Is this anti-feminist?

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Anniexo, Jul 20, 2012.

  1. Iron Orchid

    Iron Orchid New Member

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    I don't think it sounds like anti-feminism, but I hate most feminists. I am most definitely and Equalist and Feminists have done lots to hurt their own cause over the years.

    With regards to the character, I think it's fine for a strong woman to have a weakness for romance and chivalry, it would make a nice change for her not to have to look after herself. I know I enjoy a good pampering from my man :)

    The MC in my novel is a fairly strong woman, yet she falls for a less than perfect, not really stereotypical macho man.
     
  2. Makeshift

    Makeshift Active Member

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    It's not about not giving women a chance to have interesting roles. They have a chance whenever someone writers one. You're making it sound like there's some sort of censorship going on. If you are saying a black man can't be portrayed as a drug dealer, then it is about painting them in a perfect light. Some black people(and people of other colours too) deal drugs and you think we should avoid having that in fiction? You say fiction plays a huge role in changing attitudes and therefore we should avoid or downplay certain things when writing. That is a clear case of having a political agenda, a desire to change the world with writing. I said we should just write interesting characters and not think about labels like race and gender etc. You were the one who thought the materialist's gender and the drug dealers skin colour WAS an issue. Liberal double-standards?
     
  3. Ettina

    Ettina Senior Member

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    To me, you sound more like a liberal feminist who hates radical feminists. Not all feminists are the same. All feminists as a group have in common is not wanting women to be treated as 'the inferior sex'. And there's a lot of feminists who don't know they're feminists, because they think all feminism is radical feminism (which I agree is a nutso kind of feminism).
     
  4. B93

    B93 Active Member

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    I don't like the Bechdel Test. My novel fails it. My secondary protagonist is a very capable woman who gets herself out of a bad situation while the main protagonist guy is running around trying to pull things together. Is it really necessary for her to converse with the other developed women characters that are there for the guy to interact with?
     
  5. Hettyblue

    Hettyblue Member

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    The bechdel test is designed to make you question what you are watching/ reading / writing. So if your novel doesn't pass but you are happy with it as it is then fine.

    My question would be does the female not interact with any female characters? Is there a good reason not to? If the female characters know each other then do they converse? If not why not? If they don't interact then who does she talk too? Is she a loner? It can helpful to look at what you have written from different perspectives.

    It always irritates me in an otherwise entertaining novel if the female characters when they interact, are relentlessly bitchy and mistrustful of each other while tolerant and forgiving of equally flawed males.
     
  6. Jack Montalto

    Jack Montalto New Member

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    I wouldn't place labels on your character and just write it the way you feel would make a good story. Regardless of how you try to present your characters, someone, somewhere will find something to label them as so try not to stress about it to much.
     
  7. Edward M. Grant

    Edward M. Grant Contributor Contributor

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    Because in the real world, most women go for men who are above them in the social hierarchy, whereas most men don't care. A successful male lawyer will happily marry the twenty-year-old blonde receptionist at the dealership that services his Porsche, but few successful female lawyers will marry the mechanic who services hers.

    That's not to say you can't put an exception in a story just as there are exceptions in real life, but unless you handle it well, it won't ring true.

    As for anti-feminist, one of my favourite characters in my stories is a confirmed misogynist after his wife cut his legs off, and works on a space freighter with three women because they're the only people in the solar system who'll put up with him. If feminists don't like it, they can read something else.
     
  8. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I'm a feminist. I assure you, you and everyone else are welcome to read whatever you darn well please, and I'm pretty confident that every other feminist on this thread would say the same.
     
  9. Thumpalumpacus

    Thumpalumpacus Alive in the Superunknown

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    This is both obvious, and uninformative. Also, there's a non sequitur in play here.
     
  10. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    She sounds like a perfectly believable character.

    I am a feminist and despite some misconceptions that all feminists are anti-men and despising of "rescue fantasy" most of us see feminism for what it is - a social movement that fights for equal rights under the law for women as well as men. It is also the reason why I can go to University, vote, divorce, marry whom I love and all other social justices we women now enjoy, and we did not prior to feminist movement. So thank you feminism, but that's all there is to it.

    Your character sounds like a lot of women, perhaps compensating with her attitude whilst deep down craving to be safe and taken care of. Most women need a hero, I know I do, it's just one aspect of female psychology. This is not to say that all women are like that, but you as a writer can and should tell stories you want, and not worry about pleasing everyone, because it is impossible :)
     

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