next »

[antoniodamala]

I'm not writing nothing at the moment, but that's something that have been bugging me for some time, and better solve it sooner than later.

Relationships do vary deeply depending on the gender, that's no surprise, but how to best approach? Me, as a man, will never fully understand what it means to be a woman, nor dealing with woman or man from her perspective. And obviously this doesn't has a clear answer because people are different. So with this topic, i to bring up differents perspectives within and without genders to discuss.

[Evan Balster]

I guess I try to focus on making interesting characters and exploring the interactions between their personalities.  I tend to define my female characters by specific attributes of their character, taking inspiration from people in my life and my own experiences, as I do with male characters.  It's true I'll never be a woman, but it's also true I'll never be another man.

As an example, I have a character in a work of fiction whose life experiences prior to the story are based on a period of social isolation in my own life, when I moved to Los Angeles.  The character is female, but that doesn't really change the experiences or emotions involved.

[Graham-]

What? Study the relationships you have in life, or have witnessed. Then read books, watch movies. Then go get some new experiences.

There's no difference here from any other kind of research.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

well, nobody fully understands anything, even what it's like to be your *own* gender, or even what it's like to be yourself -- full understanding isn't a requirement to write about something. knowledge is always incomplete. that said, if you think you have a problem with the female perspective or something, ask female friends to look over your writing, and ask that they point out any obvious problems that stand out to them

another issue is that females are just as varied as males are, i mean, obviously not all females act the same way, and usually you aren't going to write about a typical female in your stories, because that'd be boring, just as you wouldn't write about a typical male in your stories. each character type requires their own research. for instance, if you're writing about a queen, you'd research how queens act. if you're writing about a (female) nurse, you'd research how they act. and so on -- it really depends on the character's role in the story

i think that as long as you avoid writing about females in a stereotypical way (e.g. avoid saying that a female character likes romance novels, fashion, and ponies), while also avoid making them act exactly like males do (e.g. avoid making them as aggressive as males typically are), you'd be fine for most purposes

also, if you're specifically looking to learn about the female viewpoint towards relationships, perhaps you could read some books on relationships written by females. but even those tend to vary quite a bit, so make sure you read more than one

[Graham-]

Or just consume media targeted at females.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

the problem with that is that often media targeted towards females are created by males or created by large companies who are creating what they think females want -- i think it's more important (for research purposes) that the media have been created by females than that it is targeted towards females

[s_l_m]

I think that this is worth reading, because once you are aware of it you realize how many works don't even meet this (very modest) criteria:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test

I am a male and I don't try to be a feminist BTW, I just think that this should be a basic sloppy writing test

the problem with that is that often media targeted towards females are created by males or created by large companies who are creating what they think females want -- i think it's more important (for research purposes) that the media have been created by females than that it is targeted towards females

Also be very, VERY weary of this. Not just when it comes to genders but also in general. Often times works about a certain culture are made by people who do not understand said culture or even care about it(see: most movies with a "hacker" in it, most Hollywood films about a religion other than Christianity, etc)

[Graham-]

Yeah, that's a good point Paul. I should say stuff targeted at females that females enjoy, to learn the female perspective.

If you want to observe how females actually behave in relationships, then you need to read media targeted at men or women, written/directed/acted by women, demonstrating women in relationships.

[antoniodamala]

What? Study the relationships you have in life, or have witnessed. Then read books, watch movies. Then go get some new experiences.

There's no difference here from any other kind of research.

Yes indeed, is just that i've been studying things about queer theory at university, and i would like to widen my scope on the topic. So i think a little bit of discussions and recommendations would be welcome. 

Mostly because so far my tipical approach to a character is focusing on his job/characteristics before his gender/genre. Which is simpler and cool, but not the only way. There are situations you mainly confront as a male or female, and combining them with other questions would bring some awesome depth.

the problem with that is that often media targeted towards females are created by males or created by large companies who are creating what they think females want -- i think it's more important (for research purposes) that the media have been created by females than that it is targeted towards females

Also be very, VERY weary of this. Not just when it comes to genders but also in general. Often times works about a certain culture are made by people who do not understand said culture or even care about it.

Even though these generic approaches may seem bad for cultures, they shouldn't be overlooked. The way outsiders look at your culture says a whole lot about not just yours culture, but mainly theirs. And there is definetly some space to grow from that. Like for example making a very generic office boss, that screams at everyone and is always pissed off, but in fact he is a very calm and lovely person and he did all that on purpose to make everyone produce more, or whatever.

Also, some people do act like these generic characters in real life. My sister was watching The Choice the other day, and called me to watch it with her, and i was surprised by how much the people there are stereotypes in their purest form.

-

Well some exchange would be welcome so i will start with two things to check:
The movie: Brief Interview With Hideous Men; and the series: Girls. Both of them go deep in analysing contemporary relationships and gender/genre issues. The first goes deeper than the second, but both are pertinent.

[Evan Balster]

If same gender relationships in particular are your interest (as per the topic title) I would give focus to the way those relationships interact with society.  In our world, same-sex relationships run a gambit from marginal social acceptability to brutal persecution.  Give consideration to how things work in the world you're portraying.

I can't really conceive of a "typical" relationship.  People and the situations they exist in are complex and organic.  Hard rules about how these things work tend to crumble at the provocation of life's unexpected events.


Re: "The Choice":  Please, please don't take reality television seriously.  If you want to learn how people work, go talk to a few.  They're less pretty and a whole lot more interesting than anyone you see on television.