McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Hero vs. Heroine
Paynesgrey:
People in a dorm or barracks of either gender generally don't act the same way out on the street as they do in an enclosed environment. It's the difference between being at home in your living room and in the mall food court. Most everybody behaves differently in public, or at least puts on pants and (hopefully) doesn't keep sticking their hands down them for no good reason.
Whether the emotional and intellectual differences between genders result from genetic hardware, cultural software, or a bit of both... they do still exist. As do the basic concepts of masculinity and femininity, again taking culture and setting into account. A good writer can make a strong, female character like Murphy, or Zoe from Firefly, and depict that strength of will and martial prowess without having to rely upon masculine mannerisms to do so, like some sort of surface decal to show "Toughness." Just as a male can be depicted as being sensitive and thoughtful without making him effeminate (Captain Jack Harkness or Ethen from Ethan of Athos.) Outside a book where the culture's gender roles and mannerisms are intentionally different, or the author is actually intending to address gender traits and roles, I personally regard reliance on swapping out gender mannerisms as a cliche. The old "I'll make her pick her nose, swear and grab her crotch to show that she can kick ass" is for people who can't write a character like Cordelia Vorkosigan.
Nickeris86:
--- Quote from: Snowleopard on January 26, 2011, 05:01:47 PM ---I'm about to get slightly uncouth here so pardon.
If I read of a female character standing around scratching her (pardon) cr*tch, belching, and farting - and there was no realistic reason for her to be doing that. I'd think someone had just transfered a male character into a female skin.
Yes, a woman can be crass but usually in a different way than a guy. Men and women are the same but they also are very different. It's a paradox. It's on a case by case basis, Jeno. Some female warriors don't read any righter than the male ones, others read very true. Maybe it's not so much about what the character is written like as how I read the character. It could be a personal thing on my part.
--- End quote ---
i have to disagree with this statement because i know several girls who are more crude than a lot of the guys i know doing all the a fore mentioned actions regularity and with great gusto. the odd thing is that they still maintained a feminine attitude for the most part as well. the pot tom line is that people are gross no matter their gender. lol
I really need to read all the posts before i reply
Paynesgrey: I could not have said it better myself. there are key differences between men and women that are rooted into their genetics. yest a women can be stronger than a man, i know several that are, but on average a women will have less muscle mass than men, that's just biology. Women also store calories more efficiently than men, they need those calories for mothering healthy babies, and thus loose weight at a slower rate.
yes there are lots of social concepts that are imposed on women, and men for that matter, that predetermine their roles in society and yes it sucks but they do exist and do influence how your audience is going view your characters. if your characters aren't relate able to your readers then they just aren't going to want to read your book.
Snowleopard:
--- Quote from: Nickeris86 on January 27, 2011, 03:55:01 AM ---i have to disagree with this statement because i know several girls who are more crude than a lot of the guys i know doing all the a fore mentioned actions regularity and with great gusto. the odd thing is that they still maintained a feminine attitude for the most part as well. the pot tom line is that people are gross no matter their gender. lol
--- End quote ---
Note I said - if there was no realistic reason for her to be. Yes, I know girls can be just as crude as guys - it depends on the time and place. As PG said, if the writer just defaults to that to make the character seem like one of the guys then it doesn't read right.
Murphy doesn't do that and none of the cops she works with think any the less of her.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Snowleopard on January 26, 2011, 05:01:47 PM ---I'm about to get slightly uncouth here so pardon.
If I read of a female character standing around scratching her (pardon) cr*tch, belching, and farting - and there was no realistic reason for her to be doing that. I'd think someone had just transfered a male character into a female skin.
--- End quote ---
Being polite and civilised is female-specific ?
I don't, myself, find either polite male characters or crude female ones to read as poorly constructed for their gender. I can easily envision contexts in which characters of either sex could plausibly come out pretty much anywhere on that continuum, particularly given the way expectations of politeness vary in different strata of society, different parts of the world etc.
Snowleopard:
--- Quote from: the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh on January 27, 2011, 05:14:18 AM ---Being polite and civilised is female-specific ?
I don't, myself, find either polite male characters or crude female ones to read as poorly constructed for their gender. I can easily envision contexts in which characters of either sex could plausibly come out pretty much anywhere on that continuum, particularly given the way expectations of politeness vary in different strata of society, different parts of the world etc.
--- End quote ---
No, being polite and civilized is not female-specific. And as I said - again - if there's no specific reason for a female to be crude - it's lazy writing on the part of the author.
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