alexmulvey

Fiction gives us a safe place to play with our fantasies and I think that’s such a huge part of it. I think it’s more that we become enamoured with an idea, rather than a person.

I will die on the hill of protecting fanfiction! Writers being inspired by other published works can be such great practice and a great launchpad into creating their own original works too! And definitely, in the case of LGBT+ representation, it’s a bit of a case of “fine! I’ll do it myself!”

I definitely think it depends on the genre and what the function of the male hero is in the story. Let’s face it, male characters in romance novels written by women are idealised versions of masculinity; what the heterosexual female reader wants in her male partner. But often in these novels, the male hero isn’t just sexualised, he’s given attractive emotional and behavioural qualities too. The most common complaints I see about men writing women are more about how some men write women’s bodies/anatomy, or in some cases reduce the women to her physical/sexual being. I think there’s a difference between THAT and just writing a character that we think behaves a little unrealistically which I am more inclined to forgive.