busy
aldersprig's fascinating discussion of gender in writing, I realized that I'd written a useful little tour of my genderfic. So here it is.Gender in my writing is ... a cat toy. Gods help it. Nothing is safe. I actively study sex/gender across cultures, times, and worlds to see how much variety I can play with.
How are gender roles used in your writing?
It depends utterly on the character, the culture, and the story, in that order. Sometimes it's an identity statement. Sometimes it's practicality. Sometimes it's not even an issue.
Do you subvert stereotypes?
I frequently subvert them. My characters often have a gender interpretation that is different from their culture's usual ideals, unless their culture is super-flexible. And I've even managed to ding those a time or two. For some examples in poetry:
"Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens"
"A Doe in Velvet"
Play them straight?
I can upon request. Sometimes the results of that are really charming and popular, like the dual poem "Where Have All the Heroes Gone? / Different Gifts" that came from a Poetry Fishbowl.
Mix them up/ change the universe to use a different set of roles?
Frequently. I think I'm up to at least 11 sexes/genders across my various settings -- 8 of those are in the Whispering Sands.
Is it a major part of your stories?
Often, but not always. I enjoy writing stories that are "about" sex/gender in some way, as a primary or secondary theme. "Peaches from the Tree of Heaven" in newWitch and "Peacock Hour" in Triangulations: Taking Flight are good examples of stories where it's important in some way. But if it's not relevant, I don't try to stuff it in.
Do the roles you write inform the stories you're writing, vice-versa, or both?
Both. It depends on the story, and the role. Some stories just aren't about sex/gender. Some are. Certain roles are easier to run as background parity -- I have no trouble putting a gay/lesbian character or couple in the background of a story that isn't about sex/gender. It's not necessarily conspicuous. But a constructed gender pretty much is; that's always a salient part of the character's personality, because you just don't go there unless it's important to you. So if you look the fifth gender, shrin, I'm-not-telling, in "Did You Get Your Answers Questioned?" in Genderflex, then you can see how that kind of thing tends to call attention to itself.
*laugh*
July 16 2010, 01:30:24 UTC 10 years ago
Re: *laugh*
July 16 2010, 03:05:03 UTC 10 years ago