More About Writing Women - for my own curiosity. :)

[ficwize]

So, my curiosity knows no bounds. I'm interested to see if my perception is skewed, admitting that my perception is based on a self-selected group of friends and communities on my flist.

So, if you don't mind answering this poll, I'd appreciate it. Also, if you want to pimp it to your flist, I'd be curious to see a large sample of answers.

Thanks!



ETA: Please assume that the "/" mark does not indicate sexual relationships unless otherwise indicated. So if you write a mixture of canon male and canon female characters, please check canon male/canon female. Thanks and sorry for any confusion!

[Poll #1249139]

Comments

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I hope I got the point of your questions -- anyway. My main fandoms are mostly mixed gender or male oriented (Harry Potter, SGA) but even with all that, I tend to write mostly the female characters in those with a hefty dash of male characters too/around.

(edited to add a case in point -- I've recently started writing NCIS, and in spite of the very male cast and angle of the show, I have focused almost exclusively on the women - Jenny, Abby and Ziva)

The exceptions are Gilmore Girls and Buffy, which are very female oriented, obv.

(Also, I don't write sex, so that maybe should remove me from the last Q. But I answered anyway :)

Edited to add more as it occurs to me -- Being female, I think I find myself focusing more on women in these shows as I watch, so when I start ficcing, that's where my attention has lain.

See? Now you have given me thinky thoughts.

[ficwize.livejournal.com]

I like when you have thinky thoughts. It's more fun that way!

The questions were sort of deliberately vague, because I'm interested in your peception of fandom, not mine. For example, you defined SGA as a predominantly male fandom, and someone else said that they believed it to be predominantly female.

Different perceptions of the same show are fascinating. Both of you write the women characters, so that doesn't explain it. I'm not sure what does (nor am I sure it matters). It's just interesting.

The femmeslash question was based off left over thoughts from the recent femmeslash ficathon (which I didn't particiapte in and cannot remember the name of), but a lot of the participants commented on the relative unracy ratings (lots of PG/PG13). The comment was made (by who, I don't remember) that if it had been a m/m slash fest, there would likely have been much higher ratings overall.

That made me think that a lot of the participants were writing because they were stretching their wings and wanted to try and write women. I could be (and likely am) wrong, but it interested me enough that I still recall that. *lol*

Anyway, I'm intrigued by the fact that you focus on women characters even in "male" fandoms. If you don't mind telling me, do you find that the women characters tend to be drawn well? Or do you write them to provide them more of a backstory/reality of their own?

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thinking some more.

So, in no particular order, the reason I class SGA as male is because both the show and large swaths of fandom are about the male characters - Mostly Sheppard and McKay. And (this is a big and) the show itself is very male-oriented -- aliens, guns, the military, action. I should caveat this by saying I'm not counting myself as being priced out of the show by dint of my being a chick - I like action and guns and the military, but I still consider these to be more male-oriented of my interests.

More on this area - in my readings and in my interests, I do cast the male/female markers about without putting any positive/negative weight on them. It might be my French language background, but to me, things can be masculine (le soleil) or feminine (la chat) as a matter of nomenclature. True, a lot of these things are historical and culturally weighted (military is for men, as one gross example) but it's more of a mental shortcut for me.

Same thing with NCIS. A male cast and male relationships, about cops and crime.

Now that I give this more thought, I think I tend to case action-oriented shows as more male (crime shows, sci fi show) and relationship shows as more female. Buffy is actiony, but with such a high female cast it's more female in my mind.

The femmeslash thing... I dunno. I think I saw it somewhere that one of the reasons straight female authors can write male slash because it's really about where their interests lie (men having sex) whereas femmeslash isn't in their areas of interest so it's less interesting. The flip of why men like lesbian porn but not gay porn.

As for the women characters I write - they tend to have a lot of unexpressed backstory I want to explore (Ziva in Agent Afloat Atlantis), or have growth potential I want to exploit (Rory in Physics of the Spin). All the characters I write are strong, or at least they are when I write them. I cannot abide uninteresting people (in fics, shows or life). If a character is written drably but played well, I do focus on them (like Elizabeth in SGA -- she wasn't really all that exciting in the first season, but I could watch Torri watch paint dry) to a certain extent.

One reason I pick strong characters is because I write crossovers -- I don't have the time or the energy to make them better people on screen. I need them up and running when the buzzer sounds.

I will provide interesting characters with backstory if I find them interesting, and that is usually because there's a spark of something there (hidden backstory) or the actress makes the character interesting (Jenny on NCIS for example... not really the most sympathetic character... well, ever, but I really liked how Lauren Holly played her and the power struggle with Gibbs onscreen)

and OMG I can go on. Have I cleared things up or am I making things incoherent?

[ficwize.livejournal.com]

You're very coherent. And make interesting points.

I agree about not abiding uninteresting characters and your comments about not having the energy or desire to make them more interesting people when you write them than they are when they are on screen.

You also make a good point about most large fandoms being sort of male oriented (military, fighting, conflict). There are lots of criticisms about women in these shows being too masculine.

Lots more to think about! Thanks!

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

There are lots of criticisms about women in these shows being too masculine.

But the thing is that women who work in those areas (the military, foreign service, law enforcement, even the more male-dominated areas of academia) behave "more masculine". It may be part of the patriarchy blah blah, but it's a fact. I know; I've worked in several of those areas and if a woman wants to move up in the ranks or whatever, she just keeps in step with the guys around her.

It sucks, but it *is* and that reality can't (well, shouldn't) be ignored.