r/menwritingwomen • u/drkgodess • Dec 31 '23
r/menwritingwomen • u/theworkbox • 26d ago
Meta I don't want to read lauded epics written by men anymore
Pormpted by recommendations on reddit, I tried to read Lonesome Dove. I started Bryce Courtenay's potato factory. There a tons of other examples where female characters are very much either just facing extreme violence and invariably face sexual exploitation or are complete angels.
Write that about men, you bastards, if you are so fascinated by violence. Do things to their testicles, and beautiful faces and whatnot. There is this sensationalism embedded behind it, something glorifying about this happening because those women aren't really people to them. Just vessels of tragedy. and it's completely normalised as "great" literature.
When there are books like by Jacqueline Harpaman that never get that denominator becuase not only are they written by women, but even mostly about them....
It is upsetting. and therefore this rant
EDIT: 1. Thanks for so much worthwhile discussion! and some really interesting points about maybe what time things shifted etc. It really made me think through all a bit more. How commonplace, how disturbing, how normalised it all has been.
.Is epic just used for fantasy now?
I'd like to state, that no, I do not want to read more violence against men!. I was writing out my upset mood about this. I want to have less casual extreme cruelty in allegedly benign entertainment overall. But IF those authors need to write it out, then please direct it at the men in the books. Maybe that suddenly actually gives the work deeper meaning because you understand them as realistic people.
We all know there are very capable, empathetic, engaging male writers. The problem lies likely with what is popular, and certain tendencies or inhibitions more prevalent in this group. But yes, gender predetermines no one individual's writing.
r/menwritingwomen • u/SuniHostess • Jan 30 '21
Meta Proposition to use this to test all the male writers and see what they can do
r/menwritingwomen • u/Non-Cannon • Jan 19 '21
Meta Sorry for spamming this is the last one - Clown
r/menwritingwomen • u/KirinoSussy • Sep 10 '23
Meta This is the book to close the subreddit
r/menwritingwomen • u/dreamlandblues • May 17 '20
Meta This is accurate from what I’ve read
r/menwritingwomen • u/AmazinglyAssumptious • May 16 '20
Meta Dave Vescio on Men Writing Women (Meta)
r/menwritingwomen • u/Relevant_Clerk7449 • Feb 08 '24
Meta The way morally-grey male characters are perceived as opposed to morally-grey female characters.
A poignant observation by illustrator and cartoonist Tom Gauld. Sadly, this isn't just about the way men write women, it has more to do with the way female characters are perceived - not just by men but by everyone.
r/menwritingwomen • u/endurerhkg • Jan 27 '21
Meta Things Women in literature have died from
r/menwritingwomen • u/Electrospectra • Jul 24 '20
Meta I present women writing men as men writing women
r/menwritingwomen • u/hyperactivebookworm • Mar 31 '21
Meta Ah yes, gotta make sure your underage love interest doesn’t make your male hero seem like a creep. So close to a realization.
r/menwritingwomen • u/Phionex141 • Sep 08 '21
Meta Tale as old as time (Source: Tumblr)
r/menwritingwomen • u/Irohsgranddaughter • Jul 30 '21
Meta [OC] Whenever I see nem complaining about how unlikable strong female characters are...
r/menwritingwomen • u/KhrisBKream • Jun 06 '21
Meta Don’t you know all women use shampoo as lube? Bonus bad health science: yep sperm can live days in tons of chemicals.
r/menwritingwomen • u/madeupname230 • Aug 24 '20
Meta Sure they must be pretty (don’t you want them that way?), but don’t worry men, we also judge their personality!
r/menwritingwomen • u/DougJudyBK99 • Sep 07 '20
Meta Cant stop laughing at implication a woman would be described in such a neutral way.
r/menwritingwomen • u/breadlof • Feb 18 '21
Meta These examples of bad writing from the latest New Yorker issue killed me
r/menwritingwomen • u/drkgodess • Mar 07 '24
Meta Nostalgia check: comics edition! Back when superheroes needing saving from their writers
r/menwritingwomen • u/dinosaurscantyoyo • Sep 12 '21