disappointedThere are a lot of ways to reach me; I try to be accessible and responsive whenever possible. Sometimes, this leads to my being asked questions I would never dream of asking an author who wasn't a) a personal friend, and b) in the process of getting drunk with me. I try to answer them nicely, for the most part, assuming I can answer them at all (I can't, always; some questions simply can't be answered).
Last night, I was asked—in so many words—when either Toby or one of the Price girls was finally going to be raped.
Not "if." Not "do you think." But "when," and "finally." Because it is a foregone conclusion, you see, that all women must be raped, especially when they have the gall to run around being protagonists all the damn time. I responded with confusion. The questioner provided a list of scenarios wherein these characters were "more than likely" to encounter sexual violence. These included Verity forgetting to change out of her tango uniform before going on patrol, Toby being cocky, and Sarah walking home from class alone. Yes, even the ambush predator telepath with a "don't notice me" field is inevitably getting raped.
When. Finally. Inevitably.
My response: "None of my protagonists are getting raped. I do not want to write that."
Their response: "I thought you had respect for your work. That's just unrealistic."
Verity is the bastard daughter of Dazzler and Batman. Toby is what happens when Tinker Bell embraces her inner bitch and starts wearing pants. Velveteen brings toys to life and uses them to fight the powers of darkness. Sarah is a hot mathematician who looks like Zooey Deschanel but is actually a hyper-evolved parasitic wasp. The unrealistic part about all these characters? Is that they haven't been raped.
Needless to say, I was a little bit annoyed, and I still am.
Statistically speaking, one in six women will be raped in her lifetime. This is just the statistic we know; it doesn't account for the fact that right now, reporting rape is a minefield all of its own, and many women choose not to subject themselves to that process. I do not know how many of my friends have been raped. I know that five of them are safe because of me, if you trust statistics. So you know. There's that.
Rape in fiction can be a powerful and important thing. It can be used to make important statements, it can be used to drive important stories. I love Robin McKinley's Deerskin as much because of the discomfort it causes me as for the beauty it contains. There are authors I will always trust, or try to trust, and it's important to show uncomfortable things through fiction. I am not saying that no one should write about rape, ever.
But rape in fiction can also be a problematic and belittling thing, used to put cocky heroines in their places. When Janet goes to Caughterha despite being told not to, her punishment is rape by the eponymous Tam Lin. When a superheroine needs a deeper, edgier backstory, there's always some previously third-tier villain with a de-powering ray and an agenda waiting in the wings. I read a lot of horror, a lot of comics, and a lot of urban fantasy, and the one thing these three things have in common is rape. Lots and lots and lots of rape.
And I don't wanna write that.
I do not understand—I will not understand, I refuse to understand—why rape has to be on the table for every story with a female protagonist, or even a strong female supporting cast. Why it's so assumed that I'm being "unrealistic" when I say that none of my female characters are going to be raped. Why this "takes the tension out of the story." There is plenty of tension without me having to write about something that upsets both me and many of my readers, thanks.
Toby will not be getting raped. Verity, Alice, Sarah, Antimony, and the rest of the InCryptid girls will not be getting raped. Velveteen will not be getting raped. Rose will not be getting raped. If this makes my work unrealistic, then fine. There's a reason I write science fiction and fantasy.
But I do not write rape. And the fact that this somehow makes me "unrealistic," rather than making me an author who makes choices about what she wants to write...that's the part I find upsetting.
You know. In addition to everything else.
November 5 2012, 18:05:09 UTC 4 years ago
There are characters, and even twisted cultures, in the background of my universe, who do have a rape mentality, but that still does not justify "inevitable rape." Some of my female characters have very active sex lives, and that is no reason to subject them to rape, as many other reasons such as women being alone, or wearing "provocative" clothes...
There is too much rape in fiction as it is, even the good stuff. The Deed of Paksenarrion, the Fifth Millennium series. I have even walked away from RPGs that feature rape. Too many males are fascinated by it. I see no reason to feed into it. I've seen too much interest in it from even women. That's disturbing.
It's a wonderful feeling to play a female in a fandom that has very little rape in it. Star Wars, the Elder Scrolls. Sure there is a hint of it in an odd corner or two, but there is no running theme of it. Not like what poor Lara Croft has to face.
Anyways, thank you again for writing this. I cannot say how refreshing it is to see this openly said.
November 6 2012, 02:37:44 UTC 4 years ago
That sentence jumped out at me if only because that really struck me; I've always been really disturbed at the mentality that goes on in regards to slutshaming. The whole degrading a woman just because she wears provocative clothes or what have you, because that doesn't matter. No one deserves to be raped. No one. Unfortunately, I doubt that most of society seems to get it.
By the way, I actually recall the web series Bad Movie Beatdown doing an episode that included that subject -- basically, in his review of THE CAVERN...well, the movie ends with the monster killing one of the women and proceeding to rape the other, by which point the movie ends. I think Film Brain's comment is very apt here; to paraphrase, you have to consider the weight and seriousness of including a rape scene in your work of fiction, and not use it for shock value. I definitely know that the poor man went over the edge in terms of anger level on that one, and considering his previous beat down of the movie for unlikeable characters, bad cinematography, etc.,...yeah.
But I think it ties into the point nicely: you have to treat the subject of rape with respect. Does it move the story along in any way? If no, don't include it.
*Prays she made sense*
November 6 2012, 03:19:02 UTC 4 years ago
The whole premise of rape in too many themes is the punishment of a woman's sexuality, or freedom. Or even expression. Or TV shows always seem to have the need to subject a strong female lead to rape, as if to show "character development" or make her sympathetic, or it proves that she is strong... which is bull. That is aptly called "entertainment rape." How many shows, how many stories do we need to replay the theme?
You make absolute sense. If it doesn't support or move the story along, scrap it. Rape is no different from any other plot device, why is it being treated as special?
November 6 2012, 11:54:01 UTC 4 years ago
It really is. And woefully amateur too. It's like the writer's stuck for ideas, so they decide to resort to rape as a plot device.
The whole premise of rape in too many themes is the punishment of a woman's sexuality, or freedom. Or even expression. Or TV shows always seem to have the need to subject a strong female lead to rape, as if to show "character development" or make her sympathetic, or it proves that she is strong... which is bull. That is aptly called "entertainment rape." How many shows, how many stories do we need to replay the theme?
This. Seriously. It just has so many misogynistic undertones that it's just plain unsettling.
And alternatively, there's the whole Victim Falls For Rapist thing (looking at you, GENERAL HOSPITAL. No, I haven't watched that show; I've just heard about it), which is so many levels of wrong I can't count it. And It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It (*cough* FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY *cough*) -- which...it's wrong. Just...holy God wrong.
You make absolute sense. If it doesn't support or move the story along, scrap it. Rape is no different from any other plot device, why is it being treated as special?
Well, thanks. :) *Sighs* And yeah, that's really a good question. I think it's because for the really bad writers, it's an easy characterization/plot tool. Want your bad girl character to suddenly become sympathetic? Have her raped. Want to show how evil a bad guy is? Rape. Want to have a tragic backstory for a character? Either rape or child by rape. The problem is that they don't think about the weight of such scenes, or whatnot. They just think they're being shocking or edgy or what-have-you when they're not. And that's probably an understatement.
November 6 2012, 14:28:07 UTC 4 years ago
That is useful, because it shows what rape is and that it is wrong no matter the circumstance. There is none of that, "lol, Pandsala is a whore, she totally asked for it; she's an evil manipulative b* and the story's villain besides." Pandsala is no more sympathetic as a character for it, and Rohan, the male, is shown that he has to confront the concept of the rape culture that always gives the idea that it was all right for him to do that. No manpain about it.
But this is rarely the case. I've seen the hero or villain turning to rape as a shock factor too many times. Or the female put through it because it's just what you do with women to explore their character more. "Edgy" is the word for it; repeating what others have done for shock value just becuz.
November 6 2012, 14:59:50 UTC 4 years ago
(BTW, what exactly does "manpain" mean? I just want to make sure it doesn't happen in any one of my stories is all. :)
And yeah...I think you nailed it. :/ Sometimes Darker and Edgier can be done well, but the problem is...most people don't put too much thought into it. The new series of DOCTOR WHO worked well because the writers wanted to take you on an emotional journey with the Doctor, and considering how many awards it's won and how popular it is now and such...I say it worked! Same with KOTOR II -- it wasn't there for the hell of it. It had a point to make, a journey to take you on. And again? It worked. We don't get a lot of this stuff in fiction today.
November 27 2012, 17:59:27 UTC 4 years ago