Comments | baratron: Bad feminist. No biscuit.

baratron

Bad feminist. No biscuit.

Nov 12, 2012 14:24

I realised last night, I'm on page 37 of my novel and there hasn't been a single female character yet. Not one with actual dialogue. One's mentioned in passing and the other is a horse - I hardly think this counts. The only exception would be if you don't know that I Only Write Slash and assume that the first-person narrator is a woman. Damn ( Read more... )

bifest, disability, nanowrimo, writing, fiction, bisexual activism, gender

Comments 8

firecat November 12 2012, 23:36:59 UTC

I assume that writing the characters gender switched isn't an appealing option?

baratron November 12 2012, 23:58:55 UTC

Empress Martina Septim? The thought of that makes my brain break.

To borrow stellarwind's description, "That makes me think of one of those over-sexualized RPG female characters - but STILL WITH SEAN BEAN'S VOICE ( ... )

firecat November 13 2012, 04:55:37 UTC

I totally want to see fic about retired soldier nuns with swords under their habits. :)

That aside, I think you should write your fic exactly the way you want it even if it doesn't have female characters. Writing exactly what you please is feminist in and of itself.

elynne November 12 2012, 23:57:41 UTC

If you can, plan a future scene in which two female characters have an important conversation? Hmm. Is there some kind of female administrator, house/clan leader, ambassador, or something, who can have a conversation with the bodyguards?

I'm very sorry to hear about your pain, and I hope it clears up as soon as possible.

baratron November 13 2012, 01:04:01 UTC

It's rather difficult since the story is entirely in the first person, so any such conversation would have to be observed by Alix (the narrator) without him taking part in it... Also, I can only think of one combination of characters that it would work for, and it wouldn't be a very long conversation, and would not pass the Bechdel Test due to being about a man :S

Damn.

treacle_well November 13 2012, 01:48:51 UTC

Would it be possible at some point for Alix to have some kind of encounter/conversation with one of the the woman he moans about, that would give them a bit of depth and perhaps some background that would show some of that annoyingness/incompetence from a different perspective. I'm thinking, for example, some kind of insight to experience and personality that would make "only cares about her own research" be an over-simplified observation, and the truth being more complex and feminism-friendly.

baratron November 13 2012, 02:50:20 UTC

Alix, at the back of my mind, says "If I'm going to have an indepth conversation with any woman, I'd rather that she was competent and friendly than incompetent and annoying!". When everyone in that branch of the Mages Guild moans about the guildhall head for the same reason, including other women, you know it's not just sexism. She sent a really low-level mage off to live in a cave by himself for months on end because his research was "smelly", and then he got trapped there by monsters that were too powerful for him, poor sod! The characters that Alix moans about really are unbearable ( ... )

treacle_well November 13 2012, 03:02:39 UTC

Yes, there's writing, and then there's editing and rewriting. For now, just do the writing--go with the story's organic growth. When you finish it, if you still like the story enough to spend more time with it, and feel up to re-reading it with a critical eye and getting feedback from others, that's the time to think about what parts need tweaking or deletion, or addition, or substantial reworking. And if you're happy with it after all without changes, then that's fine too.