>> among the feedback was asking if it was set in a matriarchal dystopy, because all the men were gone. <<
Creepy.
But then I freaked out the entire population in the Carl Brandon party at Wiscon once: Someone asked what stories we'd written with no white characters. Everyone named one or two stories right off the top of their heads, or in a few cases, several stories. I named one, paused, named another, paused, and kept going like that. And then they were all staring at me. I had to stop and explain that I did not file my stories by character race and had to mentally sort through them all. Apparently that's not what everyone else was doing. Then it came out that their stories with no white people were all "about" race in some way, whereas most of mine were like that because I'd set them in places where there simply weren't any light-skinned people around. I was kind of bothered that nobody else seemed to be doing that. Everyone else was looking at me like I'd grown another head.
I've done the same thing with gender. I've written stories with all guys or all girls or all some other gender, or a mix that leaves out this or that. Some settings are mixed-gender and others are genderspace. It depends on the needs of the story. Once in a while I'll do a story "about" gender but usually I am just writing about people of uncommon genders who are having adventures the same as more typical gendered characters. I have a handful of characters with uncommon gender traits in Polychrome Heroics, but Calvin/Calliope is the only one I can think of for whom that is a primary focus. For the others it's just part of who they are, which may come up occasionally but not all the time.
>> What does that say about the usual male-default fare we're offered... <<
That we're living in a dystopic patriarchal rape culture?
0_o
Creepy.
But then I freaked out the entire population in the Carl Brandon party at Wiscon once: Someone asked what stories we'd written with no white characters. Everyone named one or two stories right off the top of their heads, or in a few cases, several stories. I named one, paused, named another, paused, and kept going like that. And then they were all staring at me. I had to stop and explain that I did not file my stories by character race and had to mentally sort through them all. Apparently that's not what everyone else was doing. Then it came out that their stories with no white people were all "about" race in some way, whereas most of mine were like that because I'd set them in places where there simply weren't any light-skinned people around. I was kind of bothered that nobody else seemed to be doing that. Everyone else was looking at me like I'd grown another head.
I've done the same thing with gender. I've written stories with all guys or all girls or all some other gender, or a mix that leaves out this or that. Some settings are mixed-gender and others are genderspace. It depends on the needs of the story. Once in a while I'll do a story "about" gender but usually I am just writing about people of uncommon genders who are having adventures the same as more typical gendered characters. I have a handful of characters with uncommon gender traits in Polychrome Heroics, but Calvin/Calliope is the only one I can think of for whom that is a primary focus. For the others it's just part of who they are, which may come up occasionally but not all the time.
>> What does that say about the usual male-default fare we're offered... <<
That we're living in a dystopic patriarchal rape culture?