I've left my gender and age unspecified on purpose. Some writers claim that men can't write from a woman's perspective but women can write from either. Other writers claim that women can't write stories that men would like. Similar biases and pre-judgements exist for age. Since I want to be able to write from several perspectives, here's a challenge. See if you can figure out my age and gender. Better yet, if you have a guess, tell me your reasoning and tell me how I could improve my writing to overcome any bias that helped you "catch me." In other words, help me to become a better writer. I'll appreciate it and will try to make future stories even more entertaining and readable. I have to give a note of thanks to those anonymous responders who insist that any woman must be labeled a slut if she has sex with any men other than her husband or significant other. I disagree with them, but their comments induced me to make my own opinions more clear. As a result, I have two reasons for not labeling my female characters as sluts even though most of them have sex with more than one partner. The first reason is that "slut" is not a positive term. In ten plus years (so far) associated with swingers, I have never heard or experienced any man asking a woman to be a slut while he tried to negotiate for sexual favors. Similarly, I've never heard or experienced a woman asking to be treated like a slut when she tried to negotiate for sexual behaviors. Since swingers are people like anyone else except for their open acknowledgement that sex is an acceptable and desirable way to relate to others, we have a whole community of people who have multiple partners and who find no benefit in defining women in the community as sluts. The second reason is that characters in our stories have a variety of motivations for their actions. While it's appropriate for women in some stories to feel conflicted interests (including guilt and shame) that make it meaningful for them to be labeled as sluts, such is not universally the case. Characters in my stories, in particular, tend to be excited by sexual possibilities and feelings other than guilt and shame. So labeling them as sluts detracts from the story rather than adding to it. I acknowledge that the anonymous slut-lovers should have their own favorite stories and character motivations and hope they can be open-minded enough to allow authors to give their characters other motivations. In my mind, it comes down to a simple goal. Each author caters to particular sets of readers, by interest, trying to convey his/her stories as effectively as possible. Terms and expressions that don't contribute to that goal are not pertinent and can/should be legitimately excluded from the narrative. As a side comment, it's unfortunate that women can be labeled as sluts while there is no corresponding label for men who exhibit the same behaviors (cad is kind of a weak term and asshole is a much broader term). But that's the world we live in and authors have to find the best ways they can to present their stories and characters. |
Sexo: