Something that's really starting to bug me.

[qualapec]

The idea that it's perfectly okay to say "I'm just not interested in male characters" without being called misandrist, but "I'm just not interested in female characters" will bring accusations of misogyny almost definitely.

Something doesn't add up.

Ignoring the fact that misandry and misogyny are horribly overused and, I feel, misrepresented, either

Comments

[eldrfire]

I think you brought up something interesting

[qualapec]

That is a good point. I don't think it's necessarily the root of my issue, but that raises a significant point. Sexism does exist - there's no question about that, but the climate can be highly over reactive. However, it's hard to determine whether those are valid complaints or are, themselves, based in early-ingrained sexism

[eldrfire]

When you compare a Russian woman to an American woman, they've still both been socialized differently. The Russian woman was just socialized in a more gender-egalitarian way, but she is still shaped by her society.

For a character, being shaped by society includes rejecting what that society told you, but the fact that you had to react against it is part of your character.

If you switch a person's time periods, I think it would change them... I mean, as the writer you have control over that, but when dealing with real people things that seem normal at one time aren't at another... For example, an atheist character would have a lot harder time in 15th century Europe than in 21st century Europe. That shapes their beliefs and their character...

[eldrfire]

Wait sorry, that anonymous comment is mine; I forgot to log in

[qualapec]

Ah, no worries.

I definitely understand what you're saying, but I also think it ties into the dichotomy between character driven works and plot driven works. A lot of historical fiction bugs me because the characters strike me as incredibly unoriginal and entirely defined by their time period, which will always bore me. I'd rather write about an incredible person, who might not be realistic, than another story about the court of Tudor England (where, frankly, all the characters seem the same to me). It becomes more about what we think the time period was like than our own writing or even what it was really like.

For a character, being shaped by society includes rejecting what that society told you, but the fact that you had to react against it is part of your character.This part I do very much agree with. My MC for my novel is VERY MUCH rejecting his societal standards, and that's a very significant part of his character and what makes him who he is. To that extent, I agree completely. Where I draw caution is the idea that the