Hello, everyone!!! I'm new here, and I wanted to start my entrance off with a bang, with a brainstorming session! So, some of my favorite Sci-fi TV show episodes were always ones about the gender wars, about the often chaotic and sometimes violent relationships between the males and females of our often bizarre species. In the TV show "Sliders," for example, Quinn Malory and friends 'slide' into an alternate dimension where men are all but extinct, and valued extremely highly for reproduction and...sexual recreation. The men were treated as celebrities, and were imprisoned in gyms, forced to be "studs." And in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the U.S.S. Enterprise encounters a world where women were the dominant species on the planet, subjugating men, where Riker's strength and confidence, so unlike the males of her planet, "intrigues" their female leader. And in other episodes of the show, it is stated that in that nigh-utopian future, where physical needs are no longer a global concern, the power plays between men and women no longer exist, and are completely equal. Not only can the women freely wear the pants in that future, the men sometimes wear dresses (which is apparently called a "skant"). I am almost finished reading "Y: The Last Man" as part of my research, a comic series about a worldwide catastrophe that wiped out every single males on the planet, other than lowly English Major Yorick Brown, and his pet monkey Ampersand. And in that alternate world, bands of militant Amazons arose, desiring nothing more than to destroy all sperm banks, monuments, religions and anything else that had to do with Mankind's patriarchal power over "womyn" [sic]. Fighting and death arose as more and more women learned of Yorick's secret existence, showing that, quite possibly, women are little different than men, and will resort to violence and other terrible deeds in order to get what they want. I've always been interested in relationships, in figuring not only women out, but all of humankind. And this culmination of outside sources and experiences has resulted in this penultimate concept of all my life's endeavors (so far). Imagine: For centuries upon millennia, in the background (and sometimes in the foreground) of human existence, there has been a constant tug of war, an ebb and flow, of power and control between the sexes. Men have established a heavily patriarchal society over the centuries, ensuring their power over women, the so-called "weaker" sex. According to scientists, this dynamic occurred, supposedly, in our early days, when men were the hardier hunter-gatherers, and women the caretakers and the social networkers (so to speak). But what if, all those years ago, women instead took control, grabbed that power, and the world was made in their image, the "fairer image?" What would that world look like today? What would the religions look like? Business? Technology? Would we all be at peace, or would the world explode into violence once a month when the world leader's "lady time" kicks in? (That's just a joke, by the way, no misogyny intended!!!) Would the world be a utopia, or would it be little different than the mess we're in today? ... This is the premise of what I think is a fantastic idea, one that is extremely relevant to our times, where women almost outnumber men, and where our society is being subtly restructured to be more "women friendly." In an age where physical prowess, strength, hardiness, and risk-taking (usually the fields men excel in) is no longer necessary to survive, an age where social and mental needs are far more relevant and necessary, men's roles in our "enlightened age" are slowly being questioned more and more. This is especially true when you take into account the recent scientific studies that the Y chromosome, the home for all male-ness, may have possibly been growing weaker over the centuries, and just may be extinct altogether in a thousand years' time. This, of course, puts all new meaning on the term "gender wars," and alters the shift of power between the sexes. ... So! I post this here to ask you, fellow WritingForums.com posters, what your opinion on this matter is. I want to turn this idea into a story, whether it be a series of novels, a TV show (on AMC, preferably), or even a movie. I post this here as a brainstorm, and I want to hear your ideas!
I don't think society is being subtly restructured to be more "women" friendly. Chauvinism and out right sexism are simply becoming less tolerated in most western countries. However, this isn't true for a pretty large part of human civilization.
It's your story. Let it reflect your beliefs, your thoughts. All you will get from this thread is a mish mash of how everyone else would writer their story on the same theme. Don't be the John Kerry of writing, echoing public opinion polls as your position.
Well, I've been reading a book lately called "The Decline of Man," which raised a couple of interesting points so far, which led to this posting. And what I meant by "women friendly" is that the information world we now live in, a world of social networks and communication, is easily suitable for those who are better communicators, those better at multitasking, and those who are more socially empathetic, which (generally, of course) are usually feminine traits, traits that the average male isn't as good at. That's what I mean. Cogito - I'm not looking for a poll, per se, or something that's politically correct, but this complexity of this project, of what I'm trying to accomplish, is very large, and very, well, complex. Hence why I wanted to brainstorm this idea; I want as many people's opinions on this matter, as much input as possible. I want outside perspectives, and bizarre thoughts, and thought-provoking insight on this matter. Basically, I can't think of every possibility, so I want to hear as many as possible. knowhaddimean?
Yeah right, lol. A battle of the sexes will ALWAYS be present. Our only real advantage over woman is physical strength and the fact that we have institutionalized a sentiment of male dominance over millenia. But woman have been chipping at that psychological mold for centuries, and in this age where physical strength is only a factor among laborers, women are coming into their element.
@ SCK, you should really read this series called "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan. That whole male dominated world thing is quite effectively flipped on it's head there. Plus, it's just an awesome series. Never finished it, though...
This might be a strange suggestion, but I'd suggest reading the screenplay to Away We Go by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. It's available on Amazon and they did an incredible job finding a small problem and representing the modern male/female relationship from both sides. All the idiosyncrasies that can be hard for a writer crossing the aisle, so to speak, are fleshed out beautiful between the two writers. For me personally, there was so much beautiful subtext to each character, things that could easily be stereotypes in the hands of less careful writers. Just my thoughts
Gender politics is a difficult subject to write about well, and I remember those episodes of Startrek, and they were terrible! Gender is a social contruct, making people either masculine or feminine. Sex however is purely biological, i.e male and female but also there are no distinct variations. Perhaps read Judith Butlers - Gender Troubles. Also: But what if, all those years ago, women instead took control, grabbed that power, and the world was made in their image, the "fairer image?" That's just not how it worked - the fact is that human (i.e Homo sapiens) were the more successful homanoid for two social reasons - we lived in larger tribes and thus has power of numbers, but we also communicated her ideas and secondly that we were able to asign tasks and distributed tasks. Women were gatherers because they did not have to run or be in situations where they needed their mobility when they were pregnant. It ensured that ur species had more children and mothers that survived. Later ur society would then assign tasks within both groups, i.e some men fished, others hunted etc. This made up successful and we out competed our Neanderthal counterparts. It's important to realise that segragation of tasks within the genders ensured out survival. However assuming authority has nothing to do with the tasks at hand. Something is important because we make it important - not because it's inherantly so. Also there is no difference between genders - women are just as violent and men are just as moody. Because you think there are inherent differences other than birthing I suggest you brush up on your information. Also I wouldn't say the worlk is becoming more women friendly? This depends on where you live. Check out what's happening in the Congo? Or India? And how in many societies there are more men than women because male foetuses are being aborted before birth.
I don't understand why it always has to be one sex over the other. I'm also not sure if this is truly a gender issue (may be because society leans towards that) but, I wonder if at it's core, it's more about survival of the fittest than anything else, and why there will always be conflict between two human beings (regardless of sex). The only reason we do have more conflict in someways because of genders that yes, our bodies are different, and so we compensate for what we lack and strengthen what we have because we are just trying to survive. Literature, television, movies, etc., are full of gender biases, and not just male dominated gender biases but female dominated trends too. I mean I've read several books where females are living in a male dominated societies and are treated badly, but once the females forge an uprising and take dominance, they commit the same cruel acts that the men did and justify it out of revenge. That doesn't do shiz in my opinion. So what if the world was female dominated... does it make that much of a difference aside from perspective? There still will be oppression, there still will be male movements (like feminism) when men try to get the same rights we want. But if you want to turn it around and make the story of how the world is female dominated but we make it so that they males didn't go through the same hardships as females, then what kind f message is that sending in reality. That females are better than males? And if we don't put males down, they why is it still a female dominated society instead of gender neutral? I like exploring humanity, but dislike pitting sexes against each other. I also think that making two sexes constantly seeking dominance because of gender is contra-humanitarian. And in almost all cases that turn out for the better, two sexes always find the middle ground. It really doesn't make sense as to why the focus is made out to be gender (rather than something like personality) when you're going to compromise anyway. Wouldn't it be better to instead have two sexes work together instead of against each other while still meaning the core of their beings? I mean in reality, it's about personalty clashes and fighting societal norms and biases, is it not? Now what would be interesting is exploring the struggles of a transgendered person trying to weave their way through a society that is full of both male and female gender biases. <<< And yes, totally love this idea and am taking it.
I do know what you mean, and "brainstorming" a story idea is no different than a politician consulting public opinion polls to decide what his or her official position is. If you're a writer, do the work. Use your imagination. This is the easy part! Actually writing it, to effectively communicate your story and make it compelling, that's the hard part. You're not doing yourself any favors by leaning on other people to shape your story.
