I know this is probably a common topic. For me, I’m not sure if it’s a “trope” or just totally misinformed writing, but it’s how many authors approach alcoholism. Some examples are Girl on the Train and The House Across the Lake, among HUNDREDS. If anyone else here has struggled with alcoholism, you know it’s not just "i woke up after downing an entire bottle of whiskey but was able to shower, down a cup of coffee, and solve a murder. "

  • math-is-magic@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    “not like other girls”/“all other girls are bitches and enemies if they’re not 100% my cheer squad” and other “subtle” sexist tropes, especially in things that clearly think they’re being feminist because the MC is female. Sigh.

    • arespos@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      omg this!! im reading a book for my book club at the moment, the first chapter is just the main character bitching about the “popular girls”, calling them annoying and that they need to grow up, without actually mentioning anything bad theyve done other than be pretty and friends with eachother? instant turn off, im trying to continue (reviews online have praised the book for its satire so im holding out a little hope) but it just makes it so unenjoyable to read when i already hate the main character and its so unclear whether that reflects the authors actual views

      • merewautt@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Omg the whole “okay but what have those girls actually done, besides apparently be pretty and friends with each other?” thing kills me and is in SO much media. Books, so many movies, you name it.

        It especially bugs me because I see people have this thought process in real life! Like, even here on Reddit all the time, someone will post online and characterize people as “mean girls”… and then they can’t name anything mean they’ve actually done. Except be feminine and friends. You’re just supposed to hear that take “oh okay OP, I take your word for it, they’re clearly evil” and it’s like— look, since when does the hottest girl in the room have immediately put everyone at ease or she’s a bad person? She’s just living her life.

        It’s like media with this trope made a whole generation not know how to process the feeling of jealously. I get it. They’re intimidating. Maybe you’re a little envious. But that’s an inside feeling. They didn’t do anything wrong just by existing and not being obsessed with you personally. No I’m not going to join a lynch mob just because you characterized them like a teen movie or bad book and we’ve been told that means they’re “bad” somehow.

    • ladyinlosing@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      100% agree with this — and by extension, this exact trait but in a historical fiction setting where the attitude is completely alien to the era.

      For example, Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. Female MC looks down on the ‘other girls’ except for - surprise, surprise- her cousin who is woefully supportive of her super advanced world views. And the Male MC who is somehow also about ‘power to women’ despite this being set in the late Victorian era.

      It doesn’t make sense, it also makes the MC unlikeable because she’s essentially got a superiority complex and deems any other woman who adheres to societal norms ‘dumb’ or empty headed but somehow we’re supposed to believe that MC is also humble and all about fighting the patriarchy? 🤔

      • BugetarulMalefic@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I sort of agree but then you have a 100 takes of why didn’t they make medieval land gay friendly and why did the characters always go on about GOD and why is everyone hating on the muslim character (it’s called something else, it’s cool). Choices, choices…

    • stolethemorning@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, I hate it when a book promotes itself as a feminist legend with a ‘strong female protagonist’ and then proceeds to make her strong in the way a man is, looks down on all feminine-coded traits and presents then as weak and useless, and finally is the epitome of a desirable woman but of course hates being so. “I must wear these tight dresses for my disguise and I look amazing and sexy in them but I’m not like the other harlot women who enjoy it”.

      Lightlark is a shining example of this (“a shining, yolky thing” lmao). Like you do you but DON’T promote the book as feminist-informed if it’s obviously not.

      • pgcd@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Which is why Pratchett is the most feminist author outside feminist academia. His strong female protagonists are actually strong and definitely protagonists and absolutely woman-like - you’ll find very little, if any, “man in power” behavior there, and when there’s something there’s always a good reason.

        • stolethemorning@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Thank you for sharing! I loved these bits:

          But the more I acted the Strong Female Lead, the more I became aware of the narrow specificity of the characters’ strengths — physical prowess, linear ambition, focused rationality. Masculine modalities of power.

          When we kill women in our stories, we aren’t just annihilating female gendered bodies. We are annihilating the feminine as a force wherever it resides — in women, in men, of the natural world. Because what we really mean when we say we want strong female leads is: “Give me a man but in the body of a woman I still want to see naked.”

          It’s difficult for us to imagine femininity itself — empathy, vulnerability, listening — as strong. When I look at the world our stories have helped us envision and then erect, these are the very qualities that have been vanquished in favor of an overwrought masculinity.

          I might have to watch the OA now.

        • haloarh@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Thank you for sharing. I’ve loved Marling since the movie Another Earth (which she starred in and co-wrote), but never read this before.