Nov 12th 2009
So, just what is the author's responsibility, anyway?
Hang on, people, this is gonna be a long one. And opinionated. Just warning you ahead of time.
Today I was sucked into a “discussion” on a blog that really made me think. Actually, it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot, off and on, for quite some time. The original post was by someone in the biz, either an editorial assistant or an agent’s assistant (I don’t know which, as they run an anonymous blog). They basically lambasted Maggie Stiefvater, the author of Shiver, and Stephenie Meyer for writing what they called misogynistic romances and feeble heroines. Rather rudely. I’m not going to link to that person’s post because I get a fair amount of traffic from 10 – 12 year old readers and there’s quite a bit on that blog and in that post that I really don’t feel comfortable directing younger readers to. And besides, while their post made me think and pushed me to write this, what I have to say isn’t really in direct response to it. Not to mention I found their rant to be just, well, really rude.
Let me say first that I have not read Shiver yet. I do “know” Maggie from Twitter and think she’s awesome. But I can’t comment on her book since I haven’t read it. I’ve seen reviews that say her heroine kicks butt and others that say the opposite. But I can’t confirm or deny or defend or uphold or whatever until I read the book. I did read Twilight and New Moon, but did not finish the series (mostly because I found out my book was going to get published and I didn’t want to muddle up my idea of vampires with anyone else’s). But more on that later.
So, really, what is an author’s responsibility to readers?
Wait, let me start over and come back to that.
I think we can all agree (I hope) that saying “all female main characters should be strong and kick butt!” is silly. That’s like saying they should all be named Bob, not to mention that if every female main character exhibited the same characteristics, we’d have some pretty bored readers after awhile (and bored authors).
Do I think that strong female heroines are awesome? You bet I do. Can’t get enough of ‘em. But do I think that all female characters should be strong? No. It’s not realistic. It’s not real. It wouldn’t feel true to readers and it wouldn’t be true to the characters. And real people aren’t all strong, all the time. Sometimes we’re weak. We do things we shouldn’t. We think things we shouldn’t. We say things we shouldn’t. Heck, even Superman had bad days.
Of course, that’s simplifying things. If an author is doing their job right, a character has many levels. If a character is at all realistic, they may be both strong and weak, kind and mean, etc. etc. But you know what? Some characters are more weak than strong and vice versa.
Is it an author’s responsibility to write strong female characters so that readers, especially teen girls, can have an example to follow and to look up to?
Sure, if it’s right for that book and that character. Let me repeat that. IF it is right for that book and that character and that author.
Because every book (thank heavens) is not the same and neither is every character. Or every author (though I know I couple I’d trade hair with, not to mention waistlines).
It is certainly okay for people to call for MORE books with strong heroines. Or, heck, how about more multicultural ones? Or more GLBT ones? I’d love to see all of that. Shoot, all of that in one book? Even more awesome-blossom.
Anyway, that brings me to another point. Just what is strong? Is it physical strength? Is it mental fortitude? Is it the ability to not need a guy in your life? Or, if you have one, to insist on being an equal partner? To not ever take a back seat (or, like Baby, to not be stuck in the corner)?
Strength is different for everyone and there are many different levels of it. There’s quiet strength, like a woman rebuilding a home after a catastrophe. There’s obvious strength, like someone physically fighting for something they believe in. There’s – oh heck, I could be here all night. My point? One person can see strength in something that others might not. And for some people, just being able to talk yourself into raising your hand in class to answer a question takes more strength than the star quarterback shows in an entire season. It all depends.
But let’s go back now. What is an author’s responsibility to readers? Are we supposed to lead by example? Are we supposed to hold a mirror up? Do we show things how we wish they were or how they really are? And what are they, anyway?
Whew, tough questions.
So, let’s talk about Twilight and Bella since that’s what kicked off many of these blogs talking about strong heroines. And I will remind you that all of this is just my own opinion and you are certainly free to disagree with me on any point.
When I first read Twilight, I liked it. I got swept into the romance of it. Then I read New Moon and the more I thought about Bella’s actions, the less I liked them. It really dismayed me that she felt so lost without Edward that she was willing to put herself in increasing danger. That she basically went into a deep, almost catatonic depression without him and only felt whole again once he was back.
Is this something I’d want for myself or for my daughter (if I had one, or, geez, my son, for that matter)? No, absolutely not. I’d want to be strong and survive it and get on with my life. But, you know what? I’m not Bella.
Do I like the way Stephenie Meyer wrote Bella’s actions? Um, not necessarily. Is it realistic? Yes, it is. I knew girls like this. I’m sure I had moments in my life where I acted the same way as well. Would all girls react that way? No. Did this one character react that way? Yes. Should Stephenie Meyer have written her differently? Presented a stronger alternative?
And here’s where I argued with myself for a while, but I’ve come to the conclusion that no, she shouldn’t have. Because that wasn’t this book. She created a character and that’s how that character was.
Oh, someone says, but that’s silly. You guys are the authors. You write the characters. You make them do what they do.
Well, yes and no. There are things that Mina does in the books that I don’t necessarily agree with, but she does them because that’s the way she is. And yes, I created her, but I also have to be true to her. There are some things I can fiddle with, but others that just…for lack of a better word…had to happen the way they did.
But what about the author’s responsibility? Is it our job to try and teach our readers to be “better” people (I’m not even going to get into how differently different people would define better)?
For some authors, maybe the answer to that is yes (well, I suppose all self-help authors would definitely be a yes on that one). But most of us? I think we’re just out there trying to tell the stories we have in our heads…maybe to make people think, maybe to entertain them, maybe to frighten them, I don’t know. But is it our job and our responsibility to only present things “as they should be?” No. Again, NO. We are not the arbiters of how things should be. And it’s folly to even imagine that we are (ha, not to mention incredibly full of hubris…like the kind that comes before a big fall).
That said, there are little choices we all make every time we write. For instance, in Sucks to Be Me, Mina goes to a couple of parties. She’s a junior in high school and, quite frankly, I don’t personally want to encourage underage drinking (and if you want to know, no, I didn’t drink when I was in high school but no, I wasn’t a total goody-two-shoes either) especially since I knew I’d have some younger readers. But it seemed completely unrealistic to me to have her go to an “A list” party where the kids sat around sipping club soda. So, as an author, I compromised. There’s alcohol at the party, but Mina is not a drinker.
Did I have to write it that way? No. Did I make a choice to write it that way? Yes. Was it the “right” way to write it? Yes, for THIS character and THIS book. And for me, the author.
There are other books where it would be ridiculous for the character to turn down a beer. Other books where the character might swear like a sailor. Or do drugs. Or do “It.” And you know what? That’s okay. Those are their stories.
And the people reading these stories? Just like the characters, they’re all over the map. Weak, strong, tall, short, fat, thin, angry, happy, sad, manic, depressed, joyful…and boy, I’m glad that all of them can find themselves in some book somewhere. Maybe not THIS book, but THAT book. Or how about that one over there?
I know I kind of meandered all over with this. I should probably either a) not post this at all or b) deconstruct this blob and write it all up with the correct thematic points and whatnot. But, you know what? That’s not me.
And if there’s any point I’m trying to make here, it’s this: be true to yourself (and that goes for characters too). It’s really all you can do. All any of us can do.
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I agree that not all female characters have to be strong, kickbutt and take names type of characters. A lot of chracters aren’t that way.
BUT…
I think when authors write weak characters like Bella, and reward them for being weak, it sends a negative message. In the real world, a guy leaves you, you’re heartbroken, and you get over it. If he comes back you start the entire cycle all over again. That, in most circles, is considered an unhealthy relationship. Yet, in Twilight-land, that’s the epitome of true love.
Think of the classic Romeo and Juliet. Even in that play, written hundreds of years ago, Juliet has some ACTION…she doesn’t sit around waiting for Romeo to return to save her, she hatches a plan with her local man of God. Sure, it goes horribly wrong, but she didn’t just sit there singing “Someday My Prince Will Come…”
And I think that’s the problem *I* have with the Bella-esque characters that have begun to appear (I haven’t read Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, so I can’t speak for her characters). They have no self outside of the identity as a couple. They are incomplete without the boy. That is a terrifying thing to tell young girls, that you’re are not a complete person until X, whether X is having sex, jumping off of a cliff, whatever.
Seriously, there is enough in our culture to wreck a girl/woman’s self esteem, the last thing we need to encourage is co-dependency.
That being said, I think the books should still exist. But they can only *safely* exist if there are books to counter balance their message.
I can agree with that. Some books really scare me and there are many that I don’t *agree* with what the characters do (think of the books that glorify all kinds of different things), but I think they all need to exist. I’m glad that there are many books with positive messages for girls & boys.
One thing that I’ve told parents, especially of young girls, who have asked me about whether or not their daughter should read so-and-so a book — I tell them to read it with their daughters and have discussions with them on what happens. What better way to teach than to talk?
I’m sorry I sucked you into the blog post, but not sorry that you a) responded on his post and b) blogged about it your own self. I love how thoughtful your responses are. I did not love how dude/dudette/whatever just slammed SHIVER and immediately compared it to TWILIGHT. I’ve read both; I loved both. And obviously, readers (=buyers) could care less if a heroine is supposedly “enfeebled.”
The worst thing about that terrible post was that the commenters were SO quick to agree and jump on the hate bandwagon when the majority of them hadn’t read either book. It’s a sad display of ignorance.
Yeah, that’s another post entirely
I came here via your Twitter link and I’m glad I did because you write eloquently and thoughtfully about an interesting issue. I’ve been turning over this idea in my head in terms of (for example) cursing and sex in YA as well as about Twilight in particular, especially as a fairly frequent criticism of Twilight does seem to be that Bella’s a bit of a swooning violet. (BTW, I adore the You Tube video that juxtaposes Edward with Buffy but really that is more about who Edward is than who Bella is.)
I can envision an argument that as women struggling with a patriarchy (which we are) reaching back towards the girls struggling to become women struggling within a patriarchy, we have a responsibility to carve roads, illuminate paths which they can follow to their best possible selves. That writing stories which describe but do not challenge the political/social status-quo strengthens the fixed images girls have of what they are and what they might become. For example, simply repeating the thin=pretty=successful equation which, because it’s so often a visual image, is really powerful — and destructive. Less airbrushing and some more short, plump leading women would be great.
But. But.
But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t thin, pretty women who are successful. Just because we wish that no girl fell apart because of a boy doesn’t mean that they don’t. The range of personalities is unlimited and if we dismiss — or refuse to include as characters — certain types of people because they’re stereotypes (drunken, loutish frat boys; wise, fiesty old ladies; uptight vegan activists; whatever) then we’re as limited as those who use but don’t write beyond the stereotypes. In both cases, we’re being fooled into ignoring real people because of some pre-existing social coding. The world is populated with as many Bellas as Buffys.
So I suppose that where I come down on this issue ends up in the craft rather than the philosophy of storytelling: our responsibility as writers is to always always write beyond the stereotype, to create characters who are as individual and unique as if we had actually produced biological offspring, as genetically unpredictable and quirky as real children. Then, no matter how the character behaves, it will be true, believable. Real. And reality punctures any philosophical theory because in the end, all people are uncategorizeable. Unpredictable. Undisciplined. Unmolded. And every individual is the exception to the vague, soft-focus generalization.
So I agree with you absolutely that our responsibility is to the characters we birth. To follow them where they lead us. To be as true to them as we know how. Not to preach. Not to conform. To create, honestly and thoughtfully, characters and stories that are about what we are — as well as what we might become.
Wow. That was too long for a comment. And I might disagree with myself after another cup of coffee but you really got me thinking. Thanks.
Thanks, I think you said that very well. I had touched on that point, but I think you expanded on it rather nicely
I do think we should write with the goal of capturing a character that feels real. Stereotypes are handy and they exist because there’s a kernel of truth in each one, but every time we break out of them and show the many sides that make up all of us, it’s a wonderful thing.
I’ve yet to meet a person (in real life, or a character in my head) who is all good or all bad.
I forgot to say that I now have a burning desire to name all my female characters Bob. Like in that Sandra Boyton song. (I’ve got a cat named Bob and a dog named Bob and two fish called Bob and Bob…)
I just reread what I wrote and realized that I really was just blabbing on, agreeing with you and not adding to the convo. Sorry. I should have had the second cup of coffee first.
LOL We have that Boynton book. I have read it many, many, many times to my son. And so we have a fishtank full of fish named Bob.
This was a well thought-out post. One of my fav things about Bella was the way she grows throughout the Twilight series from someone who doesn’t know how to use her strengths, doesn’t even recognize her strengths, to someone whose strengths are revealed through adversity and her own courage. It’s a classic theme.
As to Shiver, I commented on my twitter account (@elisabethblack) what I thought of that female protag – basically that she was, as in real life, introverted and so easily misunderstood. Like if you’re not yelling spunky comebacks, you got no game.
Yep, that’s what I was trying to say about strength. It’s all in the eye of the beholder and can mean so many different things. A heroine doesn’t have to carry a sword to be brave. Well, ha, some of them do…
I think our only responsibility to readers is to entertain them. Sure if we want to through in an underlying message of conservation, abstination, girl empowerment, whatever, we can. But I don’t think we have a responsibility to do that. People read to be entertained and so that is the only thing we must do.
It seems like there are too many critics out there that take someone’s hard work and tear it apart because it wasn’t exactly what they wanted. But as long as other people enjoyed it, we have done our job.
I can agree with this too. I think we have to be responsible to ourselves and to our characters and there’s no way we can make all of the people happy all of the time. It just isn’t possible.
Of course, we do have to make our editors happy
What a great post. I completely agree with you on so many levels. I like what Francesca said too.
I wonder how much of this criticism comes from the fact that these are books for teens. You don’t see people lamenting the fact that The Great Gatsby is a terrible book for teens to read because Daisy is such a weak example of a woman. Or Lolita. No, we require kids to read those books in high school, examine the characters on their own merits, and hold them up as great literature. There’s a certain segment of the population that just can’t get past the fact that books written for children & teens somehow much “teach” something. And if they demonstrate something that our society deems unsavory, they are a bad book. Give teen readers some credit! Sometimes a character is just a character, and a story is just a story. Teens can see that just as well as adults can.
You know, that’s a good point. I think a lot of people do have that in the back of their heads, that books for teens are supposed to teach something or contain a moral lesson or terrify them into acting a certain way. And some people do write that way on purpose (think Annie’s Baby for instance…ha, anything by Beatrice Sparks).
You make an excellent point. Or many excellent points, actually. In my novel, my characters don’t always make great decisions, but when they make mistakes, there are consequences they must deal with. That’s life. Who they are and their appeal to readers hinges a lot on how multi-faceted they are and how they grow throughout the story — flaws and all. And yes, there are SO MANY different kinds of strength. Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by — and I see by your blog that you guys loved Shiver. I do need to read it now! It makes me just wonder if the people bashing it only think of strength in terms of obvious outward / physical strength?
People are bashing SHIVER for Grace not being strong? *boggles*
Wow. I thought Grace was absolutely amazing. Yeah, a lot of “her” is tied up with Sam, but… That’s kinda the book. But since you haven’t read yet, I won’t get spoilery. But you should totally bump that up the TBR pile; it’s fantastic.
I won’t get into Twilight, because I’ll go on forever & contradict myself half a dozen times. I like the books, but I like them enough to argue with them because I wanted certain aspects to be better, not because I like to tear them apart b/c it’s the “cool” thing to do right now.
But I completely agree with your post. It drives me crazy that girls are called all sorts of names for exhibiting human emotions and qualities. And I really have more to say on this topic, but my brain is fried from writing all day… So I will come back when I am more coherent. But I wanted to be sure to comment & say great post & to support SHIVER, cause it was Totally Awesome.
Yes, I definitely need to read it now.
Just as a warning, this will be very long, very random, and more than slightly rant-like. but, as Kim read in my post about Liar and racism, i’m good at rants.
. I’m shy, i’m quiet, and I have trouble talking to people. Does this mean I’m not a strong person? No. Just ask Riley, the guy I tore a new one for about once a week back in sixth grade on account of him being a first-class jerk to me and my kid sister. And the girl-who-shall-not-be-named, my ex-best friend. I stood up to her. And our fight quieted down a little, after a few weeks of visits to the principal’s office, pencils thrown at the back of my head, and nasty comments. I do not reccomend any of those, btw. Not fun. But I digress. Again, back to Bella.
Shiver is awesome. Grace isn’t a people person. She prefers to keep silent and stay in the background. She’s a very serious character.(i’ll try not to say anything that’ll ruin it for you, Kim! But, really, you *have* to read it! I love Maggie Stiefvater’s work, lol) Grace does not *need* a guy to complete her, but it works out that her and Sam are meant to be. (Not saying anything about whether or not it works out, because the end of the book keeps ya guessing…) But Grace is strong. Just in her own way. So what if she’s not out there back-talking teachers or fighting with school bullies, not dating and having loads of friends. Grace, and Deirdre in Lament, also by the ever fabulous Ms. Stiefvater, are some of the best characters I’ve read about in the last few months. And, in different ways, they are strong.
And Bella. Ah, Bella.
Twilight got me started on my paranormal romance/urban fantasy kick that is still going strong to this day(and cluttering up my bedroom…;) ). Because Twilight got me re-interested, in the paranormal and vampires and werewolves and faeries and everything, not to mention the amazing world of YA-fiction, I read Sucks to be Me, the Mortal Instruments series, the Vampire Academy series, House of Night, Blue Bloods, all that. Without Twilight, I might not have read any of those. But back to Bella.
I’m a teenage girl. Obviously, I think of guys. A lot, kind of recently, actually
Bella…is a wonderful character. She is who she is, and she’s willing to fight for the man that she loves. She does fight, for him. And she wins, in the end. It’s *the* ultimate love story. So what is she curls into a ball and retreats insider herself when Edward abandons her. There are plenty of times I’ve wanted to curl into the fetal position and never see the light of day again. No, they haven’t been because the love of my life left me, but they have been just as equally bad. I don’t agree entirely with Bella when this happens to her in New Moon, but like her I can see myself going along with everyday life to try and keep up the illusion. I’m a people-pleaser. That’s what I do. I go along with something and try to pick up the pieces of myself along the way, hoping I don’t get lost amongst the trees and shadows as I do so.
Bella is strong in her own ways. She fights for her love of Edward repeatedly throughout the entire series. She fights her parents, her friends, Rosalie(Who i bet could be very scary) James, Victoria, the Volturi, even *Edward*, at times. All because she loves him. See it from Bella’s point of veiw. She’s been pretty alone most of her life, because she hasn’t ever really gotten along with anyone. and then she meets Edward. Someone who *understands* her, like no one else ever has. Wouldn’t you do anything to keep him, and then be devastated if he left?
Some people say Jacob would have been better for her. I don’t know whether or not that’s true. Both Edward and Jacob wanted to protect Bella, and I can see them both going to the ends of the Earth to do so. Who wouldn’t want a guy (or girl) to do that for you? I’d do anything for my family, my friends, just like Edward and Jacob did for Bella. But there is a thin line to toe between protecting and, for lack of a better word, sheltering. Protecting is good. But when you start to shelter someone, keeping parts of the world away from them, it gets to be too much. In some sense of the word, sheltering someone is good, like a mother sheltering her children. But when those kids start to grow up, and get to a certain age, you need to start letting them do things on their own, let them figure out the world. Edward does his best to keep Bella safe from James, Victoria, the Volturi, and sometimes the world in general, and he does get close to crossing the line. Occasionally, he might cross it. But Bella can hold her own. Especially now.
But, all these people who bash Bella need to remember that there are people out there who might do stuff like this. I’m not justifying anything Bella does, because some of it, like jumping off a cliff, I don’t agree with, but she does this because it’s WHO SHE IS. I’d be in tears if Bella had stood there and listened to Edward tell her he was going to leave, and then just gone on with her life. Edward was more to her than a piece of gum, meant to be chewed and the spat in the garbage. If she had done that, then there would be people out there bashing her for being an insensitive, unfeeling witch
And, now I’ll shut up, because this is very long, very random, and probably hard to read, as it flys all over the map. If you read it, and can actually gather anything from it, thank you and good for you. If not, well, nevermind…;)
There are the strong, there are the week, and there are the people in between who have the best, and worst, qualities of both.-*Ashley*
Holy cow. Just posted it and realized just how long it is. Sorry. Wow, thats long…
*Ashley*
LOL No problem. I think you had a lot of good thoughts there and, in particular, I think you show that we (readers) and especially teen girls are NOT stupid. What I read out of that is that you look at Bella and you see that some of the things she did (like the cliff diving — that was one of the things that really freaked me out) are not necessarily healthy. You get it. You get that she isn’t always strong.
Maybe the problem with the people who are bashing authors for not writing strong enough characters…maybe those people just aren’t giving the readers enough credit (and yes, I do realize that every reader “reads” a character differently. I’m just sayin’. )
Some day, after the Mina series is behind me and I’m not writing about vampires anymore, I’ll have to finish the Twilight saga to see if/how Bella grows as a character in the rest of the books. And I definitely have to read Maggie’s books!
…Wow…thank you. I was worried that it was some big jumble of illegible nonsense, but I’m glad to see that I made a bit of a point, lol. And, yeah, I get that no one is strong all the time, and that there are times when even the strongest among us just need to lean on a friend’s shoulder and cry their eyes out. If we all weren’t masses of contradictions and oxymorons, then we would all be the same, and then life would be boring. My life may not be perfect, but I wouldn’t change anything. My friends and family wouldn’t be themselves without all those contradictions and oxymorons. And that, let me tell you, would royally suck.
And, yes, you definitely need to read everything by Maggie!
There are the strong, there are the week, and there are the people in between who have the best, and worst, qualities of both.-*Ashley*