Things I will not do to my characters. Ever.

May my daughters be among those protected by my being on the wrong side of that statistic...

Great Pumpkin bless you for your strong female protagonists and for not taking that path.

I don't remember which, similarly themed, post I saw it on but it is a point that needs to be made: Rape is not some magical process that gives women super powers.

Granted, a bit tangential from your post, but at the same time related. There seems to be this belief that a strong, independent, or otherwise capable female character has to have this dark secret in their past - or coming in their future. That for a woman to be strong she has to first be unmade and debased to the lowest level of power loss, struggle, and objectification. The thing is Rape isn't a character building exercise. Rape isn't kinky fun aggressive sexy time. Rape is something very small minded people do to prove to their shallow selves that they are better and more powerful than something else, and while it does have SOME place in fiction it is not as an omnipresent thing that hounds every character the author dared to not give a penis to (and some that the author did give a penis to) that does something useful in a story.

I could see rape coming up in super hero stories, provided the author was going for that level of grit, insanity, and bleakness. Heck, Marvel and DC have both run it into the ground with some of their characters. Doesn't mean it belongs everywhere. I'm glad it isn't going to happen to your characters. It's nice reading female protagonists that are capable and strong despite the fundamental character flaw of never having been raped. We need more of it, really.

That's a bit peculiar that this chap is waiting for the "inevitable" rape, and thinks that avoiding it is "disrespectful" and "unrealistic". If I was a bit more cynical, I'd swear he was anxiously WANTING the rape because this is the part of the comic that will invariably be the most thrilling for him, possibly because mainstream comics have such a broken view of human sexuality that the only way characters can experience drama is by way of the proximity of their genitalia, whether forced or otherwise. "Alright, this has taken WAY too long, I'm just going to straight-up ask the author when the thrilling rape scene will happen."

But that's just ridiculous.

Great post. I don't have time to read through the comments so sorry if I'm repeating what's been said, but I'm not sure what would be more depressing: if he's trolling, or if he's actually sincere when they say rape = realism.

Now I'm worrying that rape has become so normalised in SFF that there are people who are more shocked by its absence than its presence :(

so many hearts for this! Especially But rape in fiction can also be a problematic and belittling thing, used to put cocky heroines in their places.

Cause that is *most* of it, and part of why I cannot read most UF. And that's as someone who isn't triggered per se, just infuriated at the inherent misogyny.

If you ever feel the need to beat that idiot to a pulp, I'd be honored to hold your coat. Then I'd testify under oath that you were a thousand miles away when he stumbled into a trash compactor.

People are dumb. Even us scifi/fantasy readers are not immune to being, and finding dumb people. As I was reading the blog post I was thinking "why the hell would ANYONE ask this?" and then I thought..."Oh wait...I know why...because every 'edgy, realistic-y, tough chick' has this as a back story....except Ripley and Princess Leia....and Ripley might not count because of the whole sex-fetish/alien thing that is part of that story..."

Do I think it was insensitive? yes. Do I think the question is as shocking as some other people? No.

Heck...look at the premiere of "Dollhouse"... I called that Echo was going to have "the rapists raped part of her consciousness amalgam.." in the first fifteen minutes of a two hour pilot. Because that's how Joss writes.

This is one of the reasons I gave up watching Dollhouse early on.

But think... Dana Scully in the X-Files, tough chick, competent, smarter than Mulder ((she's an MD)) and a skeptic....and in season two..abducted and impregnated against her will. ((and in reality Gillian Anderson was pregnant...))

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, Abducted by Cylons, forced pregnancy, childbearing capabilities destroyed.

Come to think of it...Battlestar is pretty horrible for this, but in Battlestar's defense it wasn't to give Boomer, or Pegasus Six, or Starbuck an edge, or to knock them down a peg, it was to show the horrors of war. ((and I still haven't watched 'Pegasus' more than once))...and the gender politics of having Admiral Caine played by Michele Forbes, and knowing that SHE ordered the treatment of Pegasus Six, and ...then condones the treatment of Galactica Boomer....and...seriously..I digress...

So in the hands of a hack...this is a topic best left alone, in the hands of a professional, it is still a subject you best know what you are doing.

But somewhere...I seriously think this needs to be removed from the ole trope bag. It shouldn't be a trope. But it should be something we talk about.

Worth delurking after several years for.

Wow. So according to this guy, I'm "unrealistic" 'cause I've never been raped. The idea that any main (or otherwise major) female protagonist must be assaulted at some point in their lives is absolute bullshit.





GTFO

Seriously. I'm a fairly strong competent woman. My friends and acquaintances always speak of me that way, though there are times I certainly don't feel that way. But I am comfortable with my own abilities and not afraid to speak my mind when it is needed.

I've been lucky enough to have never experienced sexual assault of any kind - my strength comes from having had LOTS of different experiences - being beaten up by bullies as a kid, growing up with mild aspergers before it was even a word, deciding that if I wanted people to like me I first had to learn to like myself, having people I thought were my friends move out on me in college so that I had to sue them to avoid eviction before I reached the age of 21, severe chronic illness, etc.

But apparently that is to hard to explain....

Linked here via plurk.com. I think it's appropriate to quote Supernatural on this one.

"Demons I get. People are crazy."

I come reading this having never heard of you. Just a simple link found on Twitter.

I am now going to read your work. I am sick of rape being used in any medium and I want to support an author who takes this stand.

I think an appropriate response would be something like “Who do you think am I? Ayn Rand?”

BTW, “Celebrity Skin” is a Hole song. Did Garbage make a cover?

*applauds*

Gratuitous rape in stories is one of my all-time biggest pet peeves, and people thinking a story is "unrealistic" just because a woman's not raped honestly scare me. Because it implies that woman = waiting rape target. "You have a vagina? Tits? Stand in line for your mandatory raping!". Fuck that shit.

The insensitivity of some people astounds me. And I now want to read your books, I'm quite fond of unrealistic :-)

What. The fuck. Were they ON. O_O

Jesus, not only is that a creepy and gross thing to think, and to ask, but I am so sorry you had to get ASKED THAT. Also, I'm sorry, how is "Toby being cocky" a "situation a sexual assault might occur"?

GRRRR.

I'm going to go... nest in Araña art and forget people like that asshole exist.

ETA: Hey, instant giggle-inducer, though - Etienne's milkshake bringing all the ladies of marriageable age to the hall. Let it bring you joy.

You know, it occurs that, in an even more creepy way, this is not dissimilar to the origin of the "DUOE" society from the Fido-net days of yore.

I wasn't there at the time, but IIRC from the way I first heard the story, someone got onto the Fido SF channel and claimed that all writing must have Lots of Sex, as Sex is Part of Human Expression. And that anyone who wanted to read/write some fiction that did not, in fact, have that much sex (or otherwise disagreed with him) was a Dried Up Old Eunuch.

So, naturally, the sensible people -in-thread immediately formed the society of "Dried Up Old Eunuchs" and laughed it all off (and person demanding that all fiction subscribe to his particular, rather limited tastes). By the time of my arrival, the offender was long since self-ejected, but the story was still going around.

Really, the look in the icon says it all.

TBH I am not surprised by this at all, which is a sad statement. I remember one of my art college teachers telling me or someone else that comics nowadays don't want "normal" women, because that won't sell anything. So they give the horror, rape/sex story just to give it an edge and make other people think OH THIS IS TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE SINCE EVERYONE IS WRITING IT. WOMEN CAN'T BE EDGY OR TRUE WOMEN UNLESS THEY'VE HAD TRAUMA IN THEIR LIVES. I wanted to bury my head into the floor, it was so frustrating to hear that.

Thank you.

I made a conscious decision when I started writing not to have any of my characters raped. Partly because it's often only used as a lazy shorthand for trauma, but mostly because I wanted my women friends to be able to read my stories without being triggered by them, you know?

THANK YOU, Seanan. Seriously. From the bottom of my heart.

It is a huge relief to know I won't have to avoid any other of your books for triggering reasons (I say 'other' because I do, sadly, avoid An Artificial Night as Blind Michael hits quite a few of my buttons in the bad way, but I still do not think that's a bad book). Really huge. A lot of people in the comments before mine have said a lot of the things I'd like to say, if I weren't still so enraged that this person asked you this question at all, let alone in this way. I can understand why you haven't disclosed who it was, because I'm pretty sure he'd have a mob heading his virtual way by now.

That you haven't chosen to have any of your characters sexually assaulted does not mean your work is not realistic in the emotions, characters and many of the situations between people that you portray, fantasy or not. Anyone who thinks it does is a stupid jackass, and worse.

He sounds to me like the sort of person who is not only a rape apologist but who might skirt the boundaries of consent himself and think it's not necessarily a bad thing, and that makes me nauseous. The only, only thing I can see of all he said that I might agree with a little bit is the whole "more than likely they'd get attacked in [x] situations" thing--but the best thing about all your women is that they can all take care of and defend themselves perfectly well if anyone did ever attack them, so that wouldn't happen. It's not "realistic", to quote this idiot, that they would ever be raped.

Plus, it is an incredibly, disgustingly lazy plot device when used the way your questioner appears to have wanted you to use it. I'm also fucking tired of female characters being reduced to what can be done with their reproductive systems in any way, good grief.

I am and will be eternally grateful to you for choosing not to ask those of us who have been through this shit to emotionally relive it with characters we love, Seanan. I read fantasy to escape, not to relive the darkest parts of my past. This is why you are one of my favourite authors and I refuse to read GRRM's works at all. Again, thank you. And I'm bookmarking and sharing this post extensively.

*big hug*

Some people are just so... I don't even have a word for it. Anyway, good for you for sticking to your guns. And thank you for not letting your heroines get raped - there's far too much of that in the real word, so it's nice to know I won't be finding it in your books.

Suddenly I want to read your books.

I hope you record and post about a book sales spike from having posted this, by the way!