In a lengthy response to criticisms, Martin said:

“The books reflect a patriarchal society based on the Middles Ages. The Middle Ages were not a time of sexual egalitarianism. It was very classist, dividing people into three classes. And they had strong ideas about the roles of women. One of the charges against Joan of Arc that got her burned at the stake was that she wore men’s clothing—that was not a small thing. There were, of course, strong and competent women. It still doesn’t change the nature of the society. If you look at the books, my heroes and viewpoint characters are misfits. They’re outliers. They didn’t fit the roles society has for them. They’re ‘cripples, bastards, and broken things’—a dwarf, a fat guy who can’t fight, a bastard, and women who don’t fit comfortably into the roles society has for them (though there are those who do—like Sansa and Catelyn). …I wanted my books to be strongly grounded in history and to show what medieval society was like, and I was also reacting to a lot of fantasy fiction. Most stories depict what I call the ‘Disneyland Middle Ages’—there are princes and princesses, and knights in shining armor, but they didn’t want to show what those societies meant and how they functioned. …To be non-sexist, does that mean you need to portray an egalitarian society? That’s not in our history; it’s something for science fiction. And 21st century America isn’t egalitarian, either. There are still barriers against women. It’s better than what it was. It’s not Mad Men any more, which was in my lifetime.”

Martin continues his thoughts here on women who have come up to him and proclaimed their admiration for a number of Martin’s central female characters, and to speak about how ignoring the commonality of rape in a world built around medieval war is, in his mind, fundamentally dishonest.

I think there is something to be said about his argument and the criticisms of both Game of Thrones and “A Song of Ice and Fire.”

As written in my review for the episode in question, there is a sad and brutal reality to women being married off to monstrous abusers who in society can hide behind wealth or privilege to commit horrendous and unforgivable acts. It isn’t even ancient history, as we see all too much in the news from Chinatown directors to sitcom dads.

I have sincere trouble grappling with calling either variation of this story “sexist” or “misogynist” since most of the best characters in the saga are women, often rebelling against the hegemonic and systematic abuse of society. Arya Stark is my favorite character bar none who despite losing her whole family is nobody’s victim; Brienne of Tarth is possibly the best swordsman in the epic storyline, preferring chainmail to silk and having bested the incredibly misogynistic Jaime Lannister and the self-admitted rapist Sandor Clegane in combat (at least on the TV series in the latter case); and Daenerys Targaryen is perhaps the series’ most iconic figure: a feminine and maternal presence who was sold into a warlord’s marriage bed in the show’s first episode, but quickly grew to outlive him and rule over a half-dozen conquered cities that were previously synonymous with the slave trade before her armies arrived.