#if s.assault against women specifically isnt a Major Plot Point that gets dealt with alongside your book's themes -- DONT PUT IT IN

[silverskye13]

Hello it's me, back to rant about books I'm reading in the tags because it's a relatively unpleasant rant

#spazzcat barks #rant #delete later #book rant #im leading strong so ill just get the thought out of the way #🎵if youre writing a new female lead and think she needs assaulted for a plot point think again🎵 #reading a new book series and for the most part im really liking it #but its just [sigh] its a pet peeve okay #it happens /so much/ in fantasy and probably other books as well but i see it a lot in fantasy #where you switch to a new lead who is female vs your previous male lead and suddenly s.assault has become a plot point #i understand its a thing that happens in the world i do understand that thats not my problem #my problem is its very obviously author bias #theres this Idea in media that if you want to show something Truly Terrible happening to a male lead its generally like... personal #but if you do the same with a female lead its s.assault #and especially if its written by a man who is trying to make a Strong Female Character said assault will be followed by a monologue #about how the woman is no stranger to the attentions/affections of men but this was Different and Scary and shes Never Been This Scared #its very tired okay #Strong Female Leads can have the same personal/existential fears as men #if s.assault against women specifically isnt a Major Plot Point that gets dealt with alongside your book's themes -- DONT PUT IT IN #no one wants to read about your Badass Swordswoman who is Just Like The Guys except she gets assaulted and they get to white knight #it feels very hypocritical #youre telling me this female character has equal character status to the men but her major fear is sex #while theirs is losing everyone they love or being a failure or a coward or whatever? #does that feel like theyre being treated the same? #it is was my same beef with The Deed of Paxinarian #youre telling me the main female lead gets assaulted as a major point of her every formative experience #meanwhile the male leads deal with like. the consequences of well intentioned follies and family deaths? #it reveals author bias on what The Worst Thing That Can Happen To Certain Gendered Characters are #the only book i will ever give a pass on this is The Blacktongue Thief -- because it happens to the male lead as well #showing the bias is not 'this is the worst that can happen to women' but instead 'this is a heinous act against everyone'