Chantal Boudreau's Blog - Posts Tagged "criticism"
Crossing Gender Lines
I’ve seen a lot of talk recently about inequality in the publishing industry, how male writers get more coverage, percentage-wise, in top review publications and how this is an unfair representation of writers in general. I’ve also read backlash where men counter this with the argument “women don’t write serious fiction” – i.e. women writers mostly write “chick-lit”.
Honestly, I’m not sure if any of this is something I should be concerned about. As far as I am aware, I haven’t been discriminated against for being a woman. Then again, I don’t know if any of the rejections I have received have been in part because of my gender. I don’t go out of my way to hide who I am. I don’t use a pseudonym when submitting (with one genre exception, and I use a feminine pseudonym), and I don’t hide my gender by presenting only my first initial. Some women writers have chosen to do that – there are examples throughout history – but I’ve never been inclined that way.
Where I have encountered discrimination is actually when I have chosen to use a male PoV character in my stories, and I have done that on many occasion. In fact, at the moment I am writing an alternate history zombie horror story set in the Southern US with an African-American, male PoV. I’m sure I’ll face criticism for this choice, but I don’t write things the way other people dictate. I write what the story calls for.
I’ve actually had a man approach me and berate me for having a male PoV in Fervor (criticism based on the back of the book blurb – he had never read the book.) I’ve also seen complaints from other women suggesting that it is a woman writer’s responsibility to write all of their stories with a strong female PoV. Is it? Really?
What you’ll find in my stories are a wide range of characters with a broad variety of strengths and flaws. Some of my heroes are men and others women. My villains come in all shapes and sizes too. Many of my characters walk a very blurred line in the grey, and sometimes you can’t tell if they are meant to be hero or villain. I have female characters who are a little dim and helpless, and some who have been soldiers for most of their lives, hardened veterans. I have male characters who are pacifists and some who are serial killers. As I mentioned, I write what the story needs. What gives someone else the right to tell me who I should cast in the role of PoV?
To sum up, what I want to say is that I would hope nobody judges my work as a writer from the perspective of my gender, be it refusing to take my work seriously or demanding a certain type of PoV character. I like to consider myself a person, not defined by my gender at all. I hope others will grant me the same respect.
Honestly, I’m not sure if any of this is something I should be concerned about. As far as I am aware, I haven’t been discriminated against for being a woman. Then again, I don’t know if any of the rejections I have received have been in part because of my gender. I don’t go out of my way to hide who I am. I don’t use a pseudonym when submitting (with one genre exception, and I use a feminine pseudonym), and I don’t hide my gender by presenting only my first initial. Some women writers have chosen to do that – there are examples throughout history – but I’ve never been inclined that way.
Where I have encountered discrimination is actually when I have chosen to use a male PoV character in my stories, and I have done that on many occasion. In fact, at the moment I am writing an alternate history zombie horror story set in the Southern US with an African-American, male PoV. I’m sure I’ll face criticism for this choice, but I don’t write things the way other people dictate. I write what the story calls for.
I’ve actually had a man approach me and berate me for having a male PoV in Fervor (criticism based on the back of the book blurb – he had never read the book.) I’ve also seen complaints from other women suggesting that it is a woman writer’s responsibility to write all of their stories with a strong female PoV. Is it? Really?
What you’ll find in my stories are a wide range of characters with a broad variety of strengths and flaws. Some of my heroes are men and others women. My villains come in all shapes and sizes too. Many of my characters walk a very blurred line in the grey, and sometimes you can’t tell if they are meant to be hero or villain. I have female characters who are a little dim and helpless, and some who have been soldiers for most of their lives, hardened veterans. I have male characters who are pacifists and some who are serial killers. As I mentioned, I write what the story needs. What gives someone else the right to tell me who I should cast in the role of PoV?
To sum up, what I want to say is that I would hope nobody judges my work as a writer from the perspective of my gender, be it refusing to take my work seriously or demanding a certain type of PoV character. I like to consider myself a person, not defined by my gender at all. I hope others will grant me the same respect.
