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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: 2007-09-21 01:20 am (UTC)It's why Howl and I like Sophie, and why I like Hero, and it's why Spike likes Beth. I could keep going, but you get the picture.
I can't think of any other particular pet peeves, other than the cliche breathless and trembling and all that bodice-ripping stuff; I have no patience for that.
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Date: 2007-09-21 02:33 am (UTC)I actually got into a running argument with a friend at a creating writing program a few years back - we would edit each other's work, and she'd use the word "breathed" instead of "said" at various points in her writing, and I just could not deal and kept telling her to take it out. It sounded way too cheesy to me. But she never would. *grins* So yes.