So we're coming up on a week since Elliott Rodger decided to have his "retribution" against women, and it's pretty obvious it struck nerve with me, as it has any decent human being on the planet.
One of the prevailing responses I've had, mostly from men, when I've shared feminist articles this past week has been that it's easier to sympathise with feminist arguments when they're calmer and easier to approach. Setting aside the topic of whether or not we should only listen to an argument if it's presented in a tone we find acceptable, I realised that there's a far better approach.
It's simple. If you read an article where there's a valid point being made, one you agree with, and you think that it can reach more people if phrased differently, do it. Share it. Express it in terms you think will reach a new audience. There's more than one way to fight the good fight, and no one person should be expected to reach everyone.
An article may not be palatable, but that doesn't mean it's not making a good point. One of the hardest things I've ever done is look at myself and see the mistakes I was making kicking back against a point just because I got annoyed at the tone. But there is some really horrible behaviour going on, directed at women and minorities. And I think it's better to all speak out any way we can than to resist just because you'd rather the message was sent a different way.
So if you think there's a way to get more people to listen, start talking.
May 29, 2014
Responding to Feminism
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
May 27, 2014
#YesAllWomen
I'm breaking from my book promotion today to ask everyone to check out the #YesAllWomen hashtag on Twitter. It's some harrowing stuff, both from the stories you read, and from people trying to turn the hashtag into a weapon against women.
It's risen to prominence following the shootings in Santa Barbara a few days ago.
Yesterday I spent some time trying to make my point in a thread on Facebook. It involved a particular bugbear of mine, which is when men respond to the topic of women's rights with comments that it's part of a "broader issue", as though the subject isn't deserving of attention on its own. It was exhausting, enraging, and resulted in the first case of me blocking another Facebook user.
It was everything that this article by Chuck Wendig says should not happen when someone points out that women are being treated badly. Maybe that wasn't the intent, but it's a perfect example of how even people who are well-meaning can contribute to the problem, because although a number of women liked my comments or sent me messages to thank me for what I'd said, none were willing to expose themselves to that kind of backlash. And I can't blame them.
Just read #YesAllWomen, please. Yeah, bad things happen to men. Yeah, the discrimination and abuse of women is part of a larger issue. But no, that does not mean we shouldn't take opportunities to highlight it and confront it. Because when you divert attention away from women, you disrespect the ones who've had the strength to stand up, and you convince the ones who haven't found their strength yet that it isn't worth trying.
#YesAllWomen deserve to be heard.
It's risen to prominence following the shootings in Santa Barbara a few days ago.
Yesterday I spent some time trying to make my point in a thread on Facebook. It involved a particular bugbear of mine, which is when men respond to the topic of women's rights with comments that it's part of a "broader issue", as though the subject isn't deserving of attention on its own. It was exhausting, enraging, and resulted in the first case of me blocking another Facebook user.
It was everything that this article by Chuck Wendig says should not happen when someone points out that women are being treated badly. Maybe that wasn't the intent, but it's a perfect example of how even people who are well-meaning can contribute to the problem, because although a number of women liked my comments or sent me messages to thank me for what I'd said, none were willing to expose themselves to that kind of backlash. And I can't blame them.
Just read #YesAllWomen, please. Yeah, bad things happen to men. Yeah, the discrimination and abuse of women is part of a larger issue. But no, that does not mean we shouldn't take opportunities to highlight it and confront it. Because when you divert attention away from women, you disrespect the ones who've had the strength to stand up, and you convince the ones who haven't found their strength yet that it isn't worth trying.
#YesAllWomen deserve to be heard.
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
May 17, 2014
Pre-Order your copy of Memory War!
Memory War, the final chapter in the Memory Wars trilogy, is now available to be pre-ordered on Amazon.com. Amazon.co.uk and other regional versions will follow, as will Kindle editions.
War is coming to New York. Nathan Shepherd's growing band of followers is dedicated to protecting the city, but they now face their greatest threat.
Athamar returns, plunging the city into chaos. Uniting the forces of darkness against Nathan and his allies, Athamar strives to discover a secret hidden for thousands of years. A secret lost to Nathan's memories. Something so dangerous, even the gods themselves fear it.
Nathan and Elena were once the greatest of heroes, champions against evil. Now, haunted by Nathan's past-life betrayal, they must work together and brave the pain of long-buried lifetimes. Somewhere, locked within their former incarnations, lies the key to stopping Athamar, an enemy who has hunted them from one incarnation to the next.
War is coming to New York. Nathan Shepherd's growing band of followers is dedicated to protecting the city, but they now face their greatest threat.
Athamar returns, plunging the city into chaos. Uniting the forces of darkness against Nathan and his allies, Athamar strives to discover a secret hidden for thousands of years. A secret lost to Nathan's memories. Something so dangerous, even the gods themselves fear it.
Nathan and Elena were once the greatest of heroes, champions against evil. Now, haunted by Nathan's past-life betrayal, they must work together and brave the pain of long-buried lifetimes. Somewhere, locked within their former incarnations, lies the key to stopping Athamar, an enemy who has hunted them from one incarnation to the next.
As the city burns and innocents suffer, as heroes fall and hope dies, Nathan and Elena face their final battle, a battle where legends will be reborn.
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
May 14, 2014
Blog Tour: The View From Endless Street
With me today is Rebecca Lloyd, who's stopping by on her blog tour. She's here to talk about her new short story anthology, The View From Endless Street.
With this collection of short stories set in the south of England and beyond, Rebecca Lloyd explores relationships and the brave or foolish things they can make people do. These stories about murder and ghosts, delusion and desperation, obsession and arson, show readers a sometimes sweet, sometimes macabre vision of humanity. Rebecca Lloyd channels Roald Dahl’s wit and flair for the unexpected in this collection that will appeal to the quirky side of the literary reader.
Paul: Creating a short story anthology seems quite different from writing a novel. How did you set out to get this collection published?
Rebecca: Quite a number of the stories had already been published in literary magazines and ezines over the years. I always did have a yearning to get my stories together in a short story collection, and so you have to think what have these stories got in common, which stories belong together. I once compiled a collection called ‘Water Stories,’ and then although it was shortlisted in a literary competition, that collection of stories was wasn’t published, so I pulled the whole thing apart again, and tried to think about the separate stories in a different, perhaps more enchanting, way. So, water always features heavily in your stories, but forget about that, what else links them? You have to analyse your stories and figure out how you can present or package them – it’s difficult. What linked all the stories in The View From Endless Street was simply my own reflection about the human life around me when I lived in London. I’m very easily moved to compassion and I even know the moment in my life when that became intrinsic in me, and I was probably only about five or six years old, not much more. So, for this collection, I’m not sure that I gave it a linking theme, but I put it out again as a collection of my most important stories and sent it off to publishers, as you do.
Paul: Several of the stories in the book have been published previously. Were the rest written specifically for the anthology?
Rebecca: I didn’t write any of them specifically to create that particular book, it was just me choosing or leaving out stories and trying to reach a word number of roughly 70 thousand, which is ‘novel length.’ I have only once written specifically to create a whole book of short stories, and that was called Whelp and Other Stories and it was shortlisted in the Paul Bowles Short Fiction Award 2014, but it isn’t published yet. Whelp has a strong and deliberate theme running through it; each story in it is part of a central idea, and I really, really loved writing that; I was truly focussed. I actually miss not being in the process of writing that.
Paul: I find it difficult to write standalone stories, and short stories in particular. I much prefer writing novels as part of a longer series. What's your preference?
Rebecca: I think I’m naturally a short story writer, although I have written novels, but the only one I’ve had published is Halfling, by Walker Books for 9 to 13 year olds. Writing short stories is very much a different process from writing novels. I would liken it to the difference between running a marathon as a novel writer and doing a high jump as a short story writer. But I do think the short story in the good old tradition of fabulous writers like John McGahern became horribly soiled by the stupid thing called ‘flash fiction’ where you are, [meanly and stupidly in my opinion], supposed to write a story in less than 1,000 words. I mean all that’s about is showing how clever you are, and I think novels and short stories should always remember the reader and the readers’ pleasure.
Paul: While The View From Endless Street has been published by WiDo Publishing, you have books which have been published by other companies. What has it been like working with multiple publishers on so many projects?
Rebecca: Well while The View From Endless Street was being published by WiDo, who as you know, as some of your books are published with them too, are Americans, my other collection of stories, the darker ones perhaps, were taken up by Tartarus Press who I’ve admired for a long time because the authors they publish are the ones I’m drawn towards. Tartarus have kindly published a beautiful hardback of my short story collection ‘Mercy.’ So that’s only two books published at the same time and just by coincidence. I don’t suppose for a moment that it’ll happen again. Although I think it would be reasonable to say, as getting short story collections published is a very hard thing, that I’m as pleased as could be about it.
Paul: You're clearly a busy and prolific author. What's next for you?
Rebecca: I have been called prolific before, although I don’t really notice that, and the other thing I’ve been called is a writer of weird stuff, and I’m not kidding you, I didn’t realise I was a weird writer before WiDo likened me to Roald Dahl and Tartarus accepted me into their author group. So, I thought something along the lines of if you really think the things I write are weird, let me deliberately write ‘weird.’ So that’s what I’m doing and I’m really enjoying it. It could be that before I’d put some restraint on my most twisted thoughts and ideas, but not for this collection which has not got a title yet – I’ll probably call it Fetch because that’s one of the stories in the collection, and I’m sure everyone knows what a fetch is, easy to look up if you don’t. Other than that, I’d like to see Whelp and Other Stories published because it resonates very strongly with me and touches on all those areas that arrest me, such as cruelty, vulnerability, fear, ignorance and innocence.
With this collection of short stories set in the south of England and beyond, Rebecca Lloyd explores relationships and the brave or foolish things they can make people do. These stories about murder and ghosts, delusion and desperation, obsession and arson, show readers a sometimes sweet, sometimes macabre vision of humanity. Rebecca Lloyd channels Roald Dahl’s wit and flair for the unexpected in this collection that will appeal to the quirky side of the literary reader.
Paul: Creating a short story anthology seems quite different from writing a novel. How did you set out to get this collection published?
Rebecca: Quite a number of the stories had already been published in literary magazines and ezines over the years. I always did have a yearning to get my stories together in a short story collection, and so you have to think what have these stories got in common, which stories belong together. I once compiled a collection called ‘Water Stories,’ and then although it was shortlisted in a literary competition, that collection of stories was wasn’t published, so I pulled the whole thing apart again, and tried to think about the separate stories in a different, perhaps more enchanting, way. So, water always features heavily in your stories, but forget about that, what else links them? You have to analyse your stories and figure out how you can present or package them – it’s difficult. What linked all the stories in The View From Endless Street was simply my own reflection about the human life around me when I lived in London. I’m very easily moved to compassion and I even know the moment in my life when that became intrinsic in me, and I was probably only about five or six years old, not much more. So, for this collection, I’m not sure that I gave it a linking theme, but I put it out again as a collection of my most important stories and sent it off to publishers, as you do.
Paul: Several of the stories in the book have been published previously. Were the rest written specifically for the anthology?
Rebecca: I didn’t write any of them specifically to create that particular book, it was just me choosing or leaving out stories and trying to reach a word number of roughly 70 thousand, which is ‘novel length.’ I have only once written specifically to create a whole book of short stories, and that was called Whelp and Other Stories and it was shortlisted in the Paul Bowles Short Fiction Award 2014, but it isn’t published yet. Whelp has a strong and deliberate theme running through it; each story in it is part of a central idea, and I really, really loved writing that; I was truly focussed. I actually miss not being in the process of writing that.
Paul: I find it difficult to write standalone stories, and short stories in particular. I much prefer writing novels as part of a longer series. What's your preference?
Rebecca: I think I’m naturally a short story writer, although I have written novels, but the only one I’ve had published is Halfling, by Walker Books for 9 to 13 year olds. Writing short stories is very much a different process from writing novels. I would liken it to the difference between running a marathon as a novel writer and doing a high jump as a short story writer. But I do think the short story in the good old tradition of fabulous writers like John McGahern became horribly soiled by the stupid thing called ‘flash fiction’ where you are, [meanly and stupidly in my opinion], supposed to write a story in less than 1,000 words. I mean all that’s about is showing how clever you are, and I think novels and short stories should always remember the reader and the readers’ pleasure.
Paul: While The View From Endless Street has been published by WiDo Publishing, you have books which have been published by other companies. What has it been like working with multiple publishers on so many projects?
Rebecca: Well while The View From Endless Street was being published by WiDo, who as you know, as some of your books are published with them too, are Americans, my other collection of stories, the darker ones perhaps, were taken up by Tartarus Press who I’ve admired for a long time because the authors they publish are the ones I’m drawn towards. Tartarus have kindly published a beautiful hardback of my short story collection ‘Mercy.’ So that’s only two books published at the same time and just by coincidence. I don’t suppose for a moment that it’ll happen again. Although I think it would be reasonable to say, as getting short story collections published is a very hard thing, that I’m as pleased as could be about it.
Paul: You're clearly a busy and prolific author. What's next for you?
Rebecca: I have been called prolific before, although I don’t really notice that, and the other thing I’ve been called is a writer of weird stuff, and I’m not kidding you, I didn’t realise I was a weird writer before WiDo likened me to Roald Dahl and Tartarus accepted me into their author group. So, I thought something along the lines of if you really think the things I write are weird, let me deliberately write ‘weird.’ So that’s what I’m doing and I’m really enjoying it. It could be that before I’d put some restraint on my most twisted thoughts and ideas, but not for this collection which has not got a title yet – I’ll probably call it Fetch because that’s one of the stories in the collection, and I’m sure everyone knows what a fetch is, easy to look up if you don’t. Other than that, I’d like to see Whelp and Other Stories published because it resonates very strongly with me and touches on all those areas that arrest me, such as cruelty, vulnerability, fear, ignorance and innocence.
Thanks for stopping by, Rebecca. We wish you the best of luck with the new book!
Rebecca Lloyd writes short stories and novels. Her stories are dark and strange and many of them have been published in literary magazines and anthologies. She won the Bristol Prize 2008 for her story The River and her short story collection Don’t Drink the Water was a semi-finalist in the Hudson Prize 2010 while her novel Under the Exquisite Gaze was shortlisted in the Dundee International Book Prize. Her children’s novel, Halfling, was published by Walker Books in 2011, she is co-editor, with Indira Chandrasekhar, of Pangea an Anthology of Stories from Around the Globe, published by Thames River Press in 2012, and developmental editor of The Female Ward by Debalina Haldar, published by Thames River Press in 2013. She has had two short story collections published in 2014, Mercy by Tartarus Press and The View From Endless Street by WiDo Publishing and a third collection Whelp and Other Stories was a finalist in the Paul Bowles Short Fiction Award 2014.
You can follow Rebecca on her Facebook page.
Rebecca Lloyd writes short stories and novels. Her stories are dark and strange and many of them have been published in literary magazines and anthologies. She won the Bristol Prize 2008 for her story The River and her short story collection Don’t Drink the Water was a semi-finalist in the Hudson Prize 2010 while her novel Under the Exquisite Gaze was shortlisted in the Dundee International Book Prize. Her children’s novel, Halfling, was published by Walker Books in 2011, she is co-editor, with Indira Chandrasekhar, of Pangea an Anthology of Stories from Around the Globe, published by Thames River Press in 2012, and developmental editor of The Female Ward by Debalina Haldar, published by Thames River Press in 2013. She has had two short story collections published in 2014, Mercy by Tartarus Press and The View From Endless Street by WiDo Publishing and a third collection Whelp and Other Stories was a finalist in the Paul Bowles Short Fiction Award 2014.
You can follow Rebecca on her Facebook page.
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
May 8, 2014
Waiting
I hate waiting. I'm a fairly patient person, but when I'm excited for something, I can't stand the wait. Right now, I'm waiting. We're still too far out from the release of Memory War to get stuck into some of the fun promotional ideas I have. I hope you guys like them, I've been looking forward to this for a long time.
Just this week I did up the Acknowledgements, and it's made the upcoming end feel extra real. There's simply no way to properly thank the people who've helped me get here, other than to keep writing the best books I can, wherever that may take me.
In the meantime, if there's anything you'd like to see from me, drop me a line, and remember I'm looking for hosts for the Memory War Blog Tour.
Catch you after the weekend, everyone!
Just this week I did up the Acknowledgements, and it's made the upcoming end feel extra real. There's simply no way to properly thank the people who've helped me get here, other than to keep writing the best books I can, wherever that may take me.
In the meantime, if there's anything you'd like to see from me, drop me a line, and remember I'm looking for hosts for the Memory War Blog Tour.
Catch you after the weekend, everyone!
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
May 6, 2014
Announcing Blog Tour Signup for Memory War!
I'm putting the call out, to any writers, reviewers, and other bloggers who would be interested in hosting me during September. I'm up for interviews, articles, excerpts, reviews, even just release-day announcements.
If you'd like to host me, get in touch here, on my Facebook, Twitter, or by email.
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
May 1, 2014
Memory War Playlist
- Take It Back - Miracle of Sound
- Rise - Miracle of Sound
- No Easy Way Out - Survivor
- Fight the Good Fight - Triumph
- Blind as a Bat - Meat Loaf
- Test Drive (from the score for How To Train Your Dragon) - John Powell
I've shared soundtrack lists before, for Locked Within and Silent Oath, and the tracks from those were on my playlist, too. But these six are the ones that specifically touched me in relation to Memory War.
As we get closer to the release date, I'll be going into some more detail about why it was these specific tracks that stood out for this book, and how they fit into the story.
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
Apr 29, 2014
Memory War - New Title and Release Date!
It was April 27th, 2011, when I announced that my first book, Locked Within, was going to be published.
So it's kind of nice that, barely more than three years later, I can announce the new title and release date for the final instalment of the trilogy.
The marketing department at WiDo wanted something else for the title, so we settled on the original working title of the book:
Memory War
The marketing department liked this title so much that WiDo have decided to re-name the series, from the Locked Within Trilogy to the Memory Wars Trilogy*. The cover and blurb will be revealed soon, and I'll be starting some exciting promotional work to get ready. This are going to kick into high gear soon, as we get ready for the release of Memory War on...
September 2nd!**
This is the earliest release I've had so far, and I can't wait to share the epic climax with everyone.
*If you've already liked the Facebook page, you don't have to change anything, I've already updated the name so you'll see posts from the Memory Wars page instead. If you haven't liked it yet, now is the perfect time, as there'll be snippets, character profiles, and a range of other treats coming up over the next few months.
**I'll be delaying the release of Lady Raven to autumn/winter, to give myself space to focus on Memory War.
So it's kind of nice that, barely more than three years later, I can announce the new title and release date for the final instalment of the trilogy.
The marketing department at WiDo wanted something else for the title, so we settled on the original working title of the book:
Memory War
The marketing department liked this title so much that WiDo have decided to re-name the series, from the Locked Within Trilogy to the Memory Wars Trilogy*. The cover and blurb will be revealed soon, and I'll be starting some exciting promotional work to get ready. This are going to kick into high gear soon, as we get ready for the release of Memory War on...
September 2nd!**
This is the earliest release I've had so far, and I can't wait to share the epic climax with everyone.
 |
| The final battleground |
**I'll be delaying the release of Lady Raven to autumn/winter, to give myself space to focus on Memory War.
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
Apr 24, 2014
Admiration vs Objectification
Warning for profanity...
Recently, the first issue of the new Teen Titans comic came under scrutiny for, among other crimes against art such as teeny school buses and weird perspectives, portraying a 17 year-old girl as though she had a hefty set of breast implants.
Here's how Wonder Girl is usually portrayed:
Not bad. Feminine, but tough, and fairly age-appropriate for a teenager.
And here's how she appears in the new Teen Titans series:
You can't tell me there's any reason to depict a character with breasts like that other than to appeal, sexually, to guys between the ages of 14 and 40.
And she's 17.
Guys, we're being urged to want to have sex with a 17 year-old. And that's a problem.
A common argument given in defence of the way comics depict women is that men are also depicted with big muscles, in right, revealing costumes. So that makes it okay, right? They're the same? Wrong. And here's why:
There's a difference between "I want to be that" and "I want to fuck that."
Take a look at this:
Batman is one of the most awesome, and masculine, characters in comics. He's every inch the alpha male dream. Rich, handsome, incredibly intelligent, tough as nails, and he gets all the girls and has all the best toys. Here, he's drawn with a determined expression, head and chest thrust out as he makes gravity his plaything, swinging through the night.
This is a powerful, forceful image, intended to make guys want to be Batman.
Now look at this:
And this:
Let's be brutally honest for a moment. Catwoman and Starfire were drawn this way for one reason, and only one reason: to make boners. Because showing women that men want to fuck is a great way to get men to buy comics. The thing is, that we don't need any help getting men to buy comics. They've been aimed at men and boys since their inception.
Even if we did need to play on the "I want to fuck that" response, it's a fallacy at best, and an outright lie at worst, to say that the men in comics are depicted in as sexually objectified a manner as the women.
Let's look at Batman again:
Yeah, he looks pretty badass. But I'd put money that not one woman (or man, to be fair) wants to fuck him based on this.
Here is a picture of someone I am assured by several women is "edible":
No skin-tight costumes. No unrealistic posing or exaggerated proportions. What is it that makes him attractive? His smile. His walk. His attitude. And yes, his shoulders, ass and abs help. But the key thing is that major factors in what women find attractive are to do with his personality. What he's like to talk to and hang out with. How he makes a woman feel about herself. How he makes her forget her inhibitions. Make her laugh without feeling self-conscious. Have a conversation about everything and nothing at the same time. And how they can share a deeper intimacy as a result.
The character isn't attractive because of gratuitous displays of his body. He's attractive because of who he is. And, more importantly, he's still a character who men will look at and think "I want to be that." Why? Because he has personality, flaws, vices, doubts, and still stands next to his brother and stares down the gates of hell because that's what heroes do.
My god, wouldn't it be great if the sex symbols men were being pitched could boast that, instead of rotating spines and floating breasts?
This is why it isn't fair to claim that male characters are sexually objectified the same way as women. It's not remotely the same.
To take it further, how many female characters can you think of that you can say are portrayed as character first, sex second? I bet it's less than the male characters you can do the same for. And in comics? Forget about it. Comics are still a boys' club, which is why, despite repeated calls for it, the first time Wonder Woman got to be in a major movie was the Lego Movie, and her first appearance in a live action cinematic release will be as a side character while Superman and Batman throw down and see whose manliness is superior.
Where are today's Ellen Ripleys? Where's the Zoe Washburn of superhero comics? Why does a children's cartoon have over 500,000 fans, more than half of whom are women, and no-one thinks that maybe if they made the comic version appealing to women, it might sell more than 26,000 in a month?
Ask a woman to tell you what characters she finds attractive, and what characters she looks up to as role models, the ones she might fantasize about being some day. The answer might surprise you.
Because women should get to be the hero, too.
Recently, the first issue of the new Teen Titans comic came under scrutiny for, among other crimes against art such as teeny school buses and weird perspectives, portraying a 17 year-old girl as though she had a hefty set of breast implants.
Here's how Wonder Girl is usually portrayed:
Not bad. Feminine, but tough, and fairly age-appropriate for a teenager.
And here's how she appears in the new Teen Titans series:
You can't tell me there's any reason to depict a character with breasts like that other than to appeal, sexually, to guys between the ages of 14 and 40.
And she's 17.
Guys, we're being urged to want to have sex with a 17 year-old. And that's a problem.
A common argument given in defence of the way comics depict women is that men are also depicted with big muscles, in right, revealing costumes. So that makes it okay, right? They're the same? Wrong. And here's why:
There's a difference between "I want to be that" and "I want to fuck that."
Take a look at this:
Batman is one of the most awesome, and masculine, characters in comics. He's every inch the alpha male dream. Rich, handsome, incredibly intelligent, tough as nails, and he gets all the girls and has all the best toys. Here, he's drawn with a determined expression, head and chest thrust out as he makes gravity his plaything, swinging through the night.
This is a powerful, forceful image, intended to make guys want to be Batman.
Now look at this:
And this:
Let's be brutally honest for a moment. Catwoman and Starfire were drawn this way for one reason, and only one reason: to make boners. Because showing women that men want to fuck is a great way to get men to buy comics. The thing is, that we don't need any help getting men to buy comics. They've been aimed at men and boys since their inception.
Even if we did need to play on the "I want to fuck that" response, it's a fallacy at best, and an outright lie at worst, to say that the men in comics are depicted in as sexually objectified a manner as the women.
Let's look at Batman again:
Yeah, he looks pretty badass. But I'd put money that not one woman (or man, to be fair) wants to fuck him based on this.
Here is a picture of someone I am assured by several women is "edible":
No skin-tight costumes. No unrealistic posing or exaggerated proportions. What is it that makes him attractive? His smile. His walk. His attitude. And yes, his shoulders, ass and abs help. But the key thing is that major factors in what women find attractive are to do with his personality. What he's like to talk to and hang out with. How he makes a woman feel about herself. How he makes her forget her inhibitions. Make her laugh without feeling self-conscious. Have a conversation about everything and nothing at the same time. And how they can share a deeper intimacy as a result.
The character isn't attractive because of gratuitous displays of his body. He's attractive because of who he is. And, more importantly, he's still a character who men will look at and think "I want to be that." Why? Because he has personality, flaws, vices, doubts, and still stands next to his brother and stares down the gates of hell because that's what heroes do.
My god, wouldn't it be great if the sex symbols men were being pitched could boast that, instead of rotating spines and floating breasts?
This is why it isn't fair to claim that male characters are sexually objectified the same way as women. It's not remotely the same.
To take it further, how many female characters can you think of that you can say are portrayed as character first, sex second? I bet it's less than the male characters you can do the same for. And in comics? Forget about it. Comics are still a boys' club, which is why, despite repeated calls for it, the first time Wonder Woman got to be in a major movie was the Lego Movie, and her first appearance in a live action cinematic release will be as a side character while Superman and Batman throw down and see whose manliness is superior.
Where are today's Ellen Ripleys? Where's the Zoe Washburn of superhero comics? Why does a children's cartoon have over 500,000 fans, more than half of whom are women, and no-one thinks that maybe if they made the comic version appealing to women, it might sell more than 26,000 in a month?
Ask a woman to tell you what characters she finds attractive, and what characters she looks up to as role models, the ones she might fantasize about being some day. The answer might surprise you.
Because women should get to be the hero, too.
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
Apr 22, 2014
In Which I Can't Separate Art From The Artist
A little while back, the Hugo Awards were the subject of controversy, following the backlash against Jonathan Ross being announced as the host for this year's awards.
Now it seems that there's going to be another sticky issue. The nominees for the 2014 Hugo Awards have been announced. I'm thrilled to see a couple of writers I know have been nominated.
Also on the list is Opera Vita Aeterna, a novelette by Vox Day.
Vox Day is the pen-name of Theodore Beale, To say I disagree with his views on women, race, theology, and the issue of rape would be a massive understatement.
A major recurring theme in SFF is that people of various ways of life can co-exist, and not just co-exist, but become more prosperous as a result of co-existence and co-operation. Whether it's Star Wars, Mass Effect, Star Trek, Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings, an overriding message of SFF is to set aside differences, to learn from each other, and stand for something better than base instinct and aversion to those who aren't like us.
There's a limit to how far I can separate a piece of art from the artist who created it. That limit is pretty low for things like the kind of hate preached by Vox Day, particularly when it comes to written fiction, since so much of the author comes through.
I don't believe Vox Day deserves this award. I'm actually quite shocked enough people like him to get him on the nominees list. I'm not the only one to feel this way, and like Ceilidh over at Bibliodaze, I feel there is no place in SFF for someone who genuinely believes that same-sex relationships should be criminalized, who regards women's rights as a disease, who believes that marital rape does not exist, and who believes that non-white people are in every way inferior to white people.
The SWFA expelled Vox Day, a former lifetime member, following calls to do so after his racist attack on N.K. Jemesin. He's not welcome with them, and he shouldn't be welcome with the rest of us.
The SWFA expelled Vox Day, a former lifetime member, following calls to do so after his racist attack on N.K. Jemesin. He's not welcome with them, and he shouldn't be welcome with the rest of us.
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
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