1. (sexist) No, I do not. In each of his books he has strong female and male characters. In the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Father Christmas does make the statement that "battles are ugly when women fight," but that is one character's opinion and it is hard to tell exactly what he means by it. In hand to hand combat with a sword, it would be very hard for a woman to match a man because women are not made to build a lot of muscles. Earlier he says he "he does not mean" Susan to fight and that Lucy is not to be in the battle. For Susan in particular, he seems to be expressing a wish. The children's ages also need to be considered. Lucy is fairly young. Also, I have always pictured the battle being in a wood area where there wouldn't be much place for archers anyway. Actually, I think Lucy and Susan get the better end of deal - they get to be close to Aslan. It reminds me of the story of Mary and Martha a little. Lucy and Susan get to listen and be near Aslan while Peter and Edmund are off in the battle. I would chose being near Aslan over a battle any day. People who focus on that the female characters do not fight as much as the male are missing one of the main points of the stories and that is the importance of Aslan. It is not that Lucy and Susan would not be brave enough; it is that they have their job to do which is more special than fighting in a battle. Lucy shows that she is brave in other ways. She stands up for what she knows is true to her older brothers and sisters which cannot be easy. Ever since I read the books as a girl, I have strongly identified with Lucy and wanted to be like her. That's all the time I have for now but I'll post more later.