Male love interest or female companion?

[NellaFantasia]

Has it ever occurred to you that a woman can be sexy eye candy in one part of the story and "covered in sweat and blood" in another? Why do your kind always treat these things as mutually exclusive?

I'll try to explain myself more clearly. The "eye candy" bit in my post was in reference to female characters specifically created in order to attract the male audience sexually. That's her role and she has no other. Female characters can certainly be sexual and beautiful and a good representation of women. As others have pointed out, my avatar, Monza Murcatto, is one such character.

 

[Feo Takahari]

Has it ever occurred to you that a woman can be sexy eye candy in one part of the story and "covered in sweat and blood" in another? Why do your kind always treat these things as mutually exclusive?

Everyone who said I should go with my gut instinct and write whatever I want was right. I think excessive conscientiousness about feminism and pleasing certain demographics is doing me more harm than good.

I've noticed that you tend to assume there's some evil conspiracy to either eliminate all sexual content in fiction, or convert it all into sex with ugly people, stamping out all other sex. On one occasion, I successfully criticized how you write women and actually got you to listen, but every other time I've seen someone criticize how you write women, you've attributed motives to the person criticizing you that connect with this conspiracy.

I am a writer of pornography. I find sex to be a fascinating subject, and I portray it in almost all its forms. I have no anti-sex agenda, and yet I have criticized your approach to sex, and you admitted I had a point. Doesn't it follow that other critics may similarly be worth listening to?

 

[Jabrosky]

When you ask for opinions, that's what you'll get. This is someone's opinion on what they'd like to see. Isn't that basically what your poll asks? Wasn't that the point these posts have made, by yourself and others?

In the end, you should write what you'd like to read. I'd never argue that point. However, if you're going to ask people what they'd want to read, people's choices are bound to differ from yours.

One of my numerous character flaws is that I can barely wrap my head around the reality that people have different tastes from myself. Even if I recognize on an intellectual level that it is all right for other people to have opinions that contrast sharply with my own, my gut instinct tells me that there's something wrong with them. I am not sure if it's some psychological quirk I have or if that's a common human failing. It could be symptomatic of my lifetime difficulty with comprehending that other individuals have thoughts and feelings separate from my own (what some psychologists call the "theory of mind"). Anyway, I do apologize for the "your kind" remark.

I'll try to explain myself more clearly. The "eye candy" bit in my post was in reference to female characters specifically created in order to attract the male audience sexually. That's her role and she has no other. Female characters can certainly be sexual and beautiful and a good representation of women. As others have pointed out, my avatar, Monza Murcatto, is one such character.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

One of my numerous character flaws is that I can barely wrap my head around the reality that people have different tastes from myself. Even if I recognize on an intellectual level that it is all right for other people to have opinions that contrast sharply with my own, my gut instinct tells me that there's something wrong with them. I am not sure if it's some psychological quirk I have or if that's a common human failing. It could be symptomatic of my lifetime difficulty with comprehending that other individuals have thoughts and feelings separate from my own (what some psychologists call the "theory of mind"). Anyway, I do apologize for the "your kind" remark. Thank you for the clarification.

Let me address this from a perspective of "writer to writer".

We pen stories. Those stories are the events that surround characters, and how those happenings affect characters.

In my opinion, if you want to create varied & realistic characters, you need to develop a willingness to reach out beyond your own personal outlook. Yes, some of our own makeup, what constitutes our belief systems, will undoubtedly creep into our stories. However, when it comes to our portrayal of characters, we must be able to step into another's shoes, to view the world from another perspective or point of view. It's method acting of a sort, at least for me.

There are things my characters do that I could never condone in my real life. Does that mean I shouldn't write about them? I hope not. Literature based only on projections of ourselves would result in boring, one-dimensional characters who offer no distinction from one to the next. You're far better off treating each character like a full person with desires, dislikes, motives, and fears all of their own, unique to them within that story.

After all, stories at their root are about conflict. The best conflicts, in my view, result from differences in character, where neither side can be truly seen as right or wrong. One's choice regarding right and wrong are merely a matter of perspective. Differing perspectives are understandable, and therefore far more powerful.

Embrace the differences in the world. Try to understand why people believe what they believe, especially those ideologies that differ from yours. You'll be a better artist for the effort.

 

[NellaFantasia]

Anyway, I do apologize for the "your kind" remark.

Thanks for the apology

 

[Mindfire]

i've noticed that you tend to assume there's some evil conspiracy to eliminate all sexual content in fiction

Oh crap, we've been discovered! INITIATE PROTOCOL 10! INITIATE PROTOCOL 10!

 

[Steerpike]

we've been discovered! Initiate protocol 10! Protocol 10!

Mindfire, you fool! Are you trying to kill us all? It's protocol 12 you want. I repeat, protocol 12!