This is one of those topics that’s sticky and tricky and I have to admit, I had my qualms about posting it. In the end, it seemed too important a topic NOT to post. Important in today’s climate and mostly, important to those of us who want to be the best fiction writers we can be. (I also thank Therese Walsh, who quietly nudged me to be brave.)
Recently, I worked on three different client manuscripts written by male writers. One of the writers in particular, showed very skillful writing. It was gripping, well-paced, and had interesting metaphors. In fact, I was happily reading along with few comments until about page eight when something happened in the narrative that made me realize—oh, crap, THIS CHARACTER IS A FEMALE. I scratched my head, trying to figure out what was missing. The character was a little rougher around the edges, an anti-princess if you will, which was great. I love a rough-and-tumble female character with a side of badass, so this wasn’t the problem. I started reading from the beginning again, looking for clues. How had I missed this?
And then it hit me, on my second read. This protagonist, in fact, all three protags from the client books I mention above, were missing the same thing. A fundamental piece of being a woman was absent.
The protagonists lacked both body and spatial awareness.
What does that even mean, spatial awareness? Being proud/ashamed of your body and/or your physical skills is certainly a part of spatial awareness, but it extends far beyond this. It’s something that is deeply programmed in our psyches, as women. A message that grows louder as we gain experiences, most of them negative, but some good, too.
And then there’s our relationship to men, and how it relates to this awareness.
It doesn’t matter the male’s size, shape, or ethnicity, his clothing or social status. A male’s age might matter some, but that’s about it. When confronted with men they do not know and in an exposed situation, most, if not all, women feel like a rabbit hopping through a field littered with foxes and coyotes and hawks and eagles. The predators may look different, but they ALL want to chase that rabbit. Rabbits are food for many species after all. Some rabbits are wily and escape, some are just plain fast and get away, and some have strong hind legs and kick the crap out of the predator to fend them off. None of these things change the simple fact that women are still rabbits. They are the prey.
Maybe this is a silly analogy. Certainly, there are wonderful people and horrible people out there, weak and strong, regardless of their sexual orientation, and great and weak writers regardless of their gender. There are also many wonderful men. This is not a male-bashing post, not at all. That’s not my point. Neither is my point that it’s always the men whose female characters lack this body and spatial awareness in their stories—though it’s much more common, and I’ve got a stack of edited manuscripts to prove it.
My point is about craft.
Do your characters reflect this body and spatial awareness? We writers need to take note of these concepts to create the most believable, effective, unforgettable characters we can, so let’s look at some tips to help with this.
Body Awareness
- Women compare themselves to each other, in large part because of growing up in a world that bombards us with ugly messages, but it’s also part of our hard wiring to compete for a male in order to procreate and further the species. (Not to go all anthro on you, but anthropology helps us understand these impulses. Also, check out The Female Brain and conversely The Male Brain by neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine.) These factors can create an inferiority—or superiority–complex but it can also explain why there is so much emphasis on how women look. This develops into an acute awareness of the way others regard their bodies, and how that changes over time. Women internalize these messages and it becomes a part of the way we, in turn, view ourselves. This could be quite negative or positive.
- A female character will notice how she feels. I’m not referring to straight-forward emotions that result from some event in the character’s life. I’m referring to hormonal surges and changes in both mood and physique due to these hormones. They’re cyclical in a woman’s body so it makes sense that we would have constant awareness of these things. Examples of physical changes include aches and the way her body changes after having children—and not just their hips and thighs. Perhaps now she has developed migraines or weird allergies or skin issues post-pregnancy or post-menopause. These sorts of things. We are always on the look out for something shifting and changing inside of us, and how that will affect us on the outside as well.
Spatial awareness
- Females are very aware of who is walking in front of them, behind them, beside them. They take note of the distance between them and any male nearby. If they have a choice, they will often move to the side of the street next to another female or select a seat on a bus/train/plane/theater next to other women. It’s safety in numbers and in distance, you see. These are things we think about every single day.
Even in my quaint, wooded little town, I keep my front door locked when my husband isn’t home, and I don’t answer the door when a male I don’t know rings the bell. When the lawn guys are around the neighborhood, I’m keenly aware of where they are and how close they are to the house. If I’m out at night or walking through a parking garage, I tend to find someone to walk with at a distance, or I have my phone at the ready and literally dart to my destination, walking as fast as I can without appearing like a total spazz.
Women are always at risk. We are extremely aware of who and what is around us and the minute we stop paying attention could not only be dangerous, it could be LIFE-THREATENING.
I can’t emphasize this enough. Your female protagonist, therefore, will not walk through a dark parking lot without listening for footsteps or looking over her shoulder, or at least taking stock of the environment around her. If your female protagonist gets into a car with a strange man, or goes home with a strange man from a bar, etc, be careful how you depict her motivations. She must be very naïve or drunk or have a death wish because of pain in her past that has heavily damaged her self-worth to do such a thing. Or maybe she’s a cop or an assassin and knows she can take down anyone. There has to be a strong motivation that is valid, because we’re not buying it. Most women know they must watch their backs at all times.
Disclaimer Note: I need to add in an important note here. Gender is an incredibly nuanced social and biological construct, and as society grapples with accepting all kinds of people (at last!), some of these “expectations” or “normalities” are shifting. Sure, men can feel like prey as well, in particular if they have been a victim of assault or trauma, but for men it isn’t a constant, and it’s less likely, whereas it never changes for women. Not ever.
Regardless of what gender our protagonist is, it’s our job as novelists to burrow deeply into our characters’ minds and hearts. A large part of this involves their view of the world and how they move through it, and not just as a reaction to what has happened to them in the past, but through their programming as males, females, transgender, or gender neutral. This a complex issue, but an important one to analyze and apply.
Time to talk. You may have a different opinion on writing authentic women. You may have seen other shortcomings, and have your own observations. I’d like to hear all of that, but please let’s take extra care to be respectful about how our opinions are conveyed. There are no villains here, only observations from this field called Life. Over to you.
About Heather Webb
Heather Webb is the international bestselling author of historical novels Becoming Josephine, Rodin’s Lover, The Phantom’s Apprentice, and Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of WWI. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was a Goodread’s Top Pick, and in 2017, Last Christmas in Paris became a Globe & Mail Bestseller. To date, Heather’s books have sold in multiple countries worldwide, received national starred reviews, and have been featured in print media including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and more. As a freelance editor, Heather has helped over two dozen writers sign with agents, and go on to sell at market. She may also be found teaching craft courses at a local college. When not writing, Heather feeds her cookbook addiction, geeks out on history and pop culture, and looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world.
This was terrific, Heather. One of the best descriptions of the female awareness/prey mentality I’d heard before this was on an episode of the old series JAG, when the character of Mac tells her boss what she experiences and thinks every day when she goes to her car (she was in a dangerous situation, of course!).
The one caveat I would include is that some young women (remembering myself in my teens and early twenties) have not yet discovered this mindset, because they have not needed to. When you are that young and still that innocent of the fact that things you’ve heard about have anything to do with you, you believe you are immortal. That does change, of course, with age and experience.
Sometimes growing up for women is a process of being fearless, to being fearful, to learning not to be ruled by the fear while still respecting the reasons for it.
Thanks.
Thank you, Carol, and your additions are perfectly stated. I didn’t begin as one of those naive young women because I learned, unfortunately, at a very young age to watch my back, but I’ve seen this fearlessness in my daughter who is at the tender age of 11 and it scares me to death. She will learn, as we all do, and I just hope that I’ve taught her some skills to help her deal with difficult situations well.
Oh, this! “Sometimes growing up for women is a process of being fearless, to being fearful, to learning not to be ruled by the fear while still respecting the reasons for it.”
So a legitimate question for developing any female character is really, where is she in that process (especially if she’s the protagonist)? If she’s the protagonist, that may actually be a key part of her character arc. :-)
This is going to help me make a far more honest telling of the stories I’m working on for the foreseeable near-future, and there’s very little more important to me at the moment than that (apart from the newborn snoozing in a carrier on my chest, and the rest of the family I can hear having a bath in the next room as I type this). Deep, deep thanks.
I’m so glad you find it useful, James. Your stories will be better for it! And your family’s needs as well. :) Thanks for stopping by today.
This is a brilliant piece, Heather. I just put down a very celebrated debut novel by a man for just this reason. I didn’t believe in his women characters at all, but I’m not sure I would have been able to so concisely say all that you did. Well done!
BTW, I never leave my car without putting my keys between my fingers. Day or night, supermarket or parking garage. Old, old habit, one that makes a weapon in case one needs it. The new keyless entries stymied me for a bit, but I just added a keyring with the same capability.
Thank you, friend. And I do the same thing with my keys. It took one time of having a man jump out from behind a car and chase me to the entrance of a store for me to be wary in parking lots forever. Never can be too careful, unfortunately. *shudders*
I thought about this post yesterday (knowing it was in the queue) when I was at a doctor’s appointment after having an x-ray (all is well). I was asked to go back to a small waiting room with my clothes in my hands, wearing only a hospital gown. This has never happened to me before. Go back into the waiting room? But okay, sure. As I walked back into the room, my eyes immediately found the two men there, and the one woman sitting by her lonesome in a matching blue gown. And beside that woman I sat. For the next few minutes we chatted about the alarming headline on a nearby TV–maggots found on pizza somewhere in Syracuse (ug)–and pointedly ignored the guys. They were also, politely, ignoring us. Anyway, both body and spacial awareness directed my actions, and I was so, so glad to have that other woman in the room. I normally would have sat somewhere separate, but sitting beside her made me feel less vulnerable–and made us a sort of a tribe, stronger as two than as one.
Thank you for your wise and important post, my friend. I’m so glad that you decided to publish it. And the fact that it’s up today, of all days, is kind of perfect.
Thanks, T. That’s EXACTLY the kind of thing I’m talking about. I would immediately feel very odd about going to a waiting room dressed that way because you feel exposed–not so much with women, but then to have men in the same waiting room? It’s not that you would be attacked there of course, but the discomfort of them knowing you have no clothes on as a sort of “shield” beneath the gown makes it super awkward.
I’m glad all is well with the x-ray! <3
Great post, Heather, and great example, Therese. I read this while at the library and put The Female Brain on order!
BTW: I was feeling perfectly safe here, alone at an interconnected circle of four, low-walled work areas, until two men sat down in close succession, one on either side of me. Believe me, my Spidey senses perked.
Thanks, Kathryn! And your example works perfectly, too…
Goodness Heather, it’s a miracle that I am at the age I am now, which is 50+. Not only did I not pay attention to my body, I was clueless about situational safety. My guardian angel must’ve had to work overtime. I was well out of college and working in CA when I became more self-aware. I wonder now whether this is a cultural thing or if I’m just an oddball. My daughter, even in elementary school, was more aware of her body and safety.
I have a hard time writing from the opposite sex’s viewpoint . I’ve only written a couple of short stories with boy protagonists and doubt I could sustain an entire novel (I started one, but gave up mid-novel because I was struggling with his voice). I really admire people who have this facility. One of my favorite authors is Khaled Hosseini who nailed his female characters perfectly (Thousand Splendid Suns).
You’re not an oddball. :) Some of us are more or less aware, depending on our experiences but also depending on who we are as people and our culture. The fact that your daughter is aware is great, though. Hopefully it will help her navigate any challenges that arise. And I agree, re Khaled Hosseini–wonderful writer!
Thank you for articulating something that probably informs our writing our women characters without our even realizing it. I think our sensitivity to body and spatial awareness is also developed into a sensitivity to unspecified vibes coming from people. That feeling about something not being right about them, or their being untrustworthy, is part of the deep-seated self protective abilities we have without even realizing it. I am reminded– of course– of dogs in this respect. My never, ever, aggressive Andy faced off and growled at a handsome man as he approached us and the two young women we were talking to at a picnic area. They had just met him on the road. I told them Andy’s reaction was totally out of character and he was telling us that man was not a good guy. They seemed to believe me. I hope so. The point is that women have the same gut instinct. We need to trust it. A great post.
Thank you, Mary. I think you bring up an interesting point about intuition and instinct. I’m hyper-tuned to energies around me, and more than once, it has kept me from making poor choices. I wonder if this is also part of our “hard-wiring” as “gatherers and nesters”. I would love to hear from men as to whether or not they feel in tune with their intuition in the same way. Thanks for your insightful comments!
Heather, this is a stunning piece of writing. I know where my car is, and, when I used to close at a restaurant, I would look under my car because I’d read stories about men who hid underneath, injured a woman and then assaulted her.
Thank you for having the courage to share it, and, as always, for tackling tricky things with an eloquence that leaves me in awe.
Tasha, you just made my day. Thanks so much for your compliments, and comments today. :)
Heather – I read this early this morning, before running a few errands. It’s been front-and-center on my mind since. And it seems the events of the day conspire to show me the truth of your insights, again and again.
As a male writer who has taken on writing from a female perspective, early and often, I can not only see the huge value in your perspective here, but also that there are aspects and nuances I have lacked in my undertaking.
Having said that, in thinking about it, the element of females as prey has been at the very foundation of my work. As you know, my work features a female warrior sect in a historical second world setting. I have woven in the retelling of the sect’s origin story in a number of ways. And it features males as predators. And females as deciding to do something about it. Together. Their very name, Skolani, means “We fight to be free” in their old tongue. Free from what? It’s always been clear to me. Free from male domination and brutality.
I realized this morning, at it’s core, this elemental concept is one of the primary reasons I write historical fantasy rather than straight HisFic.
Thank you for your brave essay, and your essential insights, my friend. Your perspective is sure to inform my storytelling from here forward.
Vaughn, I’m just dying to read this series of yours!
In some ways, I think a female warrior would be far more concerned with body and spatial awareness than a “regular woman”. They would be not only sure of their strength, but acutely aware of how to wield it not only for survival, but to maintain order among their people. I wonder if this would be considered “classic male” thinking? This is where all of the gender constructs come into play and things get nuanced and interesting.
Thanks for your comments, as always (and more importantly, for having my back!). :)
Heather, you have perfectly described the invisible force field that girls and women feel they must put up around themselves at all times. I think it’s difficult for male writers to capture the essence of that constant vigilance. However, when a male writer succeeds, and has disguised his gender with initials, rather than a first name, I’m amazed when I learn the writer is not female, that they have captured the female zeitgeist so well, and my admiration for them as a writer increases. My daughter is 23. When she was in college, I made sure she had pepper spray, that a trusted male co-worker always walked her to her car at night and I lectured her constantly on not drinking anything that had been out of her sight. I seriously doubt any boys or men feel they have to carry pepper spray, that they ask for someone to walk with them to their car, or that parents of boys warn them not to drink something that someone else has poured for them. Does any man hesitate before getting in an elevator, walking in a parking garage, worry about a woman walking in their direction? Good men don’t get it. And that includes many good male writers.
I’m with you, Densie. When male writers get it, I’m in awe of their insights and skills, and the same is true when women write an authentic male character. I happen to love to write male characters, and the challenges that come with it.
Thanks for your insights. (I, too, will be teaching my daughter these things!)
An amazingly true and moving post. Ironic for me today as I listen to a woman relating a past frightening experience where her space was invaded. I have raised two daughters and feel so grateful that they have been smart and safe. This post is welcome on so many levels. Beth
Thanks so much, Beth. Here’s to hoping our daughters feel safe in their world!
Thank you for articulating what I’ve been trying to tell some of the male writers in my writing group. They are good, talented writers who fail to convince me whenever they write from a female perspective. And here you have stated why. I think I will need to direct them to this post.
I wrote a story from a male perspective and had to repeatedly revive it to make a convincing character. I thrived on the challenge, but it took some work.
I enjoy authors who write well from the opposite gender, male or female.
Thanks so much, Leslie, and I’m glad to be of help! I respect and admire those who write well not just from the opposite sex, but also different eras and cultures. A writer with real skill can get the job done beautifully.
Good luck with your group and your writings.
Wonderful post. Thank you, Heather. My focus is historical fiction, and I imagine 19th century women must have been even more sensitive to any number of situations due to socio-cultural restrictions. I am also interested in what happens when a woman dares to step outside that box and reach for independence. So, for me this topic is a timely reminder – dress, habits, internal reactions toward outward “spaces” all build to reveal character and story. Carefully crafting these invisible, biologically motivated actions, clearly understood by all subliminally, create the ring of truth for the reader.
Well said, Elizabeth. “Ring of truth for a reader”. That’s what this is all about. In some ways as historical writers, we have to grapple with these huge gender expectations and discrepancies more than contemporary writers. But then again, it’s alarming how little has actually changed in time. I suppose that’s why women are raging now, and ready to storm onto the scene to demand the changes that need to come.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Heather, thanks so much for this post. I’ve struggled mightily to write a female protagonist in my WIP. My female writer friends and beta readers have been enormously helpful to me. Yet, six drafts into my WIP, I’m still not sure I’ve got this character right. Your suggestions will cause me to take another look. Thanks again!
It’s not easy, stepping into someone else’s shoes, but the fact that you’re willing to work hard to nail it speaks volumes about you as a writer, Christopher. Keep at it! And thanks for your comments, as always. :)
Heather, thank you. That kind of always-on, conscious and unconscious spatial awareness as it relates to men is something I’ve probably skimmed over, at best, with my female characters. That’s a strong craft (and cultural) insight, and is probably helpful to all writers, but necessarily male ones.
And on this, of all days, when the Senate tries to ramrod through a high court candidate with credible reports of sexual assault against him. Dr. Ford probably wishes her own spatial safety sense wasn’t so sharply and perenially tuned because of that incident, but it is. Thanks for the important post.
Thanks, Tom. I hope it’s useful information for you. I think the stories coming out of the woodwork are informing everyone, men especially, how their behaviors affect the opposite sex. And this is a very good thing. Knowledge is power! :) Thanks for your comments.
Excellent post, Heather–I love how you hone in on that basic sense of internal perspective and how it plays out in the character’s actions and reactions. As you say, definitely a craft question.
Thanks also for the recommendations to check out Brizendine’s books: as I read this I was thinking of my efforts to develop and hear a secondary character in my WIP, a gay man who is closeted (early 1950s) and is a friend/colleague of my MC. Here too, I think I’m not quite tapping into his fundamental mindset, even with backstory work. So some additional context may help me explore his perspective better.
I hope the books help, Alisha! You may also try interviewing some gay men who are friends to get a sense of what their take would be. That might help inform your writing as well. Best of luck!
Thanks for writing this and parsing out some of the nuances of being an everyday female. As a woman it’s so ingrained in me–to be aware of what I’m doing, who’s around me and how I come across. On the flip side, it’s also difficult writing about men from a female perspective. I tend to surround myself with people who are more sensitive, including men who do not fit the American stereotypes that you see on TV or in popular movies. Also, being part of an arts community, I come across a lot of people from different cultures and with different lifestyles and orientations who don’t fit what’s considered the “norm.” I love that diversity but it’s tricky conveying those very real protagonists on paper.
It sure is tricky. I think a writer’s ability to dig deeply into a character’s mind, heart, and experiences is a gift and is our super power–when done well. The fact that you’re aware of your struggles with a particular element is key to improvement, however, and I suspect you’ll do the necessary research and nail that male voice in time. :)
Great article and timing. I started a novel based on a young (36) women’s career/ marriage problems. It leads her to escape to Barcelona for a holiday and time to think. That’s when her story really begins.
The character chose herself as I am male, well over 36 and lacking anybody to ask for advice. The story was progressing well but I knew something was missing. You have highlighted the problem. Many thanks. I hope to read more articles of yours that will keep the light shining in the tunnel.
Kind regards.
I’m so happy to hear it’s helpful, Trevor, and for what it’s worth, that sounds like a story I’d enjoy. I love books where the characters go off traveling and find themselves. Best of luck with your manuscript!
Another resource to consider is The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker, whose premise is that we — women in particular — are taught to dismiss our fears, instead of listening to them and recognizing that they serve the purpose of telling us when we are in danger.
Thanks for the resource, Leslie! I’ll be sure to look this one up. :)
That’s an excellent post that gave me a lot of insight. I wonder how similar concepts could be applied to transgender people.
Thank you! And I would love to see an article about that myself. I think I’ll have to go dig into that…
I fortunately feel very safe in my current community, even walking or jogging alone at night, so as I read this, I started to wonder whether I had been making my female characters less cautious than the average woman would be. Then I thought about my romantic suspense novel with the most strong-willed, confident lead. It opens with her finding a strange man in her workshop on campus. She eventually does go in and confront him, but first she thinks about all the safety issues and the options she has, and even once he comes up with a plausible explanation for being there, she gets them to a public place as soon as possible. So I guess the situational awareness is pretty ingrained after all!
In other news, I recently read a novel by a man, published 10 or 15 years ago. I stopped reading for several reasons, one of which was his primary female character. She seemed pretty realistic in some ways. She was gorgeous and quickly brushed off anything that might be taken as a romantic overture, clearly used to men hitting on her and having no patience for it. But when the man, who was her new boss, invited her to dinner and insisted it wasn’t a date, she approved of his chivalry in opening doors for her and pulling out her chair. That seemed out of character with the very defensive, “this is not a date,” woman. Therefore, it felt like the author was trying to promote his own viewpoint rather than create a believable character. It’s a little thing, but several of those added up and I closed the book. (Another was that when he invited her to dinner and she was concerned about it being a date, he insisted it wasn’t, he had a girlfriend, etc., but he did *not* say, “I’m your boss so it would be totally inappropriate for me to hit on you.”)
I like that you brought up the point about running in your neighborhood and feeling safe. I feel safe while exercising in my neighborhood as well–but it doesn’t mean I’m not alert, not very aware of who passes me on the road, or when a car slows down, etc. Again, ingrained behavior, survival instincts! (Also, I’ve put down quite a few novels written by men in which the woman notices and thinks about the man’s genitalia often when she doesn’t even know him, or when the woman only notices or thinks about clothing, is hysterically emotional, etc. Ugg)
Thanks for stopping by today!
Coming to the party late on this one, but I’m glad I made it. Thank you for this post, Heather. I’m currently working on a novel about a woman in a very, very masculinized, quasi-military unit. I know I’ve tried to capture her sense of being watched and lack of safety, and consider now that I may not have done it enough.
I will add that, a couple of years ago, I had an exchange with a female author friend while I was beta reading for her. We were discussing a rape situation in her book and she told me “Women know all men are capable of rape.” I was going to write back and protest, but I was left with the keyboard equivalent of mouth flapping open, not making a sound. Shortly after THAT, my writers’ group met. No one showed up but me and a woman, and we were meeting in the usual place, a pottery studio in an out-of-the-way building on a quiet Sunday afternoon, and I found myself wondering, “Is she worried that I might do something like that?” It was an eye-opening moment, and it saddens me to know that women have to constantly be on guard, have to constantly watch their backs, and be worried pretty much all the time.
The party never stops here at WU, so we’re glad you stopped by!
I think your story is really powerful, Jeff. That eye-opening moment of how you may be viewed can really inform the way you interact with women and it may very likely translate well to the page. I agree with your writing partner who said we’re aware that all men are capable of rape. I will say, however, that how a man conducts himself goes a long way in how comfortable/uncomfortable a woman feels.
I find military women very interesting because they must know they’re at risk 100% of the time of ridicule, misogyny, and rape. What sort of woman puts herself in that position? A very, very strong and confident one, I think. But we are all vulnerable and the aspect of her vulnerabilities would be fascinating to explore on the page.
Good luck with your manuscript!
This is interesting. I do agree parking garages at night are creepy, but supermarket parking lots during the day, the neighbours gardeners, … no. It is not that I am a very brave woman, quite the opposite, but I sense no danger there. I bike home after parents evening on my own, also after my weekly yoga class. Could it be a culture thing (Raised in Austria and Germany, currently living in the Netherlands)? (And no, I am not young and careless any more…) – As for writing characters of the opposite sex: the protagonist of my WIP is a young male scientist, quite introvert. I have no idea if I am writing him “right”, but he came to my mind as a man, so there is nothing I can do to change it (my mother asked me why my protagonist isn’t female, and all I could say is: “because he is a man”). I guess all I can do is ask male beta-readers if he feels right.
I think some of it is cultural, definitely. I have to admit, I feel much safer in Europe overall when I visit and I’m not sure why that is, exactly. Perhaps it’s because while on vacation or a research trip, I’m in a different frame of mind and I’m enjoying myself immensely. Perhaps it’s because there are fewer guns. Maybe it’s because more people are on the street, on the buses, and on bikes than in the U.S. so you’re not alone in those situations terribly often. I’m not sure, but that’s an excellent point to raise.
As for writing your male character, I would definitely recommend a male beta reader to gauge your accuracy. I had my husband read for me when I wrote male characters, for example, and he has no qualms about saying, “No way. A guy would never think that.”
Thanks for stopping by!
I love this article, Heather. It resonates like a tuning fork. I’ve read all the eloquent comments together with your compassionate replies, and have little to add except that its timeliness couldn’t have been bettered. And thank you. Following you on Twitter.
I read this post twice through and then all the comments because it is a brilliant and important piece for which I thank you. My published novel has 5 pov — 5 women of different ages, ethnicity, and with different careers and financial status. But all became victims of the same sociopath. It took time and research. My current WIP is from the male sociopath’s POV – and I will certainly seek a few male beta readers. Thanks to WU and WITS I have practicing Deep POV. It helps that my favorite authors that I continually re-read are Hemingway, James Salter, Charles Frazier, Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan, Fitzgerald, Roth, Murakami and Jim Harrison. I am currently reading Richard Ford. I always value your posts Heather, thank you so much.
If I may, the concept of spacial awareness is not gender specific. I cued in on the body specific portion of your comments mostly and will endeavor to be more conscious of this with my female characters.
Having been a scrawny geek at one time if found the requirement for situational awareness very heightened, arguable as high as for a female. Many men may not fesses up to this, easily, Part of being a man. This also in itself highlights a difference; a female character may see herself as prey and wish to carry pepper spray, where a man may not dare because the danger of being caught with it.
I mention this to expand upon your concept of off-gender writing being a challenge, but is it not as much a challenge for getting any one character, male or female ( Gay, trans or elf ) as unique as each one is in real life.
Write characters with deep perception and in all cases avoid stereotypes.
William Boyd and Patrick Gale are two male writers who can write very convincing female characters.
I hesitated to comment on this post, partly because I am a male writer, partly because I have not made biological differences between men and women a subject of close study, and partly because I do find value in what you’re saying. But I think the article makes some assertions that need to be balanced out.
First, we all need to be aware that the The Female Brain has been heavily criticized as grossly exaggerating the influence of hormones on specific behaviors across genders. See the work of Cordelia Fine, among others. According to my admittedly limited reading there is little or no evidence that human behaviors are hard-wired responses to hormones. If anything, it’s social behavior that changes hormone levels and actions.
Second, you seem to be making universal statements about male and female behavior that are probably much more culturally determined. Women in our society have to exercise heightened awareness, not because they are biologically predisposed to do so, but because much of male society in this culture has been traditionally socialized to think of women as objects, and to act toward them as such. And this is no trivial thing– there are definitely times and places when a woman would be in peril in a way a man in an identical situation would not be. The story of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is, unfortunately, very common in our culture.
I would hesitate, however, to over-generalize this reality into a universal statement about all cultures and all periods. Roles, expectations and mores vary widely across different societies. Even in ours behavior has often been linked to social, economic or racial status. A white woman of high social standing in 1861 could generally expect to be treated quite differently from a black woman, especially in the South.
Even within societies, gender expectations and roles are never quite set in stone, however hard the overall culture works to make it so. Individuals can and often do exceed expectations. That is perhaps why I resist the idea that all, or most, men are ‘predators’ and all or most women are ‘prey’.
Having said that, I do find value in understanding that, if I want to write authentic characters of a gender other than my own– and this would go for LGBT characters as well as heterosexual women– I need to know how the world looks through their eyes. The specific idea of differential body and spatial awareness is definitely a valuable concept, and I am rethinking my approach to my female characters in its light. Of course, any understanding of this sort has to be applied with nuance, because another part of creating authentic characters is remembering that we all represent variations around ideal or expected roles, and so should our characters.