I've come across many people who have a problem with it as long as the author is aware of it. Because that awareness is reflected in the writing. It's more the case of unconscious bias that can lead to pitchfork-wielding mobs knocking on your door. An author's job is to be aware of the tone of his/her every word, and bias, of any kind, blinds them to it. Writers start revealing things without knowing it and readers can sense what belongs to the story and what belongs to the author...That's why, it seems to me, a writer like Stieg Larsson could write about horrific violence against women without anyone having a problem with it (at least as far as I'm aware of)
Jurij,
What a clear definition author intrusion. I didn't learn about that until I got on this site and a writer pointed out to me. I had a few left leaning political views that seeped into my writing. They would just appear out of nowhere and have nothing to do with the plot. I don't think I need to explain to you why Stieg Larsson wrote those scenes, but just to clarify your point: he did that so no one would be sympathetic to the men when the girl fucked them up. lol
Everyone's talking about how men write women and given how that writing has historically impacted culture, it's no wonder.
This reminded me of Jack Nicholson's character in As Good As It Gets when he's asked how he writes women: I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability. When I first heard that, even though I laughed, it was true picture of how some men see women.
The other day I was talking to my girlfriend and she said, ''Society expects men to be strong, and women to be perfect.''
First, SMART GIRLFRIEND! Someone, a non-famous female, once said, "All the men I fall in love with are fictitious." And that pretty much sums up my love life!
But as for the rest , I am guilty of that in my novel. My main characters are attractive, and the men are strong, while only one of the women is perfect. In the next novel in the series, I am going to try and show a more human side to my male characters, however I don't know how to get around not making the men handsome and the women beautiful. It seems to me that no one wants to read about an ugly character unless they bloom into a beauty at the end. I think we have to remind ourselves we are writing fiction, and if we wanted to reflect real life we would write non-fiction.
See, women will write wildly imperfect male characters, but no matter how low they fall, most of the time these male characters have a strong sense of purpose in life and/or an ability/skill that is unquestionable to the reader even if the character doubts it.
JK Rowling under the name of Robert Galbraith writes a character named Cormoran Strike who is a one legged Iraq war vet PI who is an emotional trainwreck but has the uncanny ability to solve crimes the police can't. While I gave my protagonist a lot of emotional baggage, it's nothing compared to Strike, whose childhood and recent break up with his long time girlfriend drips off of every sentence. I love JK Rowling, but to read her Strike novels is like trying to swim through mud. The only reason I stay with them is the murders are meticulously planned and I, having read many, many crime and mystery novels, never guess who the murderer is.
So, while it maybe true women turn away from the strong silent type of man, there are women like me who stick with it because the underlying plot is so good.
As a writer, I have that same gigantic blind-spot and the more I read the works of others, the more I see I'm not the only one, and I can't help but wonder how I can better bridge the gap between the two perspectives to make my work more... integrated, shall we say?
Good attitude! I enjoyed reading your post, feel free to butt in at any time!
dags 