Writer's Café

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Previously I talked about the basic characters and their flaws and how to come up with traits and combinations. That chapter most likely felt like a rant and I really don't know what was going through my head but boy, was it bad! 

Anygays, moving forward, let's start from the most common character that we are absolutely irritated and bored with. Yes, I'm talking about Y/N. 

Do you know what's fundamentally wrong with Y/N? It's the male gaze.

Now, I'm not using this term bcuz it's trending these days. The term 'male gaze' specifically is a term coined by essayist Laura Mulvey in 1975. What it basically means is that a female character is presented in a way to please a heterosexual man, like remember that scene in transformers where the camera focuses on different parts of Megan Fox's body glistening under the sun, sweaty and sunkissed? That's what male gaze is. It's hypersexualizing a woman's body to the point she is nothing but a piece of meat.

Even when some girls/women are not in the presence of any man, they still try to fit in that expectation of male gaze, which is quite honestly problematic. This reflects in a lot of women author's works too. That is exactly why Y/N, the perfect but modest, subdued girl exists who is probably an underage kid. 

From a young age through exposure to various media outlets, we get exposed to this concept of male and female gaze and even in families girls are expected to behave a certain way which obviously affects how we think and how we express ourselves, be it art or writing or singing, basically anything.

So, it's a matter of perspective and how a certain writer grew up that determines how we shape our characters. But that doesn't mean you can't change the way you think or write. Understanding these basic things and human psychology certainly helps to an extent and discussion among writer, reader friends is also a good way to know what is actually right and wrong.

Coming back to our perfect Y/N, the new problem that arises is that when writers think, 'Oh, I'm not going to follow the guidelines made for writing a female protagonist,' they end shaping her exactly opposite of what Y/N is and that's just as problematic because it is quite honestly unrealistic.

The outcome of the "un-Y/N" character is a cold, secluded, rude bitch who has a horrible past that makes her that way and it's completely fine for the male protagonist to ignore the horrible treatment she gives him and continues to love her. Basically a gender swap situation from a bully love plot.

Let me tell y'all right here, right now. IT IS NOT FUCKING RIGHT TO FORGIVE A SHITTY PERSON JUST CUZ OF THEIR HORRIBLE PAST. Shitty people demand good character development not because of some chick or chicka but because they themselves want to be a good person. I'll talk more about character development in depth some other time.

For now, let's turn back to the Y/N. 

Coming to strong female leads, it's not about her being a boss bitch, CEO or mafia girl. The sweetest people can be the strongest too. I personally don't know where this conception of the strong female lead being badass in a physical and visual way came from, I guess it's again the male gaze because in movies, the alpha females like Cat-woman, Wonder Woman, Black widow, that blue girl in X-men, they all were sexualized in a way inappropriate for a viewer audience below the age 13, I guess. I have no idea the pg ratings of these movies but again the portrayal is shitty.

What strong really means is being consistent, resilient, compassionate and strong willed. It has nothing to do with physical aspects of personality or femininity or even masculinity. Strong is a gender neutral term and the boys and girls who are usually labelled as weak and nerds and stuff like that can be strong too. It's not only about exuding an intimidating aura but also being mentally strong which is definitely more important. 

Another point is that a strong female lead need not be a tomboy or her having masculine physical features. She can be extremely feminine and strong too, whatever goes with your plot. She can be gender fluid or neutral too, assuming both identities and going with gender neutral pronouns or whatever they feel like on a certain day, you know?

Thing is though, it's not only about the male gaze it's also about the female gaze and what women think is the appropriate representation of a woman in movies or books. The female gaze expects a woman to be extremely feminine, soft, painted in pastel tones, doves and cherubs floating around. Basically Disney princesses.

It is what women think is what men want but that's where you go wrong. It is undeniable that femininity with sexiness is exactly what men want but your primary reading audience is female and you are projecting misogynist, patriarchal thoughts onto your readers ranging from 10 to idk, the range is pretty big. But that's what you are telling young girls about being a woman and it is to change according to a man's need who doesn't deserve them. I mean, that's pretty fucked up.

However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't write with female characters that are superficially perfect. Showing such characters gives you a great opportunity to touch on subjects like gaslighting, manipulating and just how a person can take advantage of a good person and ruin their lives if you are going for that theme, which honestly, will be amazing.

So, this was about the 'female protagonist' and there are a lot of points above that are common while building a male character.

Now, most often than not male characters are shown as tall, buff men with a rough, baritone voice. Alpha males is what I like to call them. They are egotistic, hot headed, rough around the edges, possessive to the point of obsessive but the female inside us that wants to be taken care of likes this description so much, we just mug it all up and sigh in content.

What we fail to see is, how this can possibly be problematic because writers focus on the positive aspects and not the negatives. This depiction of a man is also something that has yet to change in the world of writing. I mean, yes there are male characters who are shown as clingy, emotional and openly expressive but the physical description does not change. 

Its almost like a heterosexual man just can't be delicate and pretty. That kind of physique is always limited to queer characters and that's just sad because I know a lot of guys in real life who are completely straight but are made fun of just because they look feminine as opposed to the definition of what being a boy entails which is being masculine.

But with K-pop gaining more popularity and actors like Timothee Chalamet being praised and women liking them, its time we too, as writers who have a superpower called artistic freedom, get out of the stereotypes and show versatility when it comes to writing and shaping male characters.    

So, that's about it for today.  If you have any questions, you can ask them here. Also, if there's a particular point you want me to cover asap, you can ask that too. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

The discord server is also ready and if you want to join, just post a tea emoji here, I'll send the link in dms. ( ﹁ ﹁ ) ~→

And for today's joke!

What do you call a fish wearing a bowtie?

soFISHticated ;-;