Mercedes Lackey ----> A Feminist????

I don't know but the book I read last night makes me question.

A bit of background....I have always loved Misty's books, They have a heart, soul and are just great reads. But most importantly she is woman friendly. Her stories are either about women or are based in a world were equality is an accepted reality. I love the way Valdemar doesn't have a state religion and that there is no one true way, but many. Misty's books are like a balm for the soul, especially the Valdemar ones. Now I'm not saying that there is no nasty stuff in them, because there is. And not every book ends in a traditional happy ever after, but every time I read one of her books, I put it done with a smile on my soul as she reaffirms everytime, my beliefs in true equality. The kind of equality were no one is judged by their gender, race, religion or any other kind of bias, but by their own personal abilities and actions.

Anyway to get back to my fist comment, last night I finished reading The Serpent's Shadow, one of her fairy tale books. And in one of the chapters there is a section where the main character is talking/thinking about the suffragette movement and how she agrees with them. It does go on for a while, instead of being "a fleeting thought" which makes me ask the question...Is Mercedes Lackey a feminist??? And if so, then why haven't we seen more of the "feminist dogma" in her works??? Or is it just because her works are based in the ideal feminist utopia, that is why I have always liked them anyway???

I am not so much confused as curious, I must admit but whilst I have always recommended her books as a wonderful place to go to, I have never actively thought of her and feminism in the same heartbeat.

As I work in a feminist library, I often have "discussions" about whether or not an author is feminist, and what is it that makes an author a "feminist writer"? Is it the fact that they are a writer and a feminist, or because they only write feminist tracts???? My understanding of feminism is that it is all about equality and there is a difference between women friendly books and those that are separatist and those written by men that are not so women friendly. A lot of the fantasty/science fiction written by men, in the earlier years not so much now, were not particularly friendly towards women. They were placed in very low positions within the societies, or were property, or in some cases didn't feature in the books at all. But then having said that, there are some feminist fiction out there that have done exactly the same thing to men, so what does that say about the women???

Can a book only be feminist fiction if it is woman friendly and has a woman as it's main character??? Or can a book be considered feminist even if the main character is a man???

It bears thinking about I think, and it is one of those loverly questions that needs to be raised.