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skygiants. . . what is the appropriate term for a mini-rant? Rantling? Rantita? Anyways.
I have noticed lately that whenever an author/character uses the term 'innocence' to describe the source of a heroine's attraction/heroism/overall good qualities, it pings my DO NOT WANT buttons pretty much right away. Now, I am sure that there are places where it is good and valid for it to be used! However, in most cases, it tends to remind me of a long tradition of putting women up on pedestals as good, pure, and needing to be protected from the harsh reality of life. And in fiction, I feel, it tends to translate to either 'too stupid to know that certain things are BAD NEWS', or 'too good to be sullied by the Evil Of The World and therefore fated to win through in the end!'
Authors, ask me to expect your female characters to reach victory because they're clever, or stubborn, or practical, or can lift a Jeep over their heads, or shoot an ant's antenna off at two hundred paces, or recite the Odyssey in the original Greek - almost anything, really. I'm an easy sell! But please don't expect me to root for them because of their big-eyed innocence. I do not really feel like 'innocence' is a good trait for a role model.
So this is my latest pet peeve. What about you guys? What words/character traits leave you making faces at the text or the screen when they come up? ('Spunky' is too easy a target.)
This post is brought to you by the letter P for procrastination.
I have noticed lately that whenever an author/character uses the term 'innocence' to describe the source of a heroine's attraction/heroism/overall good qualities, it pings my DO NOT WANT buttons pretty much right away. Now, I am sure that there are places where it is good and valid for it to be used! However, in most cases, it tends to remind me of a long tradition of putting women up on pedestals as good, pure, and needing to be protected from the harsh reality of life. And in fiction, I feel, it tends to translate to either 'too stupid to know that certain things are BAD NEWS', or 'too good to be sullied by the Evil Of The World and therefore fated to win through in the end!'
Authors, ask me to expect your female characters to reach victory because they're clever, or stubborn, or practical, or can lift a Jeep over their heads, or shoot an ant's antenna off at two hundred paces, or recite the Odyssey in the original Greek - almost anything, really. I'm an easy sell! But please don't expect me to root for them because of their big-eyed innocence. I do not really feel like 'innocence' is a good trait for a role model.
So this is my latest pet peeve. What about you guys? What words/character traits leave you making faces at the text or the screen when they come up? ('Spunky' is too easy a target.)
This post is brought to you by the letter P for procrastination.
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Date: 2007-09-20 09:02 pm (UTC)I know this is a completely normal pet peeve to have, but I'm almost immediately disinterested in a character who is infinitely beautiful, so much so that it gets described around every corner. I will make exceptions, as in cases where the concept of physical beauty is integral to the story plot (although it then has to be a pretty interesting plot to keep me reading), or in case the character is in a profession where good looks are a plus, like, say, prostitution. Or modeling, but since I'm not particularly interested in that topic I'm less likely to read THAT story too . . .
Anyway, my pet peeve is when a character in a profession that is likely to impede her physical appearance (like traipsing about in the wilderness all the time with no hairbrushes or hygenic products), or just in a story where it's not necessary to look good, is described as impossibly beautiful, just because. I dislike it when good genetics overshadows the traits a character actually worked for. You want a heroine who can pin a fly to a tapestry from a hundred yards away? Great! Take those seven paragraphs you spent describing each of her facial features and use them to describe her training and her motivation.
For pete's sake people, stop treating looks like they're a pretty person's best attribute.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 09:14 pm (UTC)I mean, I can overlook it, or allow it not to bother me, if the character is fully developed outside of their fantastic looks - and I even sometimes find it interesting in stories where those looks are described as a disadvantage (example: Sherwood Smith's Inda, which features two side characters who are incredibly beautiful, and who both hold extremely cynical views about the world on account of the generally sexualized treatment their beauty receives). But when a hero or heroine's eye-candy traits are given more positive notice by the author than any of their other characteristics? Yeah, they've generally lost me.
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Date: 2007-09-21 06:52 pm (UTC)Honestly, my biggest pet peeve with beautiful characters is not when they're described as stunningly gorgeous. It's when EVERYBODY AGREES that they're stunningly gorgeous. Regardless of type, sexual orientation, occasionally (and egregiously) even species -- everyone thinks character X is incredibly lovely.
Nobody ever says "Enh, yeah, she's pretty enough, but I kinda go for brunettes with curves. Blond and willowy's not my type." Or vice versa. Or says "Yeah, she's gorgeous, but I don't much like her and that means I don't notice the looks so much." Or whatever.