Hi Alice, Bias (not prejudice in the very negative sense of the word) is, as Woolf so trenchantly identified, an ever-present problem. The key is if an author can identify it and work within their voice to neutralize it. One of the reasons I avoid the gynecological school of P&P variations is that I have no authority to understand what a woman feels while making love. At best, I could write what a man might imagine a woman would feel. And that would be colored by every ounce of male ego for all the reasons we think and know. At best I can write "man-womanly."
I can’t say I’ve dwelled over long on the differences that male or female authors bring to a story. Your post has made me give this some consideration. I think there must be some inherent bias when writing from another gender’s pov. It’s interesting to read how you put yourself in a position to write from another perspective.
I definitely enjoy the male perspective in a romance book…whether the author is writing from a male or female pov. I love reading yours, Richman, J Rowland and C P Odom variations. Really looking forward to what Harry and Benny bring to the table!
Inherent bias is the core problem. A male author (or a female one) must reflect on the factors shaping their voice. The trained male ego--that the lowest man is "better" than the highest woman--let alone those defined as "the other"----would offer the ultimate authoritative voice and drown out all else. Woolf's "Shadow of I" pinpoints the problem. Tribal man was an individual, overpowering other men for shelter, sustenance, and sex. Such a man was inherently selfish. Ancestral women were naturally inclined to work in groups, to consider the needs of their children before their own. Now move that to the publishing industry in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The gatekeepers were all men and could not accept how women like Woolf wrote (Mrs. Dalloway??? Really). Rather, they would push men-written stories to their women buyers. This explains why Woolf (along with her husband Leonard) opened their own publishing house.
TBH, I DO find that male authors TEND to excel at action and female authors at psychological motivations, and certainly not just in JAFF. Have been reading Alice Munro lately (she won the Nobel for a reason!!! Wow.)
Which is NOT to say that you can't do both (I can, likewise. I once wrote a Kirkus-starred thriller, under a pen-name, entirely from the male protagonist's POV.) As you put it, it's consciousness of this innate bias/style of thought/natural trend that can overcome it. But I still think the bias is real.
I’m unapologetically male, just like I’m unapologetically American. I don’t try to write from a female perspective, because I wouldn’t get it right, and at best it would come out stilted. Instead, I try to write as an enlightened man; I do my best to be aware of my biases and keep them out of my writing, or at least compensate for them.
Regency fiction, as you mentioned, is particularly challenging. Misogyny was embedded in the culture (and laws) of the time, and characters of both genders would have behaved accordingly. But modern Austenesque readers of both genders would consider that level of misogyny in the writing to be a turn-off, which means authors need to straddle the abyss between the two viewpoints.
Hi Alice, Bias (not prejudice in the very negative sense of the word) is, as Woolf so trenchantly identified, an ever-present problem. The key is if an author can identify it and work within their voice to neutralize it. One of the reasons I avoid the gynecological school of P&P variations is that I have no authority to understand what a woman feels while making love. At best, I could write what a man might imagine a woman would feel. And that would be colored by every ounce of male ego for all the reasons we think and know. At best I can write "man-womanly."
I can’t say I’ve dwelled over long on the differences that male or female authors bring to a story. Your post has made me give this some consideration. I think there must be some inherent bias when writing from another gender’s pov. It’s interesting to read how you put yourself in a position to write from another perspective.
I definitely enjoy the male perspective in a romance book…whether the author is writing from a male or female pov. I love reading yours, Richman, J Rowland and C P Odom variations. Really looking forward to what Harry and Benny bring to the table!
Inherent bias is the core problem. A male author (or a female one) must reflect on the factors shaping their voice. The trained male ego--that the lowest man is "better" than the highest woman--let alone those defined as "the other"----would offer the ultimate authoritative voice and drown out all else. Woolf's "Shadow of I" pinpoints the problem. Tribal man was an individual, overpowering other men for shelter, sustenance, and sex. Such a man was inherently selfish. Ancestral women were naturally inclined to work in groups, to consider the needs of their children before their own. Now move that to the publishing industry in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The gatekeepers were all men and could not accept how women like Woolf wrote (Mrs. Dalloway??? Really). Rather, they would push men-written stories to their women buyers. This explains why Woolf (along with her husband Leonard) opened their own publishing house.
And why women authors used no names or initials…?
TBH, I DO find that male authors TEND to excel at action and female authors at psychological motivations, and certainly not just in JAFF. Have been reading Alice Munro lately (she won the Nobel for a reason!!! Wow.)
Which is NOT to say that you can't do both (I can, likewise. I once wrote a Kirkus-starred thriller, under a pen-name, entirely from the male protagonist's POV.) As you put it, it's consciousness of this innate bias/style of thought/natural trend that can overcome it. But I still think the bias is real.
I’m unapologetically male, just like I’m unapologetically American. I don’t try to write from a female perspective, because I wouldn’t get it right, and at best it would come out stilted. Instead, I try to write as an enlightened man; I do my best to be aware of my biases and keep them out of my writing, or at least compensate for them.
Regency fiction, as you mentioned, is particularly challenging. Misogyny was embedded in the culture (and laws) of the time, and characters of both genders would have behaved accordingly. But modern Austenesque readers of both genders would consider that level of misogyny in the writing to be a turn-off, which means authors need to straddle the abyss between the two viewpoints.
Nice post! Liked the excerpt!
Thnk you. Look forward to your thoughts on how the arc carries you from beginning to end.