If you ever went “oh, a man wrote this” (and I couldn’t count the number of times I have!) while reading a piece of prose, this subreddit community is just for you. “Men Writing Women” is a hugely popular subreddit founded by Meg Vondriska, an advertising social strategist on the East Coast of America, who’s had enough of male authors depicting female characters in an unrealistic, often very sexualized and gendered manner.
“The more I started to notice it in the books I was reading, the more I was frustrated and wanted to talk about it,” she told the press. Today, the subreddit is fully dedicated to sharing samples of “how men who create films, books, TV, and graphic novels characterize women,” and no longer buying into it.
Let’s see what examples the community has busted so far, and after you’re done, be sure to check out part 1 of the article right here.
More info: Twitter | Instagram | MegVondriska.com
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Who Knew Ladies Were Like Capri Suns!
There's also a wee label, much like the sign here sticker on a document. The man gets to keep this and wear it.
Oh How The Turn Tables
“110 Pounds Soaking Wet, With A Heavy Chest And An Ass That Would Get Any Man's Attention”
“Can you ask the waiter for our bill?” “Don’t worry, my ass will do it”
Previously, we spoke to the creator of the “Men Write Women” Twitter page, Meghan Vondriska, about her project that finally busts the sexist depictions of women by male authors. "Women just want to be written as human. That's it. There isn't some wild scientific equation to writing women, and it isn't difficult. Write them as human, with complex feelings, not as body parts that happen to be put together into a feminine form," she commented.
Meghan created this Twitter account in order “to craft a consistent narrative and to build a community that wasn’t hidden behind anonymity,” she said referring to the origins of her project.
Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge By Larry Correia And John Ringo. "Narrow Hips That Showed She Was A Virgin" Uh... Excuse Me? I Don't Think You D**k Is Special Enough To Widen Hips
Should Have Put This Up Sooner
A throbbing jazz cafe sounds like a busy place where you probably have to wait ages for your coffee whilst listening to someone doing terrible amateur scat.
I Am Losing My Mind At This Passage
Having said that, Meghan believes that there are excellent male writers who can indeed write women. "Terry Pratchett is wonderful, and I've yet to see a submission from Michael Crichton." Meghan added that she’s a Pratchett fan.
"Pay attention to what you're reading, and who you're reading. You have to make sure your bookshelf isn't made up of just men. Add in some spice—some female authors, some nonbinary authors, authors of color. And lastly, just because you were assigned a book in high school, doesn't mean its good!"
Vintage Wonder Woman Is Something Else
Not A Description Per Se But I Feel Like It Definitely Has The Spirit Of This Sub
Is-... Is She A Gecko?
These Examples Of Bad Writing From The Latest New Yorker Issue Killed Me
“Occasional Vaginal Discharge” You Mean That Thing That Everyone With A Vagina Gets And Is Completely Natural All Of The Time?
"Oh noooo, not the thing keeping my vagina clean of infections and making sex enjoyable. How awful." *sarcasm ends*
Just Saw This And It Reminded Me Of This Sub
I love the mental image of a man lordly standing in front of the porcelain throne, conjuring thunderous splashings of pee while mine has to find its way through the maze of my innards. He gets to majestically drown the rubber ducks - I have to pray my liquids don't take an internal wrong turn and end up in the nose.
Vaginas Are Just Quick-Access Pockets. Santa Fe Edge By Stuart Woods
This Is How Women Cope With Loss According To Haruki Marukami (1q84, An International Best Seller)
Forget Alarm Clocks
As A Woman Who Totally Is Not Donald Trump Himself
Pants So Tight You Could Read The Expiration Date Of A Credit Card
A Man Describing His Dream Woman [“The Dark Forest”, Cixin Liu]
Book Is ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ By Ian Fleming
Keeping Your Emotions In Your Nipples Since 1980 (Number Of The Beast, Robert A. Heinlein)
Ew. Summer Knight By Jim Butcher
"Not How Sex Works" From "Ritual" By David Pinner, Plus Generic Nipples
[the Things They Carried By Tim O'brien] Reading A Book For English Class And Found These...
I’m Speechless??
Yes, Because I Really Need To Know That The Lost 9yr Old Doesn't Have Breasts. Thanks, Stephen King
Every Adjective I Could Come Up With To Describe How Reading Things Makes Me Feel Pales In Comparison To This Monstrosity Of A Paragraph
“Women” By Charles Bukowski. I Could Highlight The Whole Book
I've never understood why anyone would read the second sentence of anything Bukowski wrote.
Is She Really A Woman If Her Boobs Are Not Described?
Ah yes, another tragic loss in the age-old Battle of the Breasts, this time to those perfidious adversaries Age and Gravity. Will this world ever emerge victorious, with all women gloriously endowed with perfect figures? Or will men have to continue the nightmare existence of crying at the sight of a woman who is clearly having a Pretty Bad Day?
Oh My.. (Shane Dawson, I Hate Myselfie)
Not only is the description ridiculous, I would think for a musical casting director, voice should matter first and looks second.
I’m Just On Page 3 Of This Book, And This Is The Detective’s First Thoughts On The Mother Of A Kidnapped Child
How ridiculous. I can cook up similar nonsense in a swift. ”Chad had massive hangover. Not just from excessive drinking but he had made a total fool of himself in front everybody. His di*c was looking pale and wrinkly and his balls were pulsing from shame.’ Or ’she took a closer look at Andrew. He was late twenties but already his hair was thinning. He was tall and and had exactly 2.2 pounds extra weight but was oddly soft and pale like bag full of dough. His stance hinted he had only ejaculated in his hand for last 14 years and his eyes indicated that he had severe mommy issues.’
Fuuuu... They’re Onto Us
Ah Yes, What A Classic Mother-Daughter Interaction
Do men think women do that to each other when there are no men in the room? Cos, you know, we don't, just FYI.
Women Enjoy Being Groped If It's On A Body Part They're Proud Of, Implies Saul Bellow In 'The Adventures Of Augie March' (1953), A Book Considered To Be In Contention For The Title Of Great American Novel
You’ve Got To Love Ian Fleming The Sexist Misogynist Dinosaur And Relic Of The Cold War
He also misspelled "ransom" but again the whole Bond Franchise is essentially soft core, male fantasy fulfillment porn. The women aren't real people and are given the most ridiculous names and outfits ( looking at Pussy Galore here, but there is a whole parade of them)
I Am So Tired Of Seeing This Phrase. Just Let Women Cry! Why Are You Trying To Be Attracted To Them When They’re Sad?
Ah Yes This Is How A Dad Sees His Fifteen Year Old Daughter [dragon Heart: Stone Will, Kirill Klevanski]
I Don’t Know About You But I Always Introduce My Friends To Strange Men This Way.
Apple Fires Ex-Facebook Hire After Becoming Aware Of Misogynistic Viewpoints From Best-Selling Book. This Is What Is Written In The Book
Is this one of those things- Tell us no one will have wet with you, without saying no one will have sex with you - ?
Starts Early. LEGO Star Wars Phonics
Everything about Anakin and Padme's relationship was deeply disturbing, so this fits the source material and the way the character still had no personality, despite Natalie Portman being a great actor
Shame On All Of You Fashion Hussies!
Looks like 300 years of the bible didn't save society. Maybe we need a new book that wasn't written by a bunch of men?
How Do You Know That A Man Wrote A Female Character - She Thinks Too Much About Her Nipples, Complains About The Waitress Not Smiling Enough, And Worries About Calories Despite Having A Perfect Body. For Some Context, This Is A Horror Novel Where She's Just Encountered A Terrifying Monster
Ah Yes, How Comforting For A Woman To Have Men Stare At Her Back! (Death’s End, By Cixin Liu)
Ah Yes, Only Women’s Personalities Are Unpredictable. [2001: A Space Odyssey By Arthur C. Clarke]
Anti-Gravity Bewbs "Rendezvous With Rama" Arthur C. Clarke
Ken Follet Is One Of My Favorite Authors, But Lately He Has Been Really Putting Me Off. This Is Just Gross
Dear Stephen King, Gravity Is Still Very Much At Present When We're Laying Down [from His Book The Stand]
Magical Hymen Restoration (The Daylight War By Peter V. Brett)
Once again the idea that this is some freshness seal is so harmful. Women are killed because men think they aren't virgins because it doesn't pop or bleed or whatnot and they demand virgin brides
“Waited As Patiently As Her Sex Would Permit”
Oh the Monkey's Paw. In fairness this was written in the late Victorian or early Edwardian period, but yep we discuss the causal sexism every time we read it in class
"Her Ovaries Rotating In The Estrogen Broth" -- From The Short Story "Joy Of Life" By Alessandro Manzetti
From Bapsi Sidhwa's Cracking India
The Rest Of The Book Included Similarly Horrendous Descriptions Of Teenagers (Hope I Got The Time/Flair Right, It’s Wednesday In Australia!)
Starvation Only Makes A Woman Sexier, Didn’t You Know? I Found This On Facebook And I Don’t Even Know Where To Start
In An Article About The First Pregnant Mummy To Ever Be Discovered. Even In Death
I don't see how this is describing something unrealistic or sexual. They're simplying saying the mummy's hair was intact, it was long & curly, & it went down to the breasts, which had been preserved in the mummification. Honestly, I didn't know hair or breasts were preserved in mummification because in books & lessons they don't talk about female mummies. It's kinda cool to know that these things stay preserved.
Artemis By Andy Weir
These men don't even see women as persons, they see them as jumble of lips, boobs, butt and big eyes or whatever. According to them we have no personalities, no character, no values other than our bodies, or even just by body parts, and possibly virginity. It's so gross how they perceive one whole gender as just "walking desirable parts" and even think that we perceive ourselves in the same way. Gross!
100 percent agreed. Maybe authors should understand that women are people, before they try to write them. Also, that vaginas are not easily accessible pockets that we use for things.
Load More Replies...When I took a Women's Literature in college the teacher began by reading a paragraph by Norman Mailer (who I am surprised is not represented here). It literally said that only someone with testicles could be a good writer. I muttered to the woman next to me, "Maybe we should cut off Norman Mailer's balls and see if he can still write." Her loud laugh prompted the teacher to ask me what I'd said and when I repeated it she said, "You're going to do okay in this class."
Some of these should not have been allowed to be published. I‘m against censorship, and I don’t care about some idiot‘s opinion on women, but matters like paedophilia should not be portrayed as normal/acceptable.
It shouldn't be acceptable but, sadly, it's normal ("normal" here meaning things that exist and occurs with alarming regularity). And yes, it should be allowed to be published. Even in fiction we need to face the darker sides of humanity.
Load More Replies...These men don't even see women as persons, they see them as jumble of lips, boobs, butt and big eyes or whatever. According to them we have no personalities, no character, no values other than our bodies, or even just by body parts, and possibly virginity. It's so gross how they perceive one whole gender as just "walking desirable parts" and even think that we perceive ourselves in the same way. Gross!
100 percent agreed. Maybe authors should understand that women are people, before they try to write them. Also, that vaginas are not easily accessible pockets that we use for things.
Load More Replies...When I took a Women's Literature in college the teacher began by reading a paragraph by Norman Mailer (who I am surprised is not represented here). It literally said that only someone with testicles could be a good writer. I muttered to the woman next to me, "Maybe we should cut off Norman Mailer's balls and see if he can still write." Her loud laugh prompted the teacher to ask me what I'd said and when I repeated it she said, "You're going to do okay in this class."
Some of these should not have been allowed to be published. I‘m against censorship, and I don’t care about some idiot‘s opinion on women, but matters like paedophilia should not be portrayed as normal/acceptable.
It shouldn't be acceptable but, sadly, it's normal ("normal" here meaning things that exist and occurs with alarming regularity). And yes, it should be allowed to be published. Even in fiction we need to face the darker sides of humanity.
Load More Replies...