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November 6, 2012
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Replies: 144

Writing different gender POVs

Forums > Art Related > Literature
:iconrovanna:
*Rovanna Nov 6, 2012   Digital Artist
I was reading some bloggies, and I read one saying that women find it easier to write from a man's perspective then men find writing about women. (Something about lots of media being male focussed) But I don't think that's true cos I've read a lot of stories written by girls where the men sound 'female'.

So I was wondering if people do have trouble writing POV characters from a different gender. I know you can't blanket-generalise how someone will talk/behave by their gender, but do you find it tricky, or has anyone ever said that your characters don't sound like their correct gender? Or have you read published books where the gender seems off? :eyes:
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:iconchibilovett:
~ChibiLovett Dec 6, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
I've honestly only ever written a story from a male perspective once. And it failed. Epically. lol I just find it hard to try and sound like it's a man/boy while trying to avoid being too stereotypical. It's really rather difficult...
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:iconrovanna:
*Rovanna Dec 7, 2012   Digital Artist
Maybe you were overthinking it?
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:iconchibilovett:
~ChibiLovett Dec 7, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
Maybe. I tend to do that with things. hehe But it also had to do with the fact the entire story was really difficult. It was an assignment for my creative writing class where we had to use a main character that was the total opposite of our typical ones. So the whole thing was kind of an epic failure...^^;
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:iconrovanna:
*Rovanna Dec 7, 2012   Digital Artist
Ah, that does sound extremely difficult!
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:iconchibilovett:
~ChibiLovett Dec 7, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
It was. >.< She also had us do it as a first chapter, climax chapter, and end chapter of a novel instead of just writing a story. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done as far as writing is concerned...lol
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:iconraecreature:
~raecreature Dec 6, 2012
I'm female and I always have a hard time writing female characters. I think it's because 90% of my friends are male and always have been, and I seem to understand men better than most women. Also, most of my characters are in heavy metal bands, which has always been a male-dominated thing :shrug:

But then people tell me my stories are sexist because there aren't any "strong female leads" and the gender ratio isn't equal. It bugs me.
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:iconrovanna:
*Rovanna Dec 6, 2012   Digital Artist
I don't think that sounds sexist, it would be pretty wierd if there were 2 guys and 2 girls in every one of your bands. =P
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:iconraecreature:
~raecreature Dec 6, 2012
Yeah, exactly! Plus it's during the 80s. It would be extremely weird, considering there's only a handful of bands I can think of from that time period that had women in them.
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:iconrovanna:
*Rovanna Dec 6, 2012   Digital Artist
Definitely. (I actually had a kind of opposite of that in my story where I was like, is it realistic to have so many girls in my bands? But then I was like, it's in the future so I can do whatever I want. :B)

I find it a bit annoying when there are stories/movies set in the past and they stick in some ass-kicking, feministing, action girl just for girl-power points, even if it's not realistic.
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:iconraecreature:
~raecreature Dec 6, 2012
It totally depends on when the story takes place, but yeah, generally girls are a minority in rock and metal music, but would probably still be okay. If it's the future though, go crazy! :)

I always have to ask myself a similar question, is it realistic to have three gay/bisexual guys in one band? The answer is probably no, but....oh well :p

Yeah, me too! It makes absolutely no sense. The same person who told me my story was sexist suggested I have the band's manager be female, and be strong and determined even with all the sexist bullshit she would get from the music industry and the band itself. While that could be an interesting story, it's not MY story. I would have to literally rewrite the entire thing, just to make it "not sexist" anymore :doh:
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