That's definitely a valid story to want to tell. But it doesn't grab me very hard. The stories I want are the ones where all the bad stuff happens, and something is done. Because I need to believe that there is a route from where we are now to a world where people don't do bad things to each other. There's a reason why almost everything I read these days is fix-it fic. I don't really read normal books anymore because I don't want to care about more characters who might have unhappy endings. But as you say, tell ALL the stories. We have more memory now than we can hope to fill. There's no reason we can't all have good stories.
I am heavily fond of fixits. But I also like seeing situations that are already healthy, just to see what that looks like. There are plenty of other sources for challenge! Personal growth and environmental hazards are leading favorites of mine.
I had a thought about this in response to something Seanan McGuire posted a couple of years ago. She doesn't write about rape, for reasons that make perfectly good sense to me but were apparently offensive to at least one of her readers. And I thought, even if you take the most pessimistic estimate and say that 1 in 4 women are subject to rape or sexual violence at some point in their lives, that still leaves 3 in 4 who aren't. Don't they deserve to have stories as well? And not stories about how they escaped rape, or in which the fact that they haven't been raped is the point, but just stories about their lives?
>>even if you take the most pessimistic estimate and say that 1 in 4 women are subject to rape or sexual violence at some point in their lives, that still leaves 3 in 4 who aren't.<<
So much this. Also -- even for those women who have experienced sexual assault -- There's more to their lives and their stories than just that. That experience will effect how they live -- but it doesn't define their lives or their persons. Every living person has many stories of their own, and many stories they're a part of. They deserve to have those stories told, too.
Other factors include whether there was one incident (less likely to become a life-shaping thing) or multiple ones (more likely) and how the person processes it -- some people want to get over and be done, while others become gender activists.
One of the things I've noticed about Terramagne is a higher tendency for flagging. Survivors of sexual violence who are willing and able to help other survivors wear a silver Sowilo rune pendant. That makes it a great deal easier for someone who's been attacked to find a sympathetic person to help them. It's also routine for police departments, hospitals, etc. to staff their sexual trauma unit with such survivors if they can get some.
I pretty much agree with everything in the post you linked to. (I've hedged that statement only because I'm short of sleep, as usual, and read it quickly.)
But I don't see how it leads to your four-word boost, "Tell ALL the stories". She's clearly telling lots of different kinds of stories that are possible in her world... but nu? ISTM that since abuse, alas, exists, there are stories to be told about it. She chooses, quite rightfully, not to tell stories about abuse. So... "ALL the stories"?
I meant: some writers talk about abuse in settings where abuse happens. Other writers show us what society could look like WITHOUT abuse. You can write one of those, or both, or something else altogether. No one person has to do it all, but all the stories still get told by somebody.
I think the problem I have, which is similar to the one annathepiper has, is with doing abuse (and sex) gratuitously. She compensates in her own writing by simply not doing those things on-camera *at all*. I'm willing to read *some* instances on-camera (Dave Weber does this pretty well in the Honorverse) as long as an abusive character eventually gets his (or occasionally her) comeuppance. (*chuckles* the "her" I'm thinking of is StateSec femme fatale Cordelia Ransom, who found out firsthand what happens when a small craft raises its impeller wedge inside a battlecruiser's boat bay. Oops... that'll learn you to mess with a treecat who has a whole *cadre* of loyal, smart two-foots... :D )
>> I'm willing to read *some* instances on-camera (Dave Weber does this pretty well in the Honorverse) as long as an abusive character eventually gets his (or occasionally her) comeuppance. <<
I am extremely fond of comebacks and poetic justice.
>> (*chuckles* the "her" I'm thinking of is StateSec femme fatale Cordelia Ransom, who found out firsthand what happens when a small craft raises its impeller wedge inside a battlecruiser's boat bay. <<
My main Ah'Koi Bahnis character, Nokwahl Vii'ah'dah of my Nokwahl series, was raped and nearly killed as a child. But xer's was a very unusual case. Normally Traipah is extremely safe; sexual violence, if it ever existed on the planet (I haven't decided yet), has not existed for at least several thousand years. And tourists and immigrants are deeply scanned by Truthspeakers before being allowed entry onto the planet. Nokwahl's attacker got past that security by a quirk of biology.
Also, this did not happen to xer just on some whim of mine. It is fundamental to xer character. It was important that something happen to Nokwahl to make xer feel extremely different from others of xer species, and to have a strong passion to go to Earth and help catch criminals. What's more, the attack made xer start bottling xer feelings up, which led them to explode outward in the form of xer Gift of projective empathic power. Nokwahl is damaged, and xe forged that damage and pain into strength; in fact, xe forged that pain into a telepathic weapon. (And when weaponizing xer Gift, xe essentially triggers xerself on purpose.)
So basically, Nokwahl's story says "This should never have happened. It should never happen to anyone, ever. Nobody should ever have to go through this pain. And Nokwahl is going to use every last ounce of xer strength to ensure it never happens again."
Which I think is how sexual violence in stories should always be portrayed, as something fundamentally Wrong, even unnatural.
~
As to my Lyria storyverse... a boy once attempted to rape her, when she was his age; he did not manage to actually touch her, and died of the pox she gave him. (Which should not have happened; but his people were so anti-magic they would not even use magic to cure a hex disease.)
One of Lyria's people, Serret, is attacked by a gang of men, but she calls on her Goddess, and that Goddess rescues her, turning the men to stone.
These are the only two instances of sexual violence/violence against women because they are women in the series so far, and I'm not planning any others. But in both cases, the target gets away untouched while the would-be victimizers die. I think that sends a strong message, don't you? :-D
Then there's Ghost, an albino who spends all her childhood running from person after person who wants to kill her for her albino body parts and their supposed magical qualities, and finally finds safety by using her natural-born talent for necromancy against the attackers. But in that case, she was targeted not for her gender, but for being an albino.
(All other violence in the series is just the result of the war of good versus evil, and is aimed at whoever happens to be standing against evil.)
Also I will note that Serret's attack happened early in her life. In the story's modern era, were a large group of men to attack her, they would all be either dead or running away scared in less than five minutes, all on her own skills with her swords. She could even stand against a large group of elven men, if such were inclined to try.
>>Which I think is how sexual violence in stories should always be portrayed, as something fundamentally Wrong, even unnatural.<<
Well said. I think I've only done one that had any real eroticized elements, because it used the rapist's perspective; but he wound up getting killed and sent to hell, so it's pretty clear that what he did was sicko.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancing_serpent
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Well, I can see that...
Date: 2015-06-07 11:22 am (UTC)Re: Well, I can see that...
Date: 2015-06-07 07:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-06-07 05:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-06-07 10:36 pm (UTC)So much this. Also -- even for those women who have experienced sexual assault -- There's more to their lives and their stories than just that. That experience will effect how they live -- but it doesn't define their lives or their persons. Every living person has many stories of their own, and many stories they're a part of. They deserve to have those stories told, too.
Yes...
Date: 2015-06-07 11:00 pm (UTC)One of the things I've noticed about Terramagne is a higher tendency for flagging. Survivors of sexual violence who are willing and able to help other survivors wear a silver Sowilo rune pendant. That makes it a great deal easier for someone who's been attacked to find a sympathetic person to help them. It's also routine for police departments, hospitals, etc. to staff their sexual trauma unit with such survivors if they can get some.
Perdóneme, no comprendo.
Date: 2015-06-07 03:49 pm (UTC)But I don't see how it leads to your four-word boost, "Tell ALL the stories". She's clearly telling lots of different kinds of stories that are possible in her world... but nu? ISTM that since abuse, alas, exists, there are stories to be told about it. She chooses, quite rightfully, not to tell stories about abuse. So... "ALL the stories"?
Re: Perdóneme, no comprendo.
Date: 2015-06-07 07:02 pm (UTC)Re: Perdóneme, no comprendo.
Date: 2015-06-07 08:37 pm (UTC)Re: Perdóneme, no comprendo.
Date: 2015-06-07 11:14 pm (UTC)I am extremely fond of comebacks and poetic justice.
>> (*chuckles* the "her" I'm thinking of is StateSec femme fatale Cordelia Ransom, who found out firsthand what happens when a small craft raises its impeller wedge inside a battlecruiser's boat bay. <<
LOL yes, that was so much fun.
Re: Perdóneme, no comprendo.
Date: 2015-06-08 06:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-06-08 12:29 am (UTC)Also, this did not happen to xer just on some whim of mine. It is fundamental to xer character. It was important that something happen to Nokwahl to make xer feel extremely different from others of xer species, and to have a strong passion to go to Earth and help catch criminals. What's more, the attack made xer start bottling xer feelings up, which led them to explode outward in the form of xer Gift of projective empathic power. Nokwahl is damaged, and xe forged that damage and pain into strength; in fact, xe forged that pain into a telepathic weapon. (And when weaponizing xer Gift, xe essentially triggers xerself on purpose.)
So basically, Nokwahl's story says "This should never have happened. It should never happen to anyone, ever. Nobody should ever have to go through this pain. And Nokwahl is going to use every last ounce of xer strength to ensure it never happens again."
Which I think is how sexual violence in stories should always be portrayed, as something fundamentally Wrong, even unnatural.
~
As to my Lyria storyverse... a boy once attempted to rape her, when she was his age; he did not manage to actually touch her, and died of the pox she gave him. (Which should not have happened; but his people were so anti-magic they would not even use magic to cure a hex disease.)
One of Lyria's people, Serret, is attacked by a gang of men, but she calls on her Goddess, and that Goddess rescues her, turning the men to stone.
These are the only two instances of sexual violence/violence against women because they are women in the series so far, and I'm not planning any others. But in both cases, the target gets away untouched while the would-be victimizers die. I think that sends a strong message, don't you? :-D
Then there's Ghost, an albino who spends all her childhood running from person after person who wants to kill her for her albino body parts and their supposed magical qualities, and finally finds safety by using her natural-born talent for necromancy against the attackers. But in that case, she was targeted not for her gender, but for being an albino.
(All other violence in the series is just the result of the war of good versus evil, and is aimed at whoever happens to be standing against evil.)
(no subject)
Date: 2015-06-08 12:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-06-08 12:35 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2015-06-08 02:04 am (UTC)portrayed, as something fundamentally Wrong, even unnatural.<<
Well said. I think I've only done one that had any real eroticized elements, because it used the rapist's perspective; but he wound up getting killed and sent to hell, so it's pretty clear that what he did was sicko.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-06-08 05:54 am (UTC)