So, I've decided to make my first thread and of course, it's weird.... well, anyway. I generally am overly self-conscious about my writing. On one hand, I don't want to do anything that could possibly offend anyone in my stories. On the other, ever since I can remember I loved the concept of showing the day-to-day life of my protagonists in those stories. You might think "well, what does that have to do with being offensive"? Well, two things. First, of all, I'm a heterosexual dude. Second, I prefer to write female characters. Most of the time I didn't think too hard about it, but then I wrote this one scene. My protagonist was trying to impress her friend by doing a silly stunt, and it ended up in a small accident. The two went back home, and my MC wanted to change her outfit because the one she was wearing got dirty during the stunt. So, of course, for a short period of time, my character was naked. I felt like a pervert for even getting her to this point. The problem is, I kinda like this scene - I think it shows the more intimate part of her life in the Spirit's Realm (that's the name of villages populated only by nature spirits in my world) and if she were a guy, I would totally want to show him changing clothes as well! But I'm afraid that woman who would read my book, and would want to emphasize with the MC could feel objectified - as in, you know, I am a guy in my twenties and I won't lie, I am heterosexual. So, I don't know what to do. Do you think I should just get rid of this scene? Or maybe I'm thinking too deeply about this. As a guy, I always enjoyed these moments of privacy with the characters, no matter the gender, just because of their coziness, I guess. That's why it's important for me to have this scene in the story. But I know a lot of people might think that it's a bit weird, considering that I'm a guy. What do you think?
The only way it could backfire is if you gush about her body while in her pov - which happens sometimes and it's less a sexist problem than the writer slipping up and admiring their own creation. Other than that I don't see it as a problem. In fact I'm rather miffed at all these crazy movements that are having a serious back-lash on art. If a man cannot write a naked scene from the viewpoint of a woman without someone frothing at the mouth about it - what can anyone write? And as far as I'm concerned these tar-and-feather types are the problem, they've totally lost their critical thinking skills and allowed ideologies to turn into bullying tactics driving people into mass self doubt. Just write it and don't be concerned about these groups - especially not in the first draft stage. You have plenty of time to give it to a trusted beta reader and see what they say.
Do you leave your drafts to one side for a few weeks before revising them? If you've become very conscious of the creative process, this scene might take longer to forget how you worded it. But the problem of whether it objectifies, or whether the scene serves the story as it should - is the sort of thing that hopefully would be immediately obvious when you read it again. Best to plough on with the draft for now. It can be creepy, and there is an inherent difficulty, but like anything if it's well-crafted that's what matters. If it's really well-crafted people may love it for its sins.
I think really its about talking about her in her view point like a woman would, not like a leering man would... for example if you've been in an accident your focus is going to be on the duirt, cuts, bruises etc not on the heft of your boobs and the gentle swell of your belly or whatever. try to avoid doing this sort of thing and you'll be fine theres no problem describing a woman sexually/sexistly if you're in a male characters point of view and that's how he thinks, but you don't want to do it her pov or in omni
Isn't this more of a picture of the men than of her? mentally because they're no longer up to otherwise. pillowy because they always fall asleep. compact butt because repressed. golf balls because businesspeople and so perhaps her body is wasted on them One hopes though that whoever the author was he hasn't Freudian-slipped into self-portraiture Another suggestion for the OP might be to show people the text. If it's sincere, it will be in the library one day so you should be happy to show everyone in the world at any time. I show any sex scenes to my wife first, and then my elderly mum who has always been a big fiction reader. I think the key thing is to ask what thoughts the person would think in the situation. The saving grace is that writing is only a medium.
As a feminist woman I can only agree with the others: There is a difference between depicting a character in a state of undress and describing a character in an objectifying way. And since you've already stated you would do the same with a male character, you're on the right track here. It's good that you are asking yourself these questions, though. We should all take a moment to think about whether or not our writing might cause hurt. Even if only to not accidentally drive away a part of our audience.
Just taking this opportunity to re-up this classic: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/men-please-dont-write-women-this-way.149954/
If you are describing it from her point of view, think about undressing yourself. How much attention would you pay attention to your own body if you were changing some dirty clothes? Unless, because of the "coziness" or she's doing it provocatively on purpose, she's just changing clothes.
Yeah, I always ask myself if something I write could offend someone. As mentioned before, I wrote this scene this way because it seemed... human to me. I purposefully avoided describing how she looked undressed - I felt it wouldn't benefit the story in any way. But it is implied that she was sitting naked on the bed while choosing her new outfit because I think a lot of people do that. But knowing how some male writers use these sorts of occasions to engulf themself in their perversive fantasies, I'm aware that some people might think that it was just an attempt to sexualize my protagonist. So I wanted to frame it in as non-suggestive light as possible but seeing this https://www.writingforums.org/threads/men-please-dont-write-women-this-way.149954/ beautiful piece of art, I feel a bit more confident that I didn't do anything wrong. Thanks a lot!
To me, if you create a character, that character is yours. He or she belongs to you just as much as the Vitruvian Man belonged to Leonardo da Vinci, and the statue of David belonged to Michelangelo. An artist doesn't need to explain his/her work to detractors, nor should they feel any obligation to conform fictional characters and/or events to anyone else' political persuasions. Back in the 80s, heavy metal artists were widely condemned by conservatives for their tendency to flirt with, and sometimes cross, social lines of decorum. Dee Snider of Twisted Sister was brought before congress to answer for their music, and he shut them down by essentially telling them that it's none of anyone's business what they write; that those who misinterpreted his band's music did so because they already had perverted minds - namely Tipper Gore: and he ultimately went on to state that parents should be more involved in their kid's lives rather than expecting the government to intervene and do their job for them by imposing sanctions on artists. Today, the polarity has reversed, and has actually become more insidious. Many on the left expect the curtailment of art: and insist on politicizing characters and stories, and this is actually working to destroy the comic book industry, and is corroding video games and film as well. The right seems to have become the champions of free speech today, while the left is behaving in much the same way that conservatives did in the 80s: the former has evolved, the latter has devolved! It's quite a stunning polarity shift. My advice would be, just write what you want. No one is going to please everyone, so we, as artists, shouldn't try.
You have to be fearless. Do what serves the story. BUT! The audience is there too, and that can't be denied. Don't try to please the world, they're not your audience. You need to imagine one particular perfect reader and write for them. You want to write that person a flawless story that meets their every desire. Other readers can come on board with them, but you always aim your efforts at that one ideal reader. If you're doing something that offends this special reader, only then do you change the material. If I'm writing frat-bro horror, and I know that my ideal reader likes tasteless jokes and bawdy situations, you'd better believe they are going to be in there, and I'm not going to pull punches with them. It'll be Van Wilder cranked to eleven. I don't care if it upsets my grandmother or some scold who just wants attention. But if I'm writing a cozy mystery, my ideal reader is different. Maybe I picture them as liking an off-color joke here and there, but not too much. It's strictly PG-13 for them. I change my target to meet their wants, and I don't care if the frat-bro down the street is annoyed that there's no sex scene payoff. Crystalize that perfect reader in your mind. They are all that matters in judging content. I'm saying that, yes, the audience is critically important, and you are shaping the story for them, but nobody gets to volunteer to be in your audience. Choose one specific reader. Don't try to please everyone because there are large swaths of people out there who absolutely don't want to be pleased.
Art is going to have it's fair share of critics and haters. Paintings, literature, music, they're all subject to scrutiny. This however should never dissuade anyone from doing what they love. Comics code authority did the same with certain comic book publishers, and the stigma of certain genre of music is still under the same scrutiny. But it all comes down to one simple fact, you shouldn't please everyone.
There are people out there whose entire purpose in life is to be offended. You can like sitting in a chair petting a kitten and someone will be offended by it.
We used to have a bunch of people just like that. They mostly left when they realised that being offended for fun is in our view just another kind of trolling. on point though yes you can’t avoid offending everyone and trying will probably lead the grey colourless writing. that said there is a difference from being wantonly offensive for the hell of it
I think you'll be fine as long as you don't sexualize the scene. Most of us are adults and know what everybody's got under the hood, so to speak. So, as long as you keep it plain and simple, and stick to the important parts of the story, and not focus on the character's physique you should be fine.
