Blog-docking
A little while ago fellow author, Elaine White asked me to write a guest post for her blog. For topic she suggested explaining why I write m/m. This is a question I've asked myself a few times so I jumped at the opportunity. The resulting blog post turned out rather academic in tone, yet it comes with a warning and an R rating. I'm rather proud of myself to have pulled that off.
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Liked reading this Lou especially when you laid out your reasons. I usually find that I am misrepresented by females in romances, they seem so foreign, so different. I am a strong/weak woman who recognises bullshit when I see it and I am sure that I am not the only one and I would love for others to truly see us as we are and write us. Society has imposed such a lot of restraints on us about what we should think, how we should appear so on and so forth but I just want to be me, accept me if you will, sayonara if you do not :)
Lou wrote: "LOL. Rosa, you're a nut. ;) Hitchcock was such a master. Btw, my professor also pointed out how the whole movie is and admonishment of marriage. Every couple James Stewart is spying is dysfunctio..."
The character I remember most was the single lady crying over not having a man. I mean, I identify with her (somewhat), sympathize, but I also wanted her to get a hobby other than dating. Thank god e-harmony wasn't around. It's been awhile since I've seen that movie, but doesn't she get a man at the end? Makes me think that the movie may be about dysfunctional relationships, but what does it mean that every person in the movie ended up paired off, other than the murderer and Thelma Ritter. Of course, that has a lot to do with what audiences want to see. Like in Hithcock's Suspicion, no one wanted Cary Grant to be a murderer. It's not romantic. :P
Films/books bow down to stereotypes lot. Conform or be left out is the message.
Sofia wrote: "Films/books bow down to stereotypes lot. Conform or be left out is the message."Yeah, and a lot of those "conform" movies I love. I watch way too many romantic comedies, balanced only by my abiding love of cops, PIs & mysteries. It's either pretty princesses or men who drink too much but manage to solve crimes. Have you seen Firefly, Sofia? Zoey, who Lou mentioned, is a great character.
I'm a Firefly freak, love Zoe and the rest. Her ability to roll her eyes at Mal' s zanier quirks is wicked. And her uniform is kickass.
Sofia wrote: "I'm a Firefly freak, love Zoe and the rest. Her ability to roll her eyes at Mal' s zanier quirks is wicked. And her uniform is kickass."I will forever be scarred by the cancellation of Firefly and My So-Called Life. :'(
Lou, if the archetypes are there to bolster society as it is, they should be challenged. Women are supposed to be more emancipated now but we are still being 'forced' to conform to certain behaviour especially as regards appearance either because of economic benefit not our own or because of power structures who do not want to relinquish control. In a way m/m does this kind of challenging but we also need to challenge as women, we exist, we are who we are, we are not plasticene to be molded.
Rosa, really wrote: "Sofia wrote: "I'm a Firefly freak, love Zoe and the rest. Her ability to roll her eyes at Mal' s zanier quirks is wicked. And her uniform is kickass."I will forever be scarred by the cancellation..."
We re-watch regularly just to keep ourselves medicated :D
Lou wrote: "If you look at Firefly/Serenity the archetypes are there, but they are all tweaked, all the character has unexpected traits. They have depth. .."Maybe that's why I love it then :D and why it was cancelled as a show :(
Rosa, really wrote: "Sofia wrote: "I'm a Firefly freak, love Zoe and the rest. Her ability to roll her eyes at Mal' s zanier quirks is wicked. And her uniform is kickass."I will forever be scarred by the cancellation..."
Sorry to barge in, but I find this discussion very interesting:-). I would also like to add Veronika Mars to the category "tv-series with strong and well developed women cancelled before their time".
As Lou wrote, josh Whedon really did a good job! Taking Buffy from that crappy movie and turning her into what she became (not to mention all the supporting female characters!) is just awesome...
As for women in Romance, There are some great characters out there, eventhough the majority seems to rely on the men for psychological/physical rescue and release (however, these kind of stories being extremely popular, is this what us women secretly want;-)?)
My favorite "strong" female character in romance is Claire from the Outlander-series. She gives as good as she gets!
Therese wrote: "As for women in Romance, There are some great characters out there, eventhough the majority seems to rely on the men for psychological/physical rescue and release (however, these kind of stories being extremely popular, is this what us women secretly want;-)?)"Scary about that secret want Therese, if it is true. Growing up I've learnt that I am my own main bulwark. But if that secret want is embedded in our psyche, we would be continually wanting and fighting against it.
I really have to check out the Outlander series :)
Sofia wrote: "Therese wrote: "As for women in Romance, There are some great characters out there, eventhough the majority seems to rely on the men for psychological/physical rescue and release (however, these ki..."I too have never read the Outlander series, or even the first book. Though it's been on my TBR list since college (everyone I know in "real life" loves it). I read something interesting about the author, though; she said she intended to write a highland romance/historical novel, but the main character kept speaking in a more modern voice. So she rewrote it as time travel. I remember when it came out the publisher had no idea what to do with it, or how to market it. As romance, time travel or historical? Then it just took off and became really popular.
We could try buddy reading it if you like Rosa, at least the first one :)
I don't know, is there any dude on dude action? ;)I definitely should read the first one. There are so many, many people in my life who canNOT believe I haven't read it. So if you want we could do it in July.
I was just thinking about Buffy - wouldn't have so GREAT is Angel and Spike had dumped Buffy and got married in Vermont or something? I bet I could find some fanfic along those lines.
Not m/m I think. July is ok with me, I can read when I go to the sea :DTotally lost me re Buffy, never watched it (should I hang my head?)
Rosa, really wrote: "I don't know, is there any dude on dude action? ;)I definitely should read the first one. There are so many, many people in my life who canNOT believe I haven't read it. So if you want we could d..."
Uh, maybe. I'll pass my remark onto Therese. :)
It's another Joss Whedon (Firefly) show. Maybe his first? Not sure. Angel and Spike are both vampires who at different points vie for Buffy's lurrrve.
Rosa, really wrote: "I don't know, is there any dude on dude action? ;)I definitely should read the first one. There are so many, many people in my life who canNOT believe I haven't read it. So if you want we could d..."
Rosa, really wrote: "I don't know, is there any dude on dude action? ;)
I definitely should read the first one. There are so many, many people in my life who canNOT believe I haven't read it. So if you want we could d..."
You just need to read the 3 first, then you can jump to the spin-off series about Lord John Grey. Now there is a character you will like;-).
As for the dude on dude action in the original series....(view spoiler)
Therese wrote: "Rosa, really wrote: "I don't know, is there any dude on dude action? ;)I definitely should read the first one. There are so many, many people in my life who canNOT believe I haven't read it. So i..."
RE your spoiler, I heard that Gabaldon lost a lot of readers because of that. (view spoiler) Or at least she lost possible readers. That surprised me since so many traditional romance novels involve "seduction." Uh huh.
I'll give Zombies a go. :)
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On a different note, Rear Window is one of my favorite movies. The first time I saw it in high school I got so freaked out when, ah, Perry Mason turned to the camera, I tried to run out of the room, slammed into the wall and scraped my ankle. It's good movie. Clearly.