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Women Describe Themselves As Male Authors Would, And ‘Stranger Things’ Star Has The Best Response
Creative writing is challenging. As well as crafting an engaging, well researched and coherent story, one must also create interesting and believable characters that readers can find an emotional connection with.
If this viral Twitter thread is anything to go by, it seems that many male authors are struggling to create female characters that women can empathize with. This particular discussion began after author Gwen C. Katz tweeted:
“A male author is insisting that he is living proof that it's possible for a male author to write an authentic female protagonist.”
She then proceeded to present his cringeworthy, boob-heavy example, which only served to reinforce her point. Although it absolutely is possible for men to write realistic female narrators, this is definitely not a good example.
The tweet kicked off a challenge: “Describe yourself like a male author would.” People jumped on board with glee, writing brilliantly creative and funny offerings that are as eye-opening as they are entertaining.
Because while the thread is absolutely hilarious for its comedy portrayals, it also highlights the frustration that many women feel about the way they are viewed by men. Women are people first of all, and the overly sexualized lens that many guys view them through is both unrealistic and unwelcome. Male authors like Katz's unnamed example, who project their physically-focused ideals onto their female characters are deserving of this kind of mockery. That said, men need not be afraid to write from a female perspective. They just need to do it well!
Scroll down below to read some of our favorite examples from the thread, and let us know what you think in the comments!
This discussion began after author Gwen C. Katz tweet:
She then presented the cringeworthy example which only served to reinforce her point
The tweet kicked off a unique challenge
And many women jumped on board with glee
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Zori the degu 8 years ago
"The author moved on quickly, thinking she would be an admirable opponent if he made her angry right now."
#25
gellert grindlewald 4 years ago
confidence can be the most important thing in the world, especially if you are going to conquer the world!
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gellert grindlewald 4 years ago (edited)
this. this sounds sadly true, like this is happening right now, somehow. somewhere.
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Sofie Agni 8 years ago
They have knowledge. and in my opinion, even though somebody doesn't look young anymore they are still beautiful in their own way.
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gellert grindlewald 4 years ago
sounds 'bout right, something those (enter rude name) would say.
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weatherwitch 8 years ago
I'm really sorry but when you said she rolled her eyes out, I had a mental image of a woman literally removing her eyeballs and rolling them over a table to the horror of the terrible male author sitting opposite... 😂😂
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What do you think ?
Amina Hays 8 years ago
This is ridiculous. Apart from the fact there are dozens of vacuous 'chick lit' books that are written exactly like that, it's tremendously sexist to paint all male authors with the same brush. If it were the reverse and men were lumping all female authors together, women wouldn't stop bleating on about that either.
Aleksandra Żak 8 years ago
Yeah, we could change the title of the challenge to "Describe yourself as the Male Literary Prodigy from Twitter would". Could do the same with a specific female author of bad chick lit and I think only few people would get offended. Maybe the author and their fanbase.
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anarkzie 8 years ago
I don't know if by saying this I'm mansplaining, but I've read plenty of good male and female writters write characters of the opposite gender, I did not know that people had a problem with this.
Daria B 8 years ago
The problem was that one specific given example. Also the next problem was generalizing all men writers based on that one idiot.
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shiroi neko 8 years ago
Yeah we get it. Men are s**t. Can we please move on now? This witch-hunt is getting boring.
Amina Hays 8 years ago
This is ridiculous. Apart from the fact there are dozens of vacuous 'chick lit' books that are written exactly like that, it's tremendously sexist to paint all male authors with the same brush. If it were the reverse and men were lumping all female authors together, women wouldn't stop bleating on about that either.
Aleksandra Żak 8 years ago
Yeah, we could change the title of the challenge to "Describe yourself as the Male Literary Prodigy from Twitter would". Could do the same with a specific female author of bad chick lit and I think only few people would get offended. Maybe the author and their fanbase.
Load More Replies... anarkzie 8 years ago
I don't know if by saying this I'm mansplaining, but I've read plenty of good male and female writters write characters of the opposite gender, I did not know that people had a problem with this.
Daria B 8 years ago
The problem was that one specific given example. Also the next problem was generalizing all men writers based on that one idiot.
Load More Replies... shiroi neko 8 years ago
Yeah we get it. Men are s**t. Can we please move on now? This witch-hunt is getting boring.
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