Senior Editor at Time Magazine wants to know why there aren't many female characters in 'The Hobbit.'

Let's cut to Time's Senior Editor Ruth Davis Konigsberg's argument:


The problem is one of biological accuracy. Tolkien’s characters defy the basics of reproduction: dwarf fathers beget dwarf sons, hobbit uncles pass rings down to hobbit nephews. If there are any mothers or daughters, aunts or nieces, they make no appearances. Trolls and orcs especially seem to rely on asexual reproduction, breeding whole male populations, which of course come in handy when amassing an army to attack the dwarves and elves.


'Asexual reproduction' and 'biological accuracy.'

Two phrases I always think of regarding The Hobbit.