fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #1271 ]

⌈ Secret Post #1271 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think what they are trying to say is that if you have a certain plot/storyline/setting in mind, sometimes it needs a certain sex character for that specific role. For example, if you wanted to write about Victorian England and some mystery/deceit/conspiracy plot about a person in power, it would be much harder to have the main character be female. It would also be hard to write about being on the front lines if that country's army doesn't allow females to serve in combat. There are also many settings and plots that would not work with a male as the main character unless they wanted to change a bunch of details around, and sometimes that's just not what you want to do as an author. Sure, these things can be done if you try hard enough (ie crossdressing, changing details/time periods, switching perspective to a side character, etc.) that could make the story interesting for other reasons, but it may change it drastically from their original idea.

And, well, if that's not what they're trying to say, I think that's a decent point either way.

My point was that you are absolutely NOT confined to only ever writing stories in which you ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE a male protagonist and anyone who claims they are is accomplishing misogyny.

Well, obviously. The majority of plots and characters are gender-reversible and anyone who tries to deny that is simply ridiculous. However, it's a bit ignorant to claim that it is always possible to have either a male or female as the protagonist, due to situations I already mentioned. I think this was just a case of misunderstanding.

I think what they are trying to say is that if you have a certain plot/storyline/setting in mind, sometimes it needs a certain sex character for that specific role.

That's how I read it. I'm a big fan of gender flips myself, but sometimes it just doesn't work. If you're writing about an organization that only allows men, as you said, like say the US Army Rangers in front-line combat, dude's gonna' have to be a man. Unless you are writing in an AU - in which case the US has reversed its rulings on women in combat, and thus necessitates a different American culture than the one that exists presently - or maybe in the future, at some point. Or perhaps a transgendered woman who isn't "out" yet, and can't ever admit to her true gender because they Army won't allow it. Or you could write a very similar story about a woman in Princess Patricia's Light Infantry - Canada's elite Army regiment, which does allow women in front-line combat. Either way, something's got to change. You're no longer writing about US Army Rangers of June 26th, 2010.

If you want to, he's gotta' be a dude. Sure it makes the US Army sexist, but it doesn't make the writer sexist. These are different things.

You worded that much better than I did. (:

Hah hah, thanks :3 One of my current fandoms deals with this issue, so that example is in the forefront of my mind. The US's SFOD-D doesn't allow women into the unit, and the game is about Delta force guys. There is one woman in the unit, but she's a communications liason, not a member of the team proper, even though she joins them on missions as part of the assault force and is as competent as they are. But as a result of the sexism in American society not zomg women have different brains and can't handle combat or whatever bunk has been assumed in this discussion, she has had a different experience than the men. First of all, her culture thinks differently of women who want to be soldiers than men. Second of all, she's not allowed to be part of the team proper, doesn't shower or change with them - she has had different experiences than the men, and denying her these experiences is irrational and misogynist :/ Her different experiences don't mean she's not an awesome soldier, just like the men.

Of course, if they were Canada's JTF-2 she would be part of the unit proper, and her experiences would be more similar to those of the men. But then they would be Canadians, not Americans, and their culture would be different.

Thank you. I like to write historical fiction about war and politics, myself. But even in situations where either a man or a woman can be featured, a man's story will be different from a woman's story, and I just tend to prefer the man's story.

I'm growing to prefer the woman's story, myself. Fun to root for the underdog, and all that. Plus it's a story less often told. If that makes you a misogynist, I suppose I'm a misandrist, now. Alas!

OH NO WE ARE BOTH SO SEXIST ;-;
Haha, yeah. I guess I take the easy way out by telling the man's story. For me, it's kind of like: I have to face discrimination myself in my own life and profession, I don't want to make my main character have to face it too. My main characters have enough to worry about.

Honestly, I think having a male protagonist who consciously acknowledges his own privilege - or grows to throughout the course of the story when confronted by it in the form of the women he interacts with, and respects them accordingly - is as helpful to the cause of feminism as a female protagonist.

That's a good point! I might try to do that.

[ SECRET POST #1271 ]

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