Do you think the novel would have benefited from a greater female presence?

Use this forum to discuss the October 2019 Book of the month, "Skills of the Warramunga" by Greg Kater.
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Kro92813
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Re: Do you think the novel would have benefited from a greater female presence?

Post by Kro92813 »

Nuel Ukah wrote: 17 Oct 2019, 14:53
ArriettyClock wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 08:20 I love this series by Greg Kater, however, I often feel like the amazing female characters could have a larger part to play in the novels.
For example, in "Skills of the Warramunga" Sarah, Jacko's half-sister is feisty, courageous and has amazing bush-skills. I was extremely impressed by her tracking skills. She's an inspiration to young women in her demeanor and independence.

Do you think the novel would have benefited from a greater inclusion of these amazing female characters? Or do you think that this would have been inappropriate in the historical setting of the novel?
I think greater inclusion of female characters would have been distracting. Female characters weren't the focus of the book.
Distracting? How so?
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briellejee wrote: 18 Oct 2019, 03:14
ArriettyClock wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 08:20 I love this series by Greg Kater, however, I often feel like the amazing female characters could have a larger part to play in the novels.
For example, in "Skills of the Warramunga" Sarah, Jacko's half-sister is feisty, courageous and has amazing bush-skills. I was extremely impressed by her tracking skills. She's an inspiration to young women in her demeanor and independence.

Do you think the novel would have benefited from a greater inclusion of these amazing female characters? Or do you think that this would have been inappropriate in the historical setting of the novel?
I think it would have, but considering the author is a male, I think he hesitated a bit because either there is lack of knowledge on how to portray them exactly in a way women readers would find interesting or it is not just an aspect he wants to deliver on the book. Regarding the first reason, separating a man's perspective in writing about women seem difficult. There has also been a backlash from women on some male authors in writing women characters so I guess this could be the reason why there is no greater female presence. :tiphat:
This is a good point! It's hard to know about something you personally know nothing about
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ViziVoir wrote: 19 Oct 2019, 15:58 Honestly, this is one of the biggest reasons I don't read historical fiction. Some authors seem to think that women in historical fiction aren't worth writing much about, probably because what they could and couldn't do was so strictly limited by society at the time. At the end of the day, it's a matter of taste.
Iguess I dont let this bother me
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briellejee wrote: 21 Oct 2019, 22:35
ViziVoir wrote: 19 Oct 2019, 15:58 Honestly, this is one of the biggest reasons I don't read historical fiction. Some authors seem to think that women in historical fiction aren't worth writing much about, probably because what they could and couldn't do was so strictly limited by society at the time. At the end of the day, it's a matter of taste.
There is a lot of historical fiction that portrays women as well, but you can't just blame authors for not writing about them. These historical women are worth writing but I think a male author writing about the life of a woman in historical times is not good enough otherwise they will just fall into stereotypes and the author will get more backlash about it. I think if men wanted to write about women in historical times, they would need a lot of research about it because as the timeline suggests, news abut women were suppressed and often dismissed. Let the author write about what he wants and not judge them for not writing about women more. At the end of the day, it's the story that matters. Even Sarah is well-represented in this book so I don't get the fuss about this leading to thoughts that the author is sexist or a coward.
I agree with you. It is a lot easier for a man to write about a man and a woman to write about awoman. It's not sexist it's just what we know.
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e-tasana-williams wrote: 22 Oct 2019, 21:05 I don’t know that I would have wanted to see more female characters in this book. The ones that are included seemed a bit flat to me.

I would have liked to see Sarah’s character better developed though. Even though she has amazing skills and is clearly an important part of the team, her character is made to appear very childish at times.

She leads them through the jungle and tracks like no one else can, but the lines she is given are like those of a little girl. I’m not familiar with aborigine culture, and maybe this portrayal was authentic, I don’t know. But these parts of the book were very glaring to me.
I think her broke. English played a part in that. Also, we dont know exactly how old she is, so she very much could be borderline child still
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naomisorge wrote: 23 Oct 2019, 05:16 So many people saying that a female presence would not have been realistic! People...there were lots of women around in those times, but their presence and contribution were ignored, or credit was taken by the men. Writing female characters into historical fiction is one way to acknowledge the contribution women made and normalize their presence in history.

I also think it's interesting that the main female character, Sarah, doesn't speak all that much English, so the men can make good use of her bush skills but she doesn't really take a decision-making or analyzing role in the story. I would have loved to know what she was thinking at some points!
But would it have been realistic for her to speak perfectly t English when she grew up speaking a completely different language
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Melissa Breen wrote: 24 Oct 2019, 14:41 I would have really enjoyed to read more about Jamie's wife and Jacko's girlfriend, their parts in the story was so small I'm even momentarily blanking on their names! But they are well written and interesting characters and I think the author could get a good story out with them as the focus
Idk they came off as stereotypically helpless to me
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AntonelaMaria wrote: 26 Oct 2019, 13:53 I'm intrigued by Sarah too. I wish she had a bit more spotlight on her. I am a bit confused as I can't determine her age. She has amazing skills, very impressive.
I couldn't either but they note at the end that she doesnt know her age either lol so 16-20 is my guess
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Anna Maria 86 wrote: 28 Oct 2019, 13:01 I think there was just enough female presence in the book. I often feel like nowadays everyone tries to push towards inclusion all the time. I am a woman, but I feel so tired of it sometimes. I mean, Jamie and Jacko are the MAIN characters. Besides, I think it's easier for a man to be writing about male characters, and still Greg Kater did an amazing job with Sarah's character, I think. But everywhere you look, there have to female, non-caucasian, and homosexual characters, because if not, it's instantly deemed wrong. And as much as I can understand a mermaid of african origins (since they are mistical creatures anyone can imagine the way they want) a latina Snow White or whatever doesn't really speak to me. All in all, I think Sarah is great, and I admire her. I think Carna and Moniaue had enough space in the book, leaving the rest to OTHER secondary characters and well the main characters.
I agree. I roll my eyes whenever I see this question mentioned. Because if the book was full of strong female characters would anyone even question the absence of a strong male one?
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Kro92813 wrote: 31 Oct 2019, 22:19
DorcasToo wrote: 07 Oct 2019, 02:08 I think Sarah does a great job of representing the females. But definitely, more feminity would add in some spark.
The wives felt like helpless little puppies. That bothered me
Yeah they were side characters and had no much role to play in this book. However Monique has a greater role in the sequel
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Kro92813 wrote: 31 Oct 2019, 22:33
AntonelaMaria wrote: 26 Oct 2019, 13:53 I'm intrigued by Sarah too. I wish she had a bit more spotlight on her. I am a bit confused as I can't determine her age. She has amazing skills, very impressive.
I couldn't either but they note at the end that she doesnt know her age either lol so 16-20 is my guess
Yes below 18 as i remember Jacko mentions somewhere that her studies is not finished.
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Kro92813 wrote: 31 Oct 2019, 22:31
naomisorge wrote: 23 Oct 2019, 05:16 So many people saying that a female presence would not have been realistic! People...there were lots of women around in those times, but their presence and contribution were ignored, or credit was taken by the men. Writing female characters into historical fiction is one way to acknowledge the contribution women made and normalize their presence in history.

I also think it's interesting that the main female character, Sarah, doesn't speak all that much English, so the men can make good use of her bush skills but she doesn't really take a decision-making or analyzing role in the story. I would have loved to know what she was thinking at some points!
But would it have been realistic for her to speak perfectly t English when she grew up speaking a completely different language
I think you mean unrealistic.
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Kro92813 wrote: 31 Oct 2019, 22:24
briellejee wrote: 18 Oct 2019, 03:14
ArriettyClock wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 08:20 I love this series by Greg Kater, however, I often feel like the amazing female characters could have a larger part to play in the novels.
For example, in "Skills of the Warramunga" Sarah, Jacko's half-sister is feisty, courageous and has amazing bush-skills. I was extremely impressed by her tracking skills. She's an inspiration to young women in her demeanor and independence.

Do you think the novel would have benefited from a greater inclusion of these amazing female characters? Or do you think that this would have been inappropriate in the historical setting of the novel?
I think it would have, but considering the author is a male, I think he hesitated a bit because either there is lack of knowledge on how to portray them exactly in a way women readers would find interesting or it is not just an aspect he wants to deliver on the book. Regarding the first reason, separating a man's perspective in writing about women seem difficult. There has also been a backlash from women on some male authors in writing women characters so I guess this could be the reason why there is no greater female presence. :tiphat:
This is a good point! It's hard to know about something you personally know nothing about
Yeah but as a author I think he should have researched the fact among his peers.
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Post by Howlan »

Kro92813 wrote: 31 Oct 2019, 22:18
OliviaLouise wrote: 06 Oct 2019, 07:51 Definitely. Women still struggle to get representation in contemporary literature. Especially in genres like action and adventure. Writing a strong female character is not enough: we need more with central roles!
But historically would it have made sense?
Yes in times of distress women fare equally to men.
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WardahEbrahim wrote: 22 Oct 2019, 10:10
ArriettyClock wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 08:20 I love this series by Greg Kater, however, I often feel like the amazing female characters could have a larger part to play in the novels.
For example, in "Skills of the Warramunga" Sarah, Jacko's half-sister is feisty, courageous and has amazing bush-skills. I was extremely impressed by her tracking skills. She's an inspiration to young women in her demeanor and independence.

Do you think the novel would have benefited from a greater inclusion of these amazing female characters? Or do you think that this would have been inappropriate in the historical setting of the novel?
I don't think it is necessary to have a strong female lead in EVERY story. However, this author generally does not write women well. His description and creation of female characters are very cliche and overused, as is typical with many male authors.
Agree about not every story should have a female lead for it to grasp a wider audience or have a lot of female presence for it to be considered impactful. I’m not really sure about not writing women well as many find Sarah’s character well-written. Maybe not really really good, but at least she was not thrown around like some extra character just for men to boss around or sexualize, as most male authors stereotype women. We also need to consider the fact that the author is male and that it’s a historical time where women are supposed to be timid and shy.
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