 Fantasy: January 20, 2016 Issue [#7438] |
  Fantasy
This week: Stereotypes in Fiction Edited by: Kit  
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Do elves need a bow? Do dwarves need an axe? Do baddies need to be unattractive? Not really...
This week's Fantasy Newsletter is all about stereotypes.
Your guest editor for this week: Kit |
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Stereotypes. They are everywhere, in all genres of fiction, as well as in real life. Some obvious stereotypes in fantasy surround the, yes, stereotypical character types in the genre. The attractive, light-footed elf with a bow, the fierce, hardworking dwarf with an axe, the muscular human warrior, the mysterious mage, the beautiful healer... They work, they are expected, but they are not terribly original.
Stereotypes go beyond this, though, and that starts from the stories that we watch and listen to as children. Take the Disney Princesses, for example. They are pretty, with big eyes and usually with long hair. The height of what, apparently, is classed as feminine. She may be a princess at the start of the movie, or she may not yet be a princess or know that she is, but eventually she will be, and she will have a romance with a handsome male character, possibly a prince, and wear pretty gowns. Because beauty is good.
A lack of beauty is not good. Many baddies, in movies and novels, are not very attractive. You can see that they are bad. From the wicked witch with the hooked nose and warts, to Lord Voldemort having a strange, snakelike face, the defects in their personalities are reflected in their appearance.
This is not always the case, of course. But it's a stereotype that is often used. Just like characters who are overweight tend to be lazy, and clumsy, a baddie, or not that bright. There are no overweight Disney Princesses.
Such character descriptions, which we are exposed to from our earliest years, might well have an impact on how we see reality. Little girls want to be pretty. Little boys want to be big and strong. Attractive people are seen as nice, and someone to be around, whilst less attractive people don't have the same appeal, even as friends. It's true that many attractive people will be nice, and that there are less attractive people who are not very nice at all. But there are attractive people who aren't nice, and many less attractive people who are.
When a crime has been committed, and pictures of suspects are posted, and those suspects are not considered attractive, there are those who feel that they can see that those suspects are guilty, because of the way they look. They might well turn out to be innocent, but the public judgement has already been made. An attractive suspect is more likely to be considered innocent. It's called the halo effect, I believe.
Now, I am not saying that stereotypes exist because of the characters we create. And we might well be creating the characters we do because of these existing stereotypes. I do see the effect of stories and movies on the children I know – they want to be Elsa, or Belle, or Pocahontas. They want to be heroes. A friend of mine has a little girl, and they had an embarrassing moment in a supermarket, when the little girl pointed at an elderly lady with a hooked nose and whispered, far too loudly, “Mommy, look! She's a witch!”
How can we, as writers, work around these stereotypes? It is tricky. If a writer wants to break into the market, it is a risk to venture too far outside of the norm. There are authors whose heroines aren't slim, but they operate within a niche. I don't think 50 Shades of Grey would have sold as well as it did if Christian Grey were a plumber, or working for minimum wage on a supermarket till. He would just be considered a creep. Wealth, too, can excuse many flaws.
Still, our baddies don't have to be overweight, or unattractive. Our heroes don't have to have broad muscles and a square jaw. Our elves don't have to carry a bow, nor do our dwarves have to wield an axe – there is a lot of different weaponry available to our imagination.
We can break out of our comfort zone, without making our readers too uncomfortable. That's the beauty of being creative. Fantasy is an excellent genre to unleash the unusual.
Kit
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Here are some of the latest additions to the Fantasy genre:
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Some contests that might inspire you:
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The Fantasy Newsletter welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in! 
Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
Kit |
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