Oh, I wanna clarify, I'm not at all saying you'd be in the wrong if you wrote the character exactly the same as she is in the show. ^^ Just that all the 'problematic' aspects of Giffany are intentional, so it's fine because it doesn't come from a place of genuine sexism, y'know?
Character Theory How do I avoid "unfortunate implications" in my characters? (Or: How do I avoid writing problematic characters?)
- Thread starter PopcornPie
- Start date
rae2nerdy
left site
Yeah sexism is like any other ism it is down to what I said earlier. It’s treating a certain group as if they all fall under a negative stereotype.
Women are all stupid housewives, black/brown people are all violent thugs, Asians are all math fiends and tech experts, gays are all feminine and flamboyant, Christians are all bigots and xenophobic, Muslims are all terrorists, poor people are all Lazy, etc.
Making a character who might be one of those traits isn’t the problem. It’s treating an entire group as if they are that way.
Like if all your female characters in a role play are ditzy or sluts than your playing to negative stereotypes.
But if you choose to make one character a a ditz that’s fine. As those people exist in real life. And you would hardly call a real life airhead sexist. Cuz that would be hella rude.
Women are all stupid housewives, black/brown people are all violent thugs, Asians are all math fiends and tech experts, gays are all feminine and flamboyant, Christians are all bigots and xenophobic, Muslims are all terrorists, poor people are all Lazy, etc.
Making a character who might be one of those traits isn’t the problem. It’s treating an entire group as if they are that way.
Like if all your female characters in a role play are ditzy or sluts than your playing to negative stereotypes.
But if you choose to make one character a a ditz that’s fine. As those people exist in real life. And you would hardly call a real life airhead sexist. Cuz that would be hella rude.
laceanddoodles
Your run of the mill Victorian lady
So, my general opinion on this issue is that problematic implications can be cancelled out by diversification. Like, say somebody is writing a story where the main antagonist is a lesbian. That could be very problematic, typecasting lesbians as villainous, and playing into established tropes about queer and queer coded bad guys. This is corrected easily by having a main character (or generally good aligned character) who is also a lesbian. Or several.
Portraying all your female characters as ditzy and air-headed can be problematic, but having one or two, and then showcasing a wide range of other personality types and character types mitigates the problem entirely. Because yeah! Some girls are ditzy, and to claim that you're "not allowed" to show female characters with that trait is just as problematic. But really, don't worry too much, anything is problematic if somebody is willing to try hard enough to find a reason. Just write characters. You'll be fine.
Portraying all your female characters as ditzy and air-headed can be problematic, but having one or two, and then showcasing a wide range of other personality types and character types mitigates the problem entirely. Because yeah! Some girls are ditzy, and to claim that you're "not allowed" to show female characters with that trait is just as problematic. But really, don't worry too much, anything is problematic if somebody is willing to try hard enough to find a reason. Just write characters. You'll be fine.
