Hi all! I'm grateful that you've been following Mark and his adventures in "Spanish Trace." When I first workshopped this story at a writing conference years ago, the man who was my "personal" conference (an editor of a magazine I can't remember-- thank you, repression!) found the misogyny in the story "repulsive and disgusting and I was shocked to find out it was written by a woman." This brings to mind Charles' post at http://charlesgramlich.blogspot.com/ on writing groups and gender politics, i.e., can a man portray a woman and can a woman write in the voice of a man. I certainly hope so. Any opinions here on the issue? I'll be posting more of the story tomorrow. Until then, happy Saturday!
7 comments:
Hi Michelle!
Personally, I think either gender can write the opposite
gender well if they have an unbiased view and a realistic approach. I'm finding your male character believable, and your story interesting.
Hve a good saturday and a good Sunday as well!
I pretty much said it all on Charles' post. I think it comes down to the reader more than the writer (at least in some cases.)
I go through periods where I'll say yes, and then where I'll say no. I think it would be very interesting to do a double blind study on the subject, and just maybe I'll do that.
I wonder if the ability to write cross gender has anything to do with which parent was dominant when the writer was growing.
While I am very comfortable writing in either gender, I find myself tending more towards the strong female character.
At times it is hard not to marginalize the male characters. *sigh*Musta been a momma's boy. ;-}
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Because the male point-of-view is ubiquitous in culture, as a general rule I think female writers write more convincingly cross-gender than male writers do. Ultimately, I believe that women and men are more alike than different and that narrating successfully cross-gender lies in finding the common ground. It would probably be a mistake for me, a male writer, to introduce my female point-of-view character to the reader in the act, say, of putting on her bra.
Yes I think it can be done.
I think that the author should not, try to overstate the characters,in other words don't assume how a Man thinks or how a woman thinks.
Maybe research on both sides should be done before the author starts to write,hang around with the girls and hope they don't hold back on the language and issues, and the same goes for the men. I guess one should really try to see the others point of view.
But at last my dear,I don't what the hell I am talking about.
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