Should one not write a story if it's offensive or plays upon sexist themes?

[Eclipse Dragon]

Being afraid to put your work out there may protect you from criticism but it will also prevent people who otherwise might enjoy it from getting to.

 

[Kathinka]

As long as one person in the world thinks it is art, it is art.

Every person can create whatever they damn well please. Let the reactionaries cry sexism and demand for all characters to wear burkas, you should create your vision, and no one else has a say in it. If they don't like it, no one forces them to consume it.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Dude, I'm a stand up comic, if people don't like the things I write I literally have to stand there and watch them not like it in real time. Write what you want, accept people are going to shit on it and search for your audience.

I suppose what I'm really asking here is, should an artist just create the art they want to make or should they be standing there asking, Does the world really need my voice too?

Does the world really need another neurotic, self-loathing narcissist white comic who's biggest issue is that daddy didn't hug him enough? Of course not, I still do my thing though.

I suppose what I'm really asking here is, should an artist just create the art they want to make or should they be standing there asking, Does the world really need my voice too?

As someone who would like to be a proffesional novelist one day, I would argue that you're approaching this from the wrong perspective. The only person you should be writing for is you. Write the kind of novel you want to read. Don't worry about what other writers are doing, and don't worry about what your audience will think. That's how the best books get made. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote fantasy because no on else at the time was writing fantasy. He wrote the kind of stories he wanted to read. Alan Moore wrote Watchmen because he was getting bored of the cliche'd superhero stories that were being written. Watchmen was as much a love letter to superheroes as it was a deconstruction. Moore was growing tired of the same old stories, so he wrote the story he wanted to read.

If you spend your life trying to chase the market, then you'll never be really happy, and you probably won't be super successful. At least, that's what I tell myself. For me, writing is an almost spiritual experience. It's the way an atheist takes communion. Writing is the only way I can organize my ideas properly, and share them with the outside world. It's my message in a bottle.

I wouldn't worry about negative criticism. It will come, and it will go. You can't write anything with substance without criticism, because criticism means that you've asserted an idea. Let me know if/when you get it published and I'll get it on my kindle.

I found both these posts helpful, thank you.

The review skirts on both facets, either the "it's a plot that's overused and not done well" and "I don't like it since it exists", the writer of the review seems to suck harder in conveying his/her opinion then the book they are criticizing.

I suppose what I'm really asking here is, should an artist just create the art they want to make or should they be standing there asking, Does the world really need my voice too?

In the end it depends on if you either have a new voice that hasn't been heard before, or you play with an idea enough to make it new again or your writing covers a lack of an idea's originality. But sadly it does really seem that the crowd of self censoring under the guise of "progressivm" doesn't weaken over time.

I don't think my story is very original. Self-destructive late 20s white middle class character bumbling through life, failing to get their act together. The only thing different about it from say Bojack Horseman is that my main character is a woman, yes I know how progressive of me, but it was the only way I could work it in my head, tell the story I want to tell and not get sick with the idea I'm writing a story that'll get torn apart. Maybe torn apart for the right reasons, fuck if I know. I just know it's what I know, and I should write what I know.

Also I should probably get some sleep.

I don't think it adds to the world of literature in any significant way beyond that it's just a stupid story maybe people would like to read, laugh at, and feel less lonely. Kinda like how I feel after watching Bojack.

 

[Naldan]

How many stories have you published commercially so far?

There always will be feces. I could already shit on the jizz you gave about your story, since for the better part of my life I was quasi a full-time offended activist.

If it's worth anything and people have said it in other words above: Don't do anything for the sake of not offending if you yourself would get offended. Not in a hypothetical situation ("If I was a woman, ..."), no. Right here, right now.

If you tend to offend without any petty reasoning by those offended, you should think about yourself as a person and if you can live with that state. But about a single book? That doesn't include any Mein Kampf vibe or anything similar? Nah.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

People must be able to create any stories they choose. It's the viewers/readers choice to be offended or not and writers should never have to pander or compromise to them. Different people have different skin thicknesses so can probably enjoy a story without having their sensibilities offended. The thin skinned among us too scared of offence can leave a bad review and move on. Instead of being offended by something that doesn't affect your life or the world in anyway, you could instead *not* be offended, open a new browser tab and get on with life.

 

[the December King]

I don't think my story is very original. Self-destructive late 20s white middle class character bumbling through life, failing to get their act together. The only thing different about it from say Bojack Horseman is that my main character is a woman, yes I know how progressive of me, but it was the only way I could work it in my head, tell the story I want to tell and not get sick with the idea I'm writing a story that'll get torn apart. Maybe torn apart for the right reasons, fuck if I know. I just know it's what I know, and I should write what I know.

Also I should probably get some sleep.

I don't think it adds to the world of literature in any significant way beyond that it's just a stupid story maybe people would like to read, laugh at, and feel less lonely. Kinda like how I feel after watching Bojack.

I don't know your writings, but I gotta say, if your inspiration is Bojack, you're a good egg in my book.

Write your story, man. Damn the nay-sayers, but take constructive criticism onboard, and most importantly, NO NOT SHRUG OFF THE PRAISE- it seems egotistical sometimes, but take a bow when you should. Appreciate it, just don't let it fill your head.

Dude had some published work that he was pleased he was a part of, after all.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

The question seems vague. Anyways, make whatever you want just be prepared for criticism. You're free to say whatever, but if you want people to like it you have to reign in that freedom some and drop the things people will dislike. Truth is if you want to be widely liked most people probably can't just be utterly open.


As far as whether sexist themes indicates the author is sexist... well it depends. If they have their characters acting according to sexist stereotypes one can ask why. If they believe that's how people really act well...

 

[MHR]

What, you're asking gamers? The same ones that almost threw an insurrection over someone removing a camera angle from a booty in a cartoony game?

Make your own shit. Creator has control always!

If you're trying to sell it though, that's different. Are you willing to say screw it and sellout? A fair stance if it applies. I'd do all kinds of disgusting things for moneh, wouldn't bother me.

The point is that it's all up to you.

 

[The Philistine]

Reviews on Amazon are one of the last places an artist should be looking for validation. It's like any other opinions on the internet, mostly anonymous faces speaking with little consequence. Worry more about how the audience you're aiming for will see it.

 

[steve2392]

Depiction is not the same as condoning.

Essentially I think, write what you like. Fiction would be very dull if it had to always align with the author's views and beliefs.

At the same time, art is subjective and some people may find it offensive. That doesn't mean it shouldn't exist,
it's just their interpretation. Other people might well love it.

Do you want to write your own story or not offend anyone? It's down to your own priorities really.

 

[wulf3n]

"Quirky girl helps man discover himself and come alive!" Which is a plot that's been done to death, really, and is sexist as all get-out toward both women and men.

Look I'll go as far as saying it is sexist

What about that is sexist?

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I suppose what I'm really asking here is, should an artist just create the art they want to make or should they be standing there asking, Does the world really need my voice too?

Make the art you want to make, and let the people decide if they want to hear it (or read it or play it or whatever) or not.

As for MPDG, I'd say the bigger criticism here is that it's just been done to death and has become cliche.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

In all honesty, every type of story/plot has been done to death and only vaguely stands out from the rest due to it's setting, characters, morals, etc.

If you are interested in writing something that just so happens to be topical or cliched, I say go for it. There's always going to be a story of a man looking for a second chance at life, regardless if it deals with sexist undertones or not, so just because "someone did it," it should not halt anyone else from doing it themselves.

Avatar was basically a sci-fi take on Dances with Wolves and I still enjoyed it nonetheless.

 

[MythicMatt]

If you wanna write something, then write it. If someone takes offense, they're the ones who lose if your future works are amazing.

But not writing for the sake of not offending people? You probably have something in there that'll sell for years, even if someone doesn't enjoy whatever part of it.

 

[Leg End]

I suppose what I'm really asking here is, should an artist just create the art they want to make or should they be standing there asking, Does the world really need my voice too?

I'm just going to probably repeat what's been said but in a worse way here.
Make exactly what you want, how YOU want it as you'd read it as it is YOUR story. The world doesn't have a need of anyone else's voice but they speak theirs, so you should as well because nothing makes yours less worthy of being out in the wild and you want to speak a story. Think about how many others have thought the same thing and could have ended up never releasing their stories out of fear. Many a library would be empty.

Unless you're writing solely to make money, in which case throw all that out the window and make a gay vampire BDSM novel. But you're not doing that so, have fun writing!

 

[jklinders]

You seem to be asking one thing in your thread title and another altogether in the last sentence of your post OP. I'll address the last sentence of your post first.

I truly feel that with any creative endeavor that if your heart is not in it then no matter your base skills you will not turn out good art. So you should be writing for yourself first and everyone else second. No one is going to care what your message is if you do not believe in it yourself. No matter what story type is presented, especially in an online format you are going to come across some twerp or another, who more than likely couldn't flunk his way through middle school English who would say x plot/story/concept/character/whateverthefuck has been done to death. Often followed by a variation of go kill yourself or some shit. It's called shit posting and should be ignored. Most possible story types have been done. That doesn't mean you should be denied a voice too. Otherwise nothing new would be created.

Now going to the thread title. I'm not really sure what you mean here by playing up on sexist or offensive themes. Hell, everything offends somebody. I have seen some strange things called sexist too. If the MPDG in question in your example has a shallow form to their creation and exists only to be the wish fulfillment mechanism of the protagonist an argument could be successfully made that it's a shitty story. but if this person has a well developed personality/history/social life outside the scope of the story, something that somewhere has molded them into who they are and why they match up with this guy then we have a different argument.

Controversial themes can be played up on without being (generally ) offensive if it is done with considered thought. But if such a character only exists as a puzzle piece to fit into the story, an archetype for example, than it's probably at best lazy writing; wish fulfillment dreck at worst.

 

[Soul of Cinder]

If no artists/writers had dared to express their views and write what they please we had not come this far to have this discussion here. Controversial works are needed,and so are opinions. One would expect we can all act like adults after reading/viewing something and have our own thoughts about it. The audience doesn?t always need to agree with everything, otherwise we would never be confronted with arguments or problems to solve.
I?d say thats what art should do, inspire, make people think and create emotions- even a piece with a stereotypical story can be good or great if it is done the right way.