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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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"The author moved on quickly, thinking she would be an admirable opponent if he made her angry right now."
confidence can be the most important thing in the world, especially if you are going to conquer the world!
this. this sounds sadly true, like this is happening right now, somehow. somewhere.
They have knowledge. and in my opinion, even though somebody doesn't look young anymore they are still beautiful in their own way.
sounds 'bout right, something those (enter rude name) would say.
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... 😂😂
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.
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.
Yeah we get it. Men are s**t. Can we please move on now? This witch-hunt is getting boring.
'She used to be such a beauty, though she was obviously barely getting through life - her a*s has gotten bigger and her belly was more visible than her breasts. Despite her professional accomplishements, she looked nothing like the fabulous-looking girl 2 years ago, depressed and anorexic during a mental breakdown '. Male author-my own father this very morning
I have to say a lot of writers do this, regardless of gender. It's super annoying. Unless you are having a bra shopping scene, there is no value in describe the size of breasts.
So she found a crappy cheesy-love-story/porn or something author. I don't really get what's so outstanding about this. Not everyone able to type a few sentences is actually capable of writing a story, and as the world's literacy grows, as does the percentage of idiots who are now able to type a few sentences and proudly call themselves "an author". If I had a reaction like that every time I read a bad, awfully unrealistic description of someone I wouldn't actually have time to read anything:P Also, did she really just object to a man generalizing all women then went on and generalized all men?..
Is it me or some of these try to compliment themselves in the process? :D Good for you! :)
People, you should start reading good authors. See, one stupid man is not all men
They all write in 3rd person. Challenge failed. Kinda. But it would be an interesting concept indeed to pick an actual writer and try describing yourself in his/her style.
Also, surely there are dozens of ghostwriters who write as the opposite sex, there must be at least a few.
I've seen women authors write like that too. Any smutty book you come across makes sure to describe men and women in sexual ways.
There is a thing called a male gaze in art, as it has been subject for different studies too, but in this case people talk about "male authors", not "authors with male gaze" which at least for me leaves a bit sour taste in my mouth. But for a great example for authors like this, I have always felt really uncomfortable reading Mika Waltari (best known for The Egyptian), as his female characters quite literally don't have anything else to say in but how they would like to please men. And often they're treacherous, shallow and mean too. My best guess is that Waltari had some deeper personal problems with women.
This is really insulting. I am an avid reader of thriller fiction. I defy anyone to name any male author of that genre who writes about women in a degrading way like the examples listed above. Here are a few writers, tell me when any of them has written about women solely by their failed physical appearance: Lee Child, Matt Reilly, Tom Clancy, Stephen Hunter, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Childs, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, David Morrell, Michael Crichton, R.L. Stine, Nelson DeMille, PT Deutermann, Clive Cussler, John Twelve Hawks, David Baldacci, Nevada Barr, Dale Brown, Dan Brown, Jeffery Deaver, W.E.B. Griffin, Jack Higgins, Jonathan Kellerman, Robert Ludlum, John Le Carre, Ridley Pearson, Ed McBain, Brad Thor - to name a few.
I don't know- the one guy who wrote his example was complete s**t, but I think some times a man can have input that I may never had thought of. When I look at my self I'm not ever that deep in thought nor would I find my self sexually attractive, be it low self esteem or what ever else I may be brewing in this chaotic mind of mine. I don't mind men describing me, or woman, I don't discriminate.
The whole issue depends on how well the authors understand their characters. Some authors are more successful at it than others, regardless of gender. The less that is understood, the less believable the characters will be. Just because the poster's male author friend is arrogant and "thinks" he understands women does not mean all male authors are that way.
Do we actually know who this particular male author is? Cause it would be more of a burn if the challenge was named after him instead of a generic (and unfair) "male author". That single idiot deserved to be pointed out
Jonathan stroud in Lockwood and co described Lucy in the best way possible, what she did for a living, how hard she worked, and with the final phrase “prettiness isn’t my profession”
Depressingly, if we did the reverse, any man innocent enough to describe themselves in comically exaggerated chicklit terms, would be absolutely EVISCERATED socially, and more than likely doxxed into unemployment, divorce, and suicide within less than a week.
The author failed to provide a description as the young woman was holding a gun to his head.
I was absolutely smitten by Jasper Fforde writing in the voice of a woman called Thursday Next. For one thing, the heroine is serious about her job, fearless, resourceful, and describes herself as "plain" and is not preoccupied by looks. You can find her in The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten.
I've read all comments in this discussion. Lots of disagreements. Now in my opinion I don't see why Bored Panda is hiding comments with downgrades. Just because most are disagreeing, it doesn't mean that those comments include hate-speech or similiar. If it's a matter of different viewpoints - does it grant rights to Bored Panda to make 'unwelcome' opinion unvisible?
They should of said all male authors, because not all men describe like that
Given that all genders seem equally obsessed about how they are perceived, these examples illustrate the associated authors' self-hangups. Humans and animals alike, we tend to observe what we do from sexual attraction, but humans alone can observe ourselves and project our self-judgement. Added note: I am amused when women assume I am heterosexual and oggling them.
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.
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.
Yeah we get it. Men are s**t. Can we please move on now? This witch-hunt is getting boring.
'She used to be such a beauty, though she was obviously barely getting through life - her a*s has gotten bigger and her belly was more visible than her breasts. Despite her professional accomplishements, she looked nothing like the fabulous-looking girl 2 years ago, depressed and anorexic during a mental breakdown '. Male author-my own father this very morning
I have to say a lot of writers do this, regardless of gender. It's super annoying. Unless you are having a bra shopping scene, there is no value in describe the size of breasts.
So she found a crappy cheesy-love-story/porn or something author. I don't really get what's so outstanding about this. Not everyone able to type a few sentences is actually capable of writing a story, and as the world's literacy grows, as does the percentage of idiots who are now able to type a few sentences and proudly call themselves "an author". If I had a reaction like that every time I read a bad, awfully unrealistic description of someone I wouldn't actually have time to read anything:P Also, did she really just object to a man generalizing all women then went on and generalized all men?..
Is it me or some of these try to compliment themselves in the process? :D Good for you! :)
People, you should start reading good authors. See, one stupid man is not all men
They all write in 3rd person. Challenge failed. Kinda. But it would be an interesting concept indeed to pick an actual writer and try describing yourself in his/her style.
Also, surely there are dozens of ghostwriters who write as the opposite sex, there must be at least a few.
I've seen women authors write like that too. Any smutty book you come across makes sure to describe men and women in sexual ways.
There is a thing called a male gaze in art, as it has been subject for different studies too, but in this case people talk about "male authors", not "authors with male gaze" which at least for me leaves a bit sour taste in my mouth. But for a great example for authors like this, I have always felt really uncomfortable reading Mika Waltari (best known for The Egyptian), as his female characters quite literally don't have anything else to say in but how they would like to please men. And often they're treacherous, shallow and mean too. My best guess is that Waltari had some deeper personal problems with women.
This is really insulting. I am an avid reader of thriller fiction. I defy anyone to name any male author of that genre who writes about women in a degrading way like the examples listed above. Here are a few writers, tell me when any of them has written about women solely by their failed physical appearance: Lee Child, Matt Reilly, Tom Clancy, Stephen Hunter, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Childs, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, David Morrell, Michael Crichton, R.L. Stine, Nelson DeMille, PT Deutermann, Clive Cussler, John Twelve Hawks, David Baldacci, Nevada Barr, Dale Brown, Dan Brown, Jeffery Deaver, W.E.B. Griffin, Jack Higgins, Jonathan Kellerman, Robert Ludlum, John Le Carre, Ridley Pearson, Ed McBain, Brad Thor - to name a few.
I don't know- the one guy who wrote his example was complete s**t, but I think some times a man can have input that I may never had thought of. When I look at my self I'm not ever that deep in thought nor would I find my self sexually attractive, be it low self esteem or what ever else I may be brewing in this chaotic mind of mine. I don't mind men describing me, or woman, I don't discriminate.
The whole issue depends on how well the authors understand their characters. Some authors are more successful at it than others, regardless of gender. The less that is understood, the less believable the characters will be. Just because the poster's male author friend is arrogant and "thinks" he understands women does not mean all male authors are that way.
Do we actually know who this particular male author is? Cause it would be more of a burn if the challenge was named after him instead of a generic (and unfair) "male author". That single idiot deserved to be pointed out
Jonathan stroud in Lockwood and co described Lucy in the best way possible, what she did for a living, how hard she worked, and with the final phrase “prettiness isn’t my profession”
Depressingly, if we did the reverse, any man innocent enough to describe themselves in comically exaggerated chicklit terms, would be absolutely EVISCERATED socially, and more than likely doxxed into unemployment, divorce, and suicide within less than a week.
The author failed to provide a description as the young woman was holding a gun to his head.
I was absolutely smitten by Jasper Fforde writing in the voice of a woman called Thursday Next. For one thing, the heroine is serious about her job, fearless, resourceful, and describes herself as "plain" and is not preoccupied by looks. You can find her in The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten.
I've read all comments in this discussion. Lots of disagreements. Now in my opinion I don't see why Bored Panda is hiding comments with downgrades. Just because most are disagreeing, it doesn't mean that those comments include hate-speech or similiar. If it's a matter of different viewpoints - does it grant rights to Bored Panda to make 'unwelcome' opinion unvisible?
They should of said all male authors, because not all men describe like that
Given that all genders seem equally obsessed about how they are perceived, these examples illustrate the associated authors' self-hangups. Humans and animals alike, we tend to observe what we do from sexual attraction, but humans alone can observe ourselves and project our self-judgement. Added note: I am amused when women assume I am heterosexual and oggling them.