in a much better light overall.
Basically, it seems like oversimplification of the Dany/Drogo interactions by the TV producers (necessary, but could be done differently) has resulted in some unintended overtones. I don't think they
meant for the first scene between them to read as "this guy is totally a rapey mcraperton savage taking poor pretty white delicate flower against her weepy will", but it felt that way and, to me, if a character commits rape, that changes how I see them in the future. They will always be, to a degree, that guy that raped a girl. Like if they showed him biting the heads off live kittens. It'd be kinda hard to see him sympathetically afterwards, y'know?
Maybe it's because I read the series first, but I'm usually pretty sensitive to sexist portrayals in fiction, and GRRM is about as far from sexist as you can get in fantasy, IMO. His female characters live in a sexist world, but even so they're portrayed with dignity, strength, and are some of the most admirable characters in the series.
This is pretty much what people have been telling me, and it is a big part of the reason I want to read the books so I can judge the characters on how they were meant to be portrayed, rather than how they're turning out. I have no problem with the characters living in a sexist world. Let's face it, it is pretty obvious the world they live in sucks for
everyone in it. Besides, difficult lives make for exciting reading. I just don't want to find myself picking up Geekgirls of Gor by mistake!
