Equal Opportunity

Equal Rites examines the quest for equal opportunity for males and females to practice magic on magical Discworld. At the start of the novel, the situation is a rigidly enforced "separate but equal." Males and females both accept the myth and create stereotypes that reinforce it. It is taken for granted that males deal with numbers and hard facts and try to manipulate time and space, while women deal with Reality as it presents itself. Male have more fun being wizards, while women offer practical applications in midwifery and healing potions.

Wizardry is a strict caste. Only the eighth son of eighth sons has the possibility of joining the ranks, primarily by attaching to an experienced wizard as his protégé. Those who make the grade can be sponsored to Unseen University. Those who graduate become full wizards with all the prestige that attends the position, while...