tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post1906988145672759014..comments2024-03-28T12:40:14.627+00:00Comments on MOODY WRITING: Female Characters in Fictional Rolesmooderinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-83390821667671132812013-09-02T13:07:58.682+01:002013-09-02T13:07:58.682+01:00@Elise - Dragon with smoky bacon breath? I imagine...@Elise - Dragon with smoky bacon breath? I imagine people would be lining up to get breathed upon.<br />mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-78741288113956387812013-09-02T00:31:24.607+01:002013-09-02T00:31:24.607+01:00This is the first time I've heard of the Bechd...This is the first time I've heard of the Bechdel Test but I'm happy to discover my wip passes with flying colors, though I understand this has no bearing on the quality (or lack thereof), of my ms. Nonetheless, it seems I can now kiss off the larger part of male readers for my unfinished-and-probably-never-to-be-published book. Maybe I need to add a dragon and some bacon in thereāor not. And yes, we still have a long way to go as a society. Sometimes, I feel like we're going backwards. Elise Fallsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14734537117333738468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-9630619425083229582013-09-01T09:06:47.842+01:002013-09-01T09:06:47.842+01:00@Julia - i agree but the most influential person i...@Julia - i agree but the most influential person in a child's life tends to be a woman, which is the sad thing.<br /><br />@Karla - Men aren't interested in the things women are. It's nothing to do with being uncomfortable, they just find it boring. That's not to say women are boring, I'm talking about the stuff they get up to in books. Dan and Bill both want to go out with you? Make a decision and move on.<br /><br />@Lydia - Hopefully one day most films will pass the test.mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-71349149242103028372013-08-30T15:14:27.586+01:002013-08-30T15:14:27.586+01:00I hadn't heard of this test, but I confess I l...I hadn't heard of this test, but I confess I like it. However, I agree that some scenarios it just isn't a proper test, like Pacific Rim. Lydia Kanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00484415427764822386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-60608831036380411182013-08-30T08:12:06.955+01:002013-08-30T08:12:06.955+01:00Going off what Beverly said...
There's somethi...Going off what Beverly said...<br />There's something that makes guys uncomfortable or disinterested in when it comes to reading/seeing something that has a female MC. Maybe they think they can't relate to it. However, females are more apt to reading/seeing things that have a male MC. It might be because this world is dominated by males and we are so used to it that it is almost natural or maybe we just go with the flow. <br />My brain is shifting to Rom-Coms. Centered on females, mostly, right? When they interact with other females, you're right, it is about boys, boys, and boys. This is very unlike male-centered movies where the men engage in various other conversations. You know...I didn't watch the movie Spring Breakers (with Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens), but I have a feeling it was the female version of The Hangover. And if that was the case, how did it challenge the notions of today?<br />Great post!Karla Gomezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17462097054509737042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-68295957500869890902013-08-29T23:25:06.492+01:002013-08-29T23:25:06.492+01:00This is a thought-provoking post.
The root of thi...This is a thought-provoking post.<br /> The root of this bias that you expose here starts in childhood. Think about the story of Cinderella and other fairy tales that I think are ridiculous. What is the final outcome? Each woman seems to need her "prince" to feel complete. We all have been raised with this nonsense in our heads.<br /> Dare I say it? I'm sick of it.<br /><br />Julia Honeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08497316179340178624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-38745677513697403982013-08-28T13:21:55.904+01:002013-08-28T13:21:55.904+01:00@Beverly - it does seem that in real life this als...@Beverly - it does seem that in real life this also happens, for example Margaret Thatcher did nothing for women.<br /><br />@Jay - i think it's also got to do with the romance quotient that is sometimes de rigeur in female led stories.<br /><br />@Leigh - so little change after so many years is the really startling thing to me.<br /><br />@Brandon - female characters do turn up (now and again) but they tend to be isolated, which is the strange thing.<br /><br />@Rachna - i think it is true that men don't enjoy female romantic fiction, which a lot of female led stories have.<br /><br />@Beth - it isn't necessary, but there should be a reason why the women don't talk to each other.<br /><br />@Lexa - coincidentally the 1979 movie referenced in the original comic strip was Alien.<br /> mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-9062468136901894982013-08-28T04:16:51.409+01:002013-08-28T04:16:51.409+01:00I'd never heard of the Bechdel test or really ...I'd never heard of the Bechdel test or really thought about it in terms of what I write. I hate swooning women. Perhaps this is why the Alien series is one of my favorites. Resident Evil, too. I'll think about this test more in the future. Thanks. Great post! :-)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735576044552810103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-43473097653444038302013-08-27T22:28:00.817+01:002013-08-27T22:28:00.817+01:00Well said! I'm guilty of creating settings th...Well said! I'm guilty of creating settings that are almost exclusively male, but I think that's at least partly because I relate to them more.<br /><br />I've been trying really, really hard to make my stories pass the Bechdel Test anyway, but you're right in pointing out that it isn't necessary. If it doesn't move your plot forward, cut it.Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13549006366499776700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-4614835218438970712013-08-27T17:25:30.822+01:002013-08-27T17:25:30.822+01:00Interesting post Moody. I had heard that books tha...Interesting post Moody. I had heard that books that have just female characters lose out on the male audience as most men do not want to read women-centric books.<br /><br />For me personally I don't believe in that theory or follow it in my writing. I have written two books: one has a female protagonist and the other a male one.Rachna Chhabriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900999965919504282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-59177843272620623752013-08-27T03:23:11.512+01:002013-08-27T03:23:11.512+01:00When I went to write Elemental, I went to write so...When I went to write Elemental, I went to write someone who happened to be female. I get asked a lot is it hard to write from a female perspective. I always think...they are people too, just like me.<br /><br />Not saying there might not be certain things that will happen to a women character that won't happen to man or vice versa. I still think that we all are happy, all fear and all go through a gambit of emotions. I always try to write people as people.Brandon Axhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027731412064014586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-39912118906317383772013-08-27T00:39:59.376+01:002013-08-27T00:39:59.376+01:00So interesting and crazy how it's so true.So interesting and crazy how it's so true.Leigh Covingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16377634002477171615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-83338619086519685352013-08-26T23:08:32.309+01:002013-08-26T23:08:32.309+01:00Huh. That's is so very interesting and sad. I ...Huh. That's is so very interesting and sad. I do know there is a double standard that Beverly above talks about.<br /><br />When I was a high school English teacher, my female students had no problems reading a book where the protagonist was a male. Yet, the male students had major issues reading a book written by a female and/or had a female protagonist.<br /><br />I think it's because females are better able to relate to whatever is put in front of them. Guys just are not.Jay Noelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04757777693161610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-49559565398525659442013-08-26T22:00:25.879+01:002013-08-26T22:00:25.879+01:00The Mako Mori premise isn't new - this is how ...The Mako Mori premise isn't new - this is how women have been able to get around the "woman in a man's world" meme for thousands of years. "I'm not like other women," "An exception that proves the rule," type of thing. Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, Eva Peron, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Margaret Thatcher - we can have ONE powerful woman, but ONLY one, and she has to be seen as being different from other women (though NOT as a lesbian) and surrounded by men.<br /><br />Why? In real life, I find women quite interesting - and so do most men. But can you imagine Harriet Potter, with two female sidekicks and a single male, non-gay friend, being such a blockbuster? For whatever reason, men/boys are uncomfortable with female-centric stories and movies, and women are willing to accept whatever crumbs that fall from the table. IMO, this is why the romance genre is so huge; most stories feature a strong woman and her friends, as well as love interest, not simply a boy and his toys. (Though some of the older romances and even some more recent ones feature a helpless dithering female "saved" by the hero.)Beverly Diehlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00392288953821757887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-21119067370901181372013-08-26T20:24:53.622+01:002013-08-26T20:24:53.622+01:00@Alex - there is no reason why a story has to have...@Alex - there is no reason why a story has to have women in it, but it's surprising just how many go that route. mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-13291106971573687612013-08-26T18:05:12.364+01:002013-08-26T18:05:12.364+01:00I admit there aren't many women in my books, b...I admit there aren't many women in my books, but in the first one, they didn't exist in the scenario I created. (As in, they weren't pilots for a reason I reveal in the second book.)Alex J. Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09770065693345181702noreply@blogger.com