Male & Female Psychology in Writing

[StrongArm]

I recently got done playing an amazing adult visual novel called 'Hero Party Must Fall'
The writing in this pervy masterpiece was absolutely astounding.
The pixelated art was unique but very hot, and only got better as i played through.
The author is clearly a master of sexual tension, drawing the progress out slowly- but rewards with a satisfying explosion of lust
The music absolutely f*$#ing slapped in a couple scenes. The music also FIT each scene like a glove.
Each character had depth, motivations, flaws. They were far more than simple tropes....

But the thing that impressed me the most?
Was the author's understanding of both Male & Female psychology.
The female characters acted like REAL women. And the author definitely understands male issues.

This got me thinking...
How often do you see Men written correctly in Female works? How often do you see Women written correctly in Male works?
I've read both Male & Female authors, and I almost always notice a disconnect in how the characters feel.
When men write female characters, they almost never feel like real live women: even famous authors are guilty of this.
The same goes for famous female authors as well. (To be fair though, most of my reads are fiction, and fiction tends to cater to sexual ideals of its readers. whether its the unrealisticly perfect hunk from a romance, or the one dimensional damsels in most fantasy)

My point is that i think a deeper understanding of the Psychological differences among the sexes can really make a regular fiction turn into a masterpiece.

What do you guys think? Have you noticed this before, or is this just me? Am i full of sh!t?
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

Also....... If your pervy like me try 'Hero Party Must Fall' the writing in it was so damn good that i feel emotionally drained, yet craving more!

 

[K5Rakitan]

All people are different, so what seems "real" to you may seem weird to someone else.

The one thing I remember about the differences between men and women in my psychology courses is that men tend to fall in love faster and stay in love longer than women. This is an average and not an absolute rule, like everything else in life.

 

[Cipiteca396]

It's too easy for people to lump certain behaviors in with stereotypes. Every time I see someone write out 'the differences between men and women' I look at what they wrote and think "But I do [ALL/NONE] of those things" or "But my friend does that all the time..."

A lot of people try to fit into stereotypes to try and make themselves feel closer to their culture, and a lot of people go out of their way to fuck with stereotypes. What's 'True' changes every few years, and depending on who you ask. So it's impossible to say 'This is how a man acts, and this is how a woman acts'.

The way people act doesn't depend on their sex, it depends on their culture and psychology.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

I recently got done playing an amazing adult visual novel called 'Hero Party Must Fall'
The writing in this pervy masterpiece was absolutely astounding.
The pixelated art was unique but very hot, and only got better as i played through.
The author is clearly a master of sexual tension, drawing the progress out slowly- but rewards with a satisfying explosion of lust
The music absolutely f*$#ing slapped in a couple scenes. The music also FIT each scene like a glove.
Each character had depth, motivations, flaws. They were far more than simple tropes....

But the thing that impressed me the most?
Was the author's understanding of both Male & Female psychology.
The female characters acted like REAL women. And the author definitely understands male issues.

This got me thinking...
How often do you see Men written correctly in Female works? How often do you see Women written correctly in Male works?
I've read both Male & Female authors, and I almost always notice a disconnect in how the characters feel.
When men write female characters, they almost never feel like real live women: even famous authors are guilty of this.
The same goes for famous female authors as well. (To be fair though, most of my reads are fiction, and fiction tends to cater to sexual ideals of its readers. whether its the unrealisticly perfect hunk from a romance, or the one dimensional damsels in most fantasy)

My point is that i think a deeper understanding of the Psychological differences among the sexes can really make a regular fiction turn into a masterpiece.

What do you guys think? Have you noticed this before, or is this just me? Am i full of sh!t?
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

Also....... If your pervy like me try 'Hero Party Must Fall' the writing in it was so damn good that i feel emotionally drained, yet craving more!

PERVERT

 

[StrongArm]

All people are different, so what seems "real" to you may seem weird to someone else.

The one thing I remember about the differences between men and women in my psychology courses is that men tend to fall in love faster and stay in love longer than women. This is an average and not an absolute rule, like everything else in life.

Yes, no one person is completely the same as another.
BUT you can still easily generalize.
There are very clear differences among men and women in their psychology.
ESPECIALLY in the way we go about dating, attracting a mate, ect.
Human sexual psychology is a subject im intensely fascinated in.
There are some things that are pretty much ingrained into us no matter what country we live in or time we're from.

 

[Agentt]

Yes, no one person is completely the same as another.
BUT you can still easily generalize.
There are very clear differences among men and women in their psychology.
ESPECIALLY in the way we go about dating, attracting a mate, ect.
Human sexual psychology is a subject im intensely fascinated in.
There are some things that are pretty much ingrained into us no matter what country we live in or time we're from.

Hahh.....
It kinda irks me that you call that thing psychology...

 

[StrongArm]

Hahh.....
It kinda irks me that you call that thing psychology...

????
What do you mean?

 

[Dieter]

If you want to read fiction where men and women are written realistically, then you can only reliably count on the more serious fictions. Best not to expect it from web novels, which're written at their heart for enjoyment sake; usually just of the author's.

More depth or truth in a story makes it generally stand out and better, psychology or not.

 

[Anon2024]

Most fictions with realistic people tend to be realistically stupid.

I prefer an author who writes bashfully instead.

 

[StrongArm]

Most fictions with realistic people tend to be realistically stupid.

I prefer an author who writes bashfully instead.

you think realism makes a novel stupid?

my mind immediately goes to Stephen King. His characters generally strike me as realistic, but his works are regarded by pretty much everyone as masterpieces

 

[Cipiteca396]

you think realism makes a novel stupid?

my mind immediately goes to Stephen King. His characters generally strike me as realistic, but his works are regarded by pretty much everyone as masterpieces

Oh, you mean like the Trashcanman? Yeah, I don't know a more realistic character.

 

[Anon2024]

you think realism makes a novel stupid?

my mind immediately goes to Stephen King. His characters generally strike me as realistic, but his works are regarded by pretty much everyone as masterpieces

Lol. I never said realism “makes a novel stupid” but I guess I see the lack of information in the statement could make you draw that conclusion.

i meant the characters who act realistic also tend to be stupid.

An example, I find Sakura in Naruto to be one of the most realistic characters when compared psychologically to the other characters in the show.

She’s in love with Sasuke for no other reason than he’s good looking. In real life, women, girls tend to act almost that same way with tall good looking guys, constantly.

They won’t give a short or ugly guy the time of day but they’re willing to put up with tons of bullshit from the tall good looking ones. A few of my friends are tall and good looking with girls always wanting to introduce themselves to them.

Hence I qualify realism as those Whose behavior I can see in the real world, and say the most realistic characters also tend to be the most stupid.

 

[Schultz_von]

correlation does not imply causation ...
I don't believe (as far as I know or am aware of) there is research about the correlation between author gender and their ability to portray characters in specific ways.
I believe this is more of the author's style of writing, their topic, and their target audience rather than it was because of their gender.

 

[StrongArm]

Lol. I never said realism “makes a novel stupid” but I guess I see the lack of information in the statement could make you draw that conclusion.

i meant the characters who act realistic also tend to be stupid.

An example, I find Sakura in Naruto to be one of the most realistic characters when compared psychologically to the other characters in the show.

She’s in love with Sasuke for no other reason than he’s good looking. In real life, women, girls tend to act almost that same way with tall good looking guys, constantly.

They won’t give a short or ugly guy the time of day but they’re willing to put up with tons of bullshit from the tall good looking ones. A few of my friends are tall and good looking with girls always wanting to introduce themselves to them.

Hence I qualify realism as those Whose behavior I can see in the real world, and say the most realistic characters also tend to be the most stupid.

I never thought of sakura in that light, but you are totally right!?

But unfortunately, there are good reasons why girls go after attractive tall males. It just doesnt make for a good anime character

Oh, you mean like the Trashcanman? Yeah, I don't know a more realistic character.

I said "Generally". Stephen King has an entire LIBRARY worth of works. some characters are bound to be goofy

 

[DarkeReises]

I bookmarked that game on f95 the other day. Will probs get to playing it along with the like 30+ other games I've bookmarked in the past week eventually.

 

[Shard]

I believe it has a lot to do with the individual writer's experiences and/or preferences. Many people do not care to put the time into understanding others, and see everyone as similar to themselves, which tends to result in characters that feel like copies of each other. Others put the effort in to make each character unique, and still others have a firm understanding of human nature.

If you want to see well-done characters, in my opinion at least, check out AuthorSME's works here, especially A Tail's Misfortune. Alternatively, people who don't love foxgirls to death tend to prefer The Oscillation, but surely no one here is a heretic that doesn't love fluffy tails, right?

 

[StrongArm]

I believe it has a lot to do with the individual writer's experiences and/or preferences. Many people do not care to put the time into understanding others, and see everyone as similar to themselves, which tends to result in characters that feel like copies of each other. Others put the effort in to make each character unique, and still others have a firm understanding of human nature.

If you want to see well-done characters, in my opinion at least, check out AuthorSME's works here, especially A Tail's Misfortune. Alternatively, people who don't love foxgirls to death tend to prefer The Oscillation, but surely no one here is a heretic that doesn't love fluffy tails, right?

I think you are right, about people not wanting to understand each other, and only wanting to view everyone from their own mirror.

& Thank you! I will definitely check them out! Nothin wrong with animal girls (as long as they arent those wierd ones you occasionally see in manga with both human AND animal ears)

 

[WinterTimeCrime]

Different characters put in different situations lead to individual psychology or traits regardless of the X or Y chromosome.

In most of my writing, I base my characters thought processes, ideas, likes/dislikes, etc. based on their culture/upbringings, conflicts, backstory, and personality. But I'll also include little things like warrior princesses and female aliens (despite them not being relative to Earth or its ways) worrying about their hair standing on end or an outfit getting torn because, based on my relationships with females, that's something that's always on their mind. However, this is not always the case, and some of my female characters could care less about appearance; it's really on a case-to-case basis.

 

[ohko]

Hahh.....
It kinda irks me that you call that thing psychology...

I kind of agree here, in the sense that "psychology" in the formal sense is deals with much lower level human processes than things that are a stereotypically assigned to gender. I think it's much more accurate to call it "sociology".

For example, I think one would be very misguided to say that east asians like rice because of their "psychology".

Rather much of this topic is an element of sociology, and an individual's ability to represent it accurately in writing depends a large part on their exposure. In media, there's a tendency to alienate things that we poorly understand, and we often get things like the portrayal of outside groups in a caricaturized fashion that may miss some more subtle aspects.

 

[Bloodbath_Voracity]

Whether it's a man or a woman, we're all just objectively the same. My technique is to not write them as if they're different species.

I write with an objective factor and what will make them ‘them’ is how they respond to life. Instead of “This is how should a man act,” I do, “How would a person with social anxiety react in this situation?” Now whether they're a man or a woman just happened to be their sexes. Obviously, there would be other factors involve such as their general personality. Do they freeze, fly, or fight as their common response to issues? Etc.

That's why breaking down your own character and writing a character profile is advised. You don't write them to put them in this role, you put them into this role because it's them.