Why Crime Novelists Don't Get Women

Croptop · 04-15-2010, 10:49 AM

An interesting (to me, anyway) post by Christoper Rice over on the Daily Beast on the clichéd female characters in crime novels:

Why Crime Novelists Don't Get Women

I think we could all point to many a book that has at least one of these tired characters in it.

dadioflex · 04-15-2010, 11:53 AM

Edit.

Ea · 04-15-2010, 12:07 PM

Well, that headline should have read; 'Why male thriller crime novelists don't get women'.

Moejoe · 04-15-2010, 12:55 PM

Title should read: Why crime novelists should stick to writing crime novels and not redundant essays.

Genre writing is cliché. By its very definition it promises a similar and repeatable experience to the reader, so it should be no surprise that characters lack complexity and depth; whether they be female, male or the four hundredth copy of Philip Marlowe. There are good reasons Italo Calvino never wrote a mystery and John Steinbeck never wrote a paranormal romance.

neilmarr · 04-16-2010, 06:55 AM

Christopher has obviously not read UK-based crime best-seller Val McDermid. Nothing could be less cliched than her female characters. Hoots. Neil

Ea · 04-16-2010, 10:27 AM

... or Reginald Hill's Arms and the Women (not to speak of his other books).

J. Dean · 04-16-2010, 11:13 AM

I have to agree about the "men with breasts" comment. That's one of the reasons why I don't like watching shows like NCIS. They had one episode in which Zeva, the Mossad agent, gets hit by a big burly man, with a blow that would have put a good sized MAN on his back with a broken jaw, let alone a woman. But Zeva just takes the blow and delivers one of her own-not NEARLY as devastating in power-that levels the guy. I said to my wife "THAT's why I hardly watch TV now." If you're casting a female in a heroic role, fine, but you need to do it with a degree of reality that won't leave people going "Yeah, right." after a scene like that. People are so anxious to be egalitarian about everything (which in and of itself is stupid) that they make women into unrealistic characters. And THAT ruins a lot of good fiction.

04-15-2010, 10:49 AM	#1
Croptop Groupie Posts: 161 Karma: 1018434 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kobo Aura One, Pixel 8 Pro	Why Crime Novelists Don't Get Women An interesting (to me, anyway) post by Christoper Rice over on the Daily Beast on the clichéd female characters in crime novels: Why Crime Novelists Don't Get Women I think we could all point to many a book that has at least one of these tired characters in it.

04-15-2010, 11:53 AM	#2
dadioflex Dyslexic Count Posts: 526 Karma: 5041991 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: Palm TX, Advent Vega, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle	Edit. Last edited by dadioflex; 12-15-2010 at 07:23 PM.

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04-15-2010, 12:07 PM	#3
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	Well, that headline should have read; 'Why male thriller crime novelists don't get women'.

04-15-2010, 12:55 PM	#4
Moejoe Banned Posts: 5,100 Karma: 72193 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South of the Border Device: Coffin	Title should read: Why crime novelists should stick to writing crime novels and not redundant essays. Genre writing is cliché. By its very definition it promises a similar and repeatable experience to the reader, so it should be no surprise that characters lack complexity and depth; whether they be female, male or the four hundredth copy of Philip Marlowe. There are good reasons Italo Calvino never wrote a mystery and John Steinbeck never wrote a paranormal romance.

04-16-2010, 06:55 AM	#5
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Christopher has obviously not read UK-based crime best-seller Val McDermid. Nothing could be less cliched than her female characters. Hoots. Neil

04-16-2010, 10:27 AM	#6
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	... or Reginald Hill's Arms and the Women (not to speak of his other books).

04-16-2010, 11:13 AM	#7
J. Dean Author: Clade Josso Posts: 80 Karma: 500474 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Michigan Device: none	I have to agree about the "men with breasts" comment. That's one of the reasons why I don't like watching shows like NCIS. They had one episode in which Zeva, the Mossad agent, gets hit by a big burly man, with a blow that would have put a good sized MAN on his back with a broken jaw, let alone a woman. But Zeva just takes the blow and delivers one of her own-not NEARLY as devastating in power-that levels the guy. I said to my wife "THAT's why I hardly watch TV now." If you're casting a female in a heroic role, fine, but you need to do it with a degree of reality that won't leave people going "Yeah, right." after a scene like that. People are so anxious to be egalitarian about everything (which in and of itself is stupid) that they make women into unrealistic characters. And THAT ruins a lot of good fiction.

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