A fellow author, a member of the twitter #writingcommunity group, has compiled a blog post of his own that amused me a great deal. He had asked other twitter and Goodreads readers/writers what they didn't like about men writing female characters. Most of the answers were about how much time men spend writing about the female character's body, particularly boobs. There were complaints about tropes (e.g. learning to love again) that are overused and two-dimensional characterizations.
I looked at the complete list and examined some of my own work. Recently Salem's Son featured a bevy of female antagonists. I think I had an advantage in writing that book from a first-person perspective. I didn't have to worry about the women examine themselves in the mirror or preparing for battle by stripping off their cumbersome dress. Nameless does seem to have a lot of female attention but I don't think I took it too far.
Sure, Rachael seduces the hero early on, she is Emily's rival of sorts or sees herself that way. Later she does appear naked but only to distract our hero for a moment. Our hero is an idiot and a young man so he falls for it but only mentions her breasts once specifically. More important was the character development parts I think.
So one of the complaints women had about reading female characters was that they had to be raped to be strong or that being strong meant they were not nurturing. The criticism that caught my attention was about fantasy settings. In a fantasy setting, women would be petite but hauling around tons of armor (neglecting only their cleavage and/or bottoms) and whip around huge swords. Obviously ridiculous. They were often like men just in a female body. Not enjoyable for female readers. I thought of Sigrunn's Saga.
Sigrunn is strong and nurturing. She marched to war but only wore light ceremonial armor, never carried a heavy shield and didn't use a large sword (she wore a short arming sword of the same type Joan of Arc was known to wear). She 'carried' a spear with her banner as her main weapon. When given a chance to be cruel and tyrannical she forgave those who had betrayed her to build bridges and spare families the loss of their fathers.
It was also a calculated political gamble that worked. She won loyalty and support for her reforms.
Another trope women complained about was that women had to be raped to be strong on the other side. Sigrunn was never raped, never tried to play at being a man, she was her own person. A healer by training. Unlike many female heroes that women complained about reading, Sigrunn was a mother. In a multi-generational saga, it's hard to imagine a strong female lead who was not. Her son narrates the tale. Only through her children is there even hope of ultimate success, were it not for her wise maternal instincts she would not be remembered.
What about her body? The narrator, her son would never describe her breasts of anything else when addressing his youngest (and favorite) daughter. He describes her only as 'willowy' and mentions her chest once, when she hugs him and holds his head against her chest there is a rent in her armor that cuts his face. He ignores the injury and fondly remembers the scar. I never see a reason to talk about her body or ascribe any unnecessary 'feminine' insecurities to her ruminations.
If you're 13-16 years old and told it's up to you to save the world, unite the kingdoms and survive a host of deadly rivals, you've got enough on your plate to worry about besides body sag or the like. Sigrunn is a wonderfully well designed female heroine, I think female readers can enjoy her, I should hope so, the Saga is dedicated to my daughter, and all the women that have brought love and light into my life. If they couldn't enjoy Sigrunn, then I would have done them a disservice.
Back to Salem's though where the women are the enemy. Why would I do that?
I explain it in great detail in the afterwords to the book. I exaggerate the women, with each displaying a particular negative aspect unique to themselves. They are caricatures intentionally written as they were, perhaps poorly, but also seen through the lens of a young man whose grip on reality is suspect at best. You see them as he sees them - incompletely and often through a drug and alcohol addled haze. No apologies for that. I do expand on some of the women's characters in the upcoming Harvester of Tomorrow.
HoT features another important female lead. The harvester herself, Debt. She is, however, a very incomplete soul at the beginning struggling to understand basic emotions and is not in any way a complete woman, she's not even an earthly spirit formed as an earthly woman. She's from the beyond. There are new women introduced as well, Penelope (Eppie) who is a gentle and kind spirit put through the wringer and her daughter Eva. Eva is an important character but seen only through her male companion's eyes, unfortunately. There are returning survivors from the first book whose lives we explore through their POV - and they won't be worried about their breasts.
I'll be keeping in mind some of these criticisms as I continue crafting HoT female characters - look for Harvester of Tomorrow soon. Right now I've got a job interview to prepare for (indie author's need day jobs) and I've got to get ready for a new screenwriting project I've signed on.
I looked at the complete list and examined some of my own work. Recently Salem's Son featured a bevy of female antagonists. I think I had an advantage in writing that book from a first-person perspective. I didn't have to worry about the women examine themselves in the mirror or preparing for battle by stripping off their cumbersome dress. Nameless does seem to have a lot of female attention but I don't think I took it too far.
Sure, Rachael seduces the hero early on, she is Emily's rival of sorts or sees herself that way. Later she does appear naked but only to distract our hero for a moment. Our hero is an idiot and a young man so he falls for it but only mentions her breasts once specifically. More important was the character development parts I think.
So one of the complaints women had about reading female characters was that they had to be raped to be strong or that being strong meant they were not nurturing. The criticism that caught my attention was about fantasy settings. In a fantasy setting, women would be petite but hauling around tons of armor (neglecting only their cleavage and/or bottoms) and whip around huge swords. Obviously ridiculous. They were often like men just in a female body. Not enjoyable for female readers. I thought of Sigrunn's Saga.
Sigrunn is strong and nurturing. She marched to war but only wore light ceremonial armor, never carried a heavy shield and didn't use a large sword (she wore a short arming sword of the same type Joan of Arc was known to wear). She 'carried' a spear with her banner as her main weapon. When given a chance to be cruel and tyrannical she forgave those who had betrayed her to build bridges and spare families the loss of their fathers.
It was also a calculated political gamble that worked. She won loyalty and support for her reforms.
Another trope women complained about was that women had to be raped to be strong on the other side. Sigrunn was never raped, never tried to play at being a man, she was her own person. A healer by training. Unlike many female heroes that women complained about reading, Sigrunn was a mother. In a multi-generational saga, it's hard to imagine a strong female lead who was not. Her son narrates the tale. Only through her children is there even hope of ultimate success, were it not for her wise maternal instincts she would not be remembered.
What about her body? The narrator, her son would never describe her breasts of anything else when addressing his youngest (and favorite) daughter. He describes her only as 'willowy' and mentions her chest once, when she hugs him and holds his head against her chest there is a rent in her armor that cuts his face. He ignores the injury and fondly remembers the scar. I never see a reason to talk about her body or ascribe any unnecessary 'feminine' insecurities to her ruminations.
If you're 13-16 years old and told it's up to you to save the world, unite the kingdoms and survive a host of deadly rivals, you've got enough on your plate to worry about besides body sag or the like. Sigrunn is a wonderfully well designed female heroine, I think female readers can enjoy her, I should hope so, the Saga is dedicated to my daughter, and all the women that have brought love and light into my life. If they couldn't enjoy Sigrunn, then I would have done them a disservice.
Back to Salem's though where the women are the enemy. Why would I do that?
I explain it in great detail in the afterwords to the book. I exaggerate the women, with each displaying a particular negative aspect unique to themselves. They are caricatures intentionally written as they were, perhaps poorly, but also seen through the lens of a young man whose grip on reality is suspect at best. You see them as he sees them - incompletely and often through a drug and alcohol addled haze. No apologies for that. I do expand on some of the women's characters in the upcoming Harvester of Tomorrow.
HoT features another important female lead. The harvester herself, Debt. She is, however, a very incomplete soul at the beginning struggling to understand basic emotions and is not in any way a complete woman, she's not even an earthly spirit formed as an earthly woman. She's from the beyond. There are new women introduced as well, Penelope (Eppie) who is a gentle and kind spirit put through the wringer and her daughter Eva. Eva is an important character but seen only through her male companion's eyes, unfortunately. There are returning survivors from the first book whose lives we explore through their POV - and they won't be worried about their breasts.
I'll be keeping in mind some of these criticisms as I continue crafting HoT female characters - look for Harvester of Tomorrow soon. Right now I've got a job interview to prepare for (indie author's need day jobs) and I've got to get ready for a new screenwriting project I've signed on.
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