some musings on gender bias and writing
(reposting from FB, with some additional thoughts under the cut...)
I came across this excellent article and discussion (hah, yeah, the comments are actually worth reading!) http://writerunboxed.com/2016/08/06/the-problem-with-female-protagonists/
I've been a longtime reader, but also lately getting more interested/dabbling in writing. And I very much have the same biases, despite being a feminist and a woman, probably for some of the reasons brought up in that discussion. This discussion made me reevaluate how I'm envisioning characters, the roles, and the sheer space (word count?) they get, and how I could work against the bias rather than reinforcing it - on this particular dimension, of all tropes and biases in fiction. It's hard to leave one's comfort zone though, however false and harmful it may be.
I read a lot as a kid, and I loved adventure stories and mysteries. Unsurprisingly mostly male protags. I wonder how much this actually affected my own perception of gender as well as my preferences and ability to relate to protagonists or characters of a particular gender. At present I read books about both male and female characters, and do not base my decision to read something on the gender of the character. I remember as a kid I had vivid dreams with convoluted stories and I often perceived myself as male in those - from stuff I've read, it's not that unusual, but what do I know.... I never particularly rejected my own self-image as a woman, even if I don't conform to all sorts of feminine stereotypes. So when I start writing - why then am I more drawn to writing male characters? is it just that bias? is it some reflection of deeply buried personal gender identity? is it a curiosity to explore the "other side"? I feel like I have more questions than answers.
Either way, I have to balance writing what is interesting to me, with writing it in a way that doesn't reinforce these kind of gender representation and role imbalances "by default", just because I didn't think about it. I feel pretty strongly that anything I contribute should improve the quality of whatever similar writing is out there, and do better than the average or raise reader standards, I guess. Meaning, not be another brick in the wall of literature that simply reflects the institutionalized biases of our society. This kind of issue is part of it, and I haven't really examined it like this before. I suppose when I don't have to actively and intentionally examine my writing (or whatever) for this, that will be the day there is no more sexist bias. Hah.
I came across this excellent article and discussion (hah, yeah, the comments are actually worth reading!) http://writerunboxed.com/2016/08/06/the-problem-with-female-protagonists/
I've been a longtime reader, but also lately getting more interested/dabbling in writing. And I very much have the same biases, despite being a feminist and a woman, probably for some of the reasons brought up in that discussion. This discussion made me reevaluate how I'm envisioning characters, the roles, and the sheer space (word count?) they get, and how I could work against the bias rather than reinforcing it - on this particular dimension, of all tropes and biases in fiction. It's hard to leave one's comfort zone though, however false and harmful it may be.
I read a lot as a kid, and I loved adventure stories and mysteries. Unsurprisingly mostly male protags. I wonder how much this actually affected my own perception of gender as well as my preferences and ability to relate to protagonists or characters of a particular gender. At present I read books about both male and female characters, and do not base my decision to read something on the gender of the character. I remember as a kid I had vivid dreams with convoluted stories and I often perceived myself as male in those - from stuff I've read, it's not that unusual, but what do I know.... I never particularly rejected my own self-image as a woman, even if I don't conform to all sorts of feminine stereotypes. So when I start writing - why then am I more drawn to writing male characters? is it just that bias? is it some reflection of deeply buried personal gender identity? is it a curiosity to explore the "other side"? I feel like I have more questions than answers.
Either way, I have to balance writing what is interesting to me, with writing it in a way that doesn't reinforce these kind of gender representation and role imbalances "by default", just because I didn't think about it. I feel pretty strongly that anything I contribute should improve the quality of whatever similar writing is out there, and do better than the average or raise reader standards, I guess. Meaning, not be another brick in the wall of literature that simply reflects the institutionalized biases of our society. This kind of issue is part of it, and I haven't really examined it like this before. I suppose when I don't have to actively and intentionally examine my writing (or whatever) for this, that will be the day there is no more sexist bias. Hah.