thread: 2012-06-25 : "Conflict" "Resolution"
On 2012-06-26, Graham wrote:
I'm wary of talking about "masculine" and "feminine" narratives. But here is a closely-related thing.
Many stories are about men. The central character is a man. The main characters are men. Women take lesser roles.
Furthermore, many stories are about the work that men have traditionally done. Thus, there are many stories about soldiers. There are fewer stories about mothers. (The work that women traditionally do has, to an extent, become invisible within stories.)
Note, too, that many stories revolve around power-oriented or patriarchal themes. Thus, they are often about individuals (not groups). They often prize strength or cunning (not nurturing).
So, we might suspect that traditional storylines are gendered. In particular, we might suspect that the Hero's Journey, in which a central male character battles through many conflicts to reach a goal, is gendered.
And we might ask: how can we subvert this? Can we get rid of the hero? Can we get rid of the journey? Can we write stories about mothers, about nurture, about cooperation rather than conflict?
