Writing (female) characters

Writing (female) characters

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSWriting better female characters is covered in a lot of writing advice. Many of these pieces will preface their comments with sarcastic comments like ‘Women are people too, duh’. This sort of statement, I think,...
Toxic masculinity

Toxic masculinity

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSWe started this podcast to highlight the issues around the representation of women in genre fiction. But women aren’t the only ones who suffer at the hands of harmful tropes, poor characterisation, and limiting...
Describing women with Gwen C. Katz

Describing women with Gwen C. Katz

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSYA author Gwen C. Katz came across a forum thread about men’s ability to write female characters. There was the usual toxicity there – brushing off any criticism as more ‘SJW bullshit’. She wanted...
The Bechdel-Wallace test

The Bechdel-Wallace test

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSBack in 1985, Alison Bechdel had the characters of her cartoon strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, jokingly make a gender equality ‘test’ for films. 33 years later, the Bechdel (or Bechdel-Wallace, to give...
Diversity in video games with Emily Marlow

Diversity in video games with Emily Marlow

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSHow important are video games in showcasing diversity? Can they do it better than other forms of media? Whether ‘diversity’ means eschewing the traditional cis white male protagonist or encountering a...
Mythical females

Mythical females

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSMermaids, Harpies, Valkyries, Succubae, Sirens, Banshees, Nymphs – We’ve been encountering the mythical female in literature and folklore for thousands of years. She appears in numerous religions, sometimes as...