Mythopoet
Auror
Let me get right to the point: I am a woman. I am a wife and a mother. I am a Christian (Catholic variety). And I still like traditional gender roles. I enjoy being a stay at home mom. I enjoy taking care of my children and my house rather than having a job or career. My only real aspirations are to have a healthy and happy family life and to become a self-published storyteller.
I enjoy being female and feminine. I like that my partner in life is male and masculine. I try my best to let my children, 2 girls and 3 boys, develop naturally but as a Catholic I do believe that human beings are either male or female, there is a distinct biological difference. Though I do not automatically subscribe to all of the male and female stereotypes of society. I prefer to think about such things for myself and decide whether they truly have anything to do with being male or female or whether they are just the image our warped society chooses to believe is male or female. I do, however, believe that only women can be mothers and only men can be fathers. And yes, I do believe that marriage is only between a man and a women, for their mutual spiritual edification and for the formation of a family.
Despite laying this all out, I don't want to argue or debate here about whether anything I believe is true. I'm 33 years old and I've spent the better part of the last 10+ years contemplating what I truly believe so it's not likely an argument on the internet is going to sway me.
No, what I want to know is, how much sympathy is there among writers and reader in today's society for someone like me who has such strongly founded beliefs and is not willing to compromise them?
I'm not going to write homosexual couples. I'm not going to represent any kind of gender fluidity in my writing. Nothing about my stories is going to celebrate anything that goes against Catholic doctrine. On the other hand, I have no intention of making my personal morals the center of my stories. I do not write Christian Fiction. I would say the way I approach it is closest to J. R. R. Tolkien. As he said, his LOTR was fundamentally Catholic, even though he went to great pains to keep "religion" out of it. Honestly, I prefer to focus on magic and adventure and universal themes.
Lately, I have become increasingly aware of how much today's modern morals and worldview are pushed by fan communities and communities of writers. It seems to be becoming more and more expected that all writing should represent today's world. I can't do that. Is there still a place for my stories in this environment?
I'm not likely to stop writing, whatever the answer. But I am curious. And I would really, really like this thread to not descend into flaming. Let's try to respect each other's beliefs as much as possible.
I enjoy being female and feminine. I like that my partner in life is male and masculine. I try my best to let my children, 2 girls and 3 boys, develop naturally but as a Catholic I do believe that human beings are either male or female, there is a distinct biological difference. Though I do not automatically subscribe to all of the male and female stereotypes of society. I prefer to think about such things for myself and decide whether they truly have anything to do with being male or female or whether they are just the image our warped society chooses to believe is male or female. I do, however, believe that only women can be mothers and only men can be fathers. And yes, I do believe that marriage is only between a man and a women, for their mutual spiritual edification and for the formation of a family.
Despite laying this all out, I don't want to argue or debate here about whether anything I believe is true. I'm 33 years old and I've spent the better part of the last 10+ years contemplating what I truly believe so it's not likely an argument on the internet is going to sway me.
No, what I want to know is, how much sympathy is there among writers and reader in today's society for someone like me who has such strongly founded beliefs and is not willing to compromise them?
I'm not going to write homosexual couples. I'm not going to represent any kind of gender fluidity in my writing. Nothing about my stories is going to celebrate anything that goes against Catholic doctrine. On the other hand, I have no intention of making my personal morals the center of my stories. I do not write Christian Fiction. I would say the way I approach it is closest to J. R. R. Tolkien. As he said, his LOTR was fundamentally Catholic, even though he went to great pains to keep "religion" out of it. Honestly, I prefer to focus on magic and adventure and universal themes.
Lately, I have become increasingly aware of how much today's modern morals and worldview are pushed by fan communities and communities of writers. It seems to be becoming more and more expected that all writing should represent today's world. I can't do that. Is there still a place for my stories in this environment?
I'm not likely to stop writing, whatever the answer. But I am curious. And I would really, really like this thread to not descend into flaming. Let's try to respect each other's beliefs as much as possible.