Need a little advice on a conflict I'm about to write. The scene: Medieval fantasy world. Two members of two different military companies run into each other in the market of a small town. But these two are from the elite military units- the Beast Riders. AKA, soldiers who ride mythological beasts (think gryphon, hippogriff, pegasus, hellhound, and a few others I made up). One is a man. There are many Beast Rider companies that are male-only and are respected and looked up to. The other is a woman. There is one female Beast Rider company, and though they used to be respected, they have fallen from grace due to the new king disliking them and spreading slanderous rumors about them. (so, not really their fault). The units dislike one another despite being on the same team. The characters are in their low-to-mid twenties. How can I create a conflict between these two that doesn't degrade into juvenile boys vs girls, "nany nany boo boo" kind of insults?
It's too broad to say without understanding how the characters think. I will, however, note that the female character in your case has more to lose if she starts anything. If she has been discredited in the eyes of her people, it is in her best interests to remain on her best behaviour in a public place.
Just a personal note: If I was writing this, I'd write it as two integrated units, one with a male leader and one with a female leader.
I've got them broken down into individual companies. The Wild Roses is the female company and there are several different male companies, each led by their own captain and chain of command. Each company runs itself internally, but the king and his military advisers direct the companies movements and missions and such.
The previous queen had established the Wild Roses with the idea they would eventually integrate once the males grew to accept them and work together with them more. She was assassinated before this idea could come to fruition, so at the time of my MC's adventure, the companies still remain separated. The new king wants to disband them but needs the approval of his council to do so, and he is not yet firm enough in his power to go against the council. Hence him slandering them in the hopes that he can sway more votes to his side. The sexism the Wild Roses face plays an important role in my MC's story arc. Part of what she sets out to do involves returning the Roses to favor.
So maybe make it clear that some of the men and women on each side do see soldier-loyalty as more important than gender-conflict (even if a lot of them are more old fashioned)? In stories like this, I see the "demographic versus demographic conflict" itself as one of the antagonists of the main conflict.
Yes, I agree. As an ex-soldier myself, I experienced my fair share of sexism, and it's never ALL of one side vs ALL of the other. I actually just finished writing the conflict scene, and I ended up making the male a hothead and the female cool and witty. She humiliated him without actually doing anything wrong, but this goaded him into nearly attacking her. His sergeant came along and reprimanded him, then also told her to not provoke those who are looking for a fight. As she is walking away with my MC, she(the rider) explains to her (the MC who is a wannabe Rider) that there are good ones and bad ones and the sergeant is one of the good ones. (IE, he has the soldier-loyalty you were mentioning)
That sounds like a compelling scene, maybe even inspiring for your MC. I like the intrigue angle of the other Riders being torn between their loyalty to the king and camaraderie with the Roses under his predecessor.
That kind of reminds me of the Maidens of the Spear in the wheel of time universe. I like it a lot and to me your idea of the witty female vs hothead male is a very good recipe for confrontation. The man (who could be a lesser Rider than the female, if such things can be measured) could try to compensate/deny his shortcomings by trying to humiliate her. By being cleverer, she could anger him just by winning most of the exchanges until sh*t hits the fan. I would be on-board with something like that. Especially if they have some kind of a background of rivalry or plain dislike.