DISCUSSION : Stories with Male Protagonist (2)

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@FallenAngelNight13 I can totally understand that. It goes all ways when writing about ‘shoes we haven’t tried on’ ourselves in general. For example, even Joseph Evans, when he first started writing on Episode, stated in his Episode Meetup vlog in London that he was concerned about not being able to write from a female’s point of view. But he came through just fine and found success. Like I said, it might be hard at times but it’s not impossible when we put in the work. And the results can be beautiful.

And a male main character in the Romance genre huh? Hmm… there is one that I can think of:

A story about an older man who dates someone online. Now, the story could start off with a scene of one of his siblings’ weddings, maybe a younger brother or sister getting married. Attending the wedding, he feels left out that everyone in his family is married except for him but he hides it. He has always wished for a girlfriend/wife, but just never seemed to find ‘the one’. So, he resorts to online dating. He tells his family about this special someone but they never actually see him/her. You can even throw in a plot twist or two here, maybe regarding who he’s dating if you want. Could be a friend who felt bad for him, or a friend who has legitimate feelings for him but because he doesn’t have the same sexuality, he pretends to be a woman to live the fantasy of ‘dating’ him. Something like that. Maybe as the story goes by he develops to eventually find happiness without the need to be in a relationship and that could be the theme/message of the story?

Episode had a storyline similar to this in their featured story Catfish that was featured back in 2016 that had lots of potential, but wasted such a great idea as they could’ve did more with it. Anyway, this particular storyline could touch on the stereotypes or stigma that society makes of people who are single/not getting married.

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I got like a fanmail today that said their character was acting too feminine.

DEEPLY SIGHS

deeply sighs again

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People deciding some behaviors are “feminine” and some are “masculine” are so stupid.
My husband spends hours shopping and trying on clothes sometimes without even buying anything, whereas I hate it and hate going with him. He’s kind of high maintenance and needy, while I’m happy to be alone and chill. He’s afraid of horror movies and refuses to go downstairs alone after watching one.
If he was a character in a story, a lot of people would probably say the character was too girly…

I wish people would realize that not all men act the same, and neither do all women, and that possessing supposedly feminine traits is not even a bad thing.

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Perhaps to your readers, it’s more of an eye opener than anything.

As I mentioned, the key is to write unique individuals, free from these expectations. No behavior is exclusive to a certain group. For your readers, maybe they have been taught by stereotypes that our society made on both genders, forming certain expectations and shaping people’s views depending on which. Unfortunately, we see it not only in Episode but in real life with movies, TV shows, etc.

Stuff like women washing dishes, men fixing the tire of a car are two common stereotypes that people like them may expect. But anyone from either side can do these things. For example, my sister never washes the dishes and I am actually the one always washing them even though it would be ‘expected’ of her in a stereotypical sense lol.

Now, I wouldn’t necessarily call them stupid. I can see where they’re coming from; I’m not saying it’s right nor am I defending them, because I think stuff like that shouldn’t be taken/deemed negatively. But again, I can’t necessarily blame them for saying that, because they may have been brought up and raised that way, taught that way from their parents and relatives, and have been exposed to similar ideologies in the media for example.

Of course, some people will never change, but generally, I think misguided is a better word. Why? Because everything we do starts with a learning process, and if we want things to change, we must educate and change that process by what we teach and how we teach; good principles with no stereotypes or expectations.

Many are misguided, but we always have that opportunity: to learn gradually and to be guided in the right direction.

Whether we act ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’, or have those traits on opposite sides of the spectrum, we’re all human at the end of the day. We can all do amazing things no matter who we are and how we act. The good thing about your story is that they can learn one thing from it: Everyone is unique.

So, expectations and stereotypes may influence how some act and how some expect things; such as men being emotionless to women being emotional. I’m sure from experience, some people can agree or understand that. Admittedly, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t guilty of being influenced by some of that myself. For example, I try not to cry in front of others and usually keep my thoughts/emotions to myself. But I usually release in private. Being raised and brought up, I was taught that this kind of stuff is looked down upon. I was taught to ‘man up’, and that ‘you’re a man, men shouldn’t cry’, stuff like that… and I know what you’re thinking, and I agree. It’s bad. It isn’t good. Humans cry. Everyone cries, and I know it’s okay to do it in front of others but I don’t know why it’s hard to… Perhaps judgment? Yet again, that shouldn’t matter, right? Even so, I am adapting, learning and growing away from things like these.

Times are changing with each generation. At the end of the day, we are all unique humans… And when we realize and learn that, we are all better off because we don’t have to worry about these expectations affecting us.

@FallenAngelNight13 @Brooke_Johnson By the way, what are the name of your stories? I would love to check them out.

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bump

Actually, @Sydney_H can you combine the old thread with the new thread (the link is at the original post)

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Hello! I’m glad this topic has been brought up. I have not read alot of stories that have male protagonists but I plan on writing one! There will be no option to change the gender, due to the part 1 of the story I did not give that option. I think it would be fun to play as a guy due to having a different perspective. I am a woman so I will take advice and try my best to make them have a very male persona. Personally it might be a disadvantage to me because lots of people write stories in female point of view, and there are not alot of guy stories. But that also within itself is a bonus, The twins won’t be bad boys, or fighting for multiple love interests. They will of course have a love interest but it will focus on, being loyal and the difficulties it is to keep a promise/set rules you make as a child when you get older. I don’t think Episode represent male MC’s equally in their own stories and I think it would be great to see that, They do advise us to show equality, and this would be a perfect example of them paving the way to guide us in the right direction, if they did something like this,

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mini bump

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  1. I actually prefer playing as a male MC because I guess I relate to their way of thought more. I’m an ISTJ, and I read somewhere around 47-51% of the male population has that personality type, so considering that, things starting making a lot of sense to me.

Edit: Re-read somewhere else a couple times, 8.5% of people have ISTJ, only 6-7% of women, though.

Edit 2: You know what? I can’t right now. Reading is impossible XDXD

  1. If a story is well written, YES the story is different if the MC is male. This has been tested with other things, like…Atomic Blonde for example. They call it the female James Bond and…yeah, it’s terrible. Men and women are very different and if you can replace the role of a female with a male without any changes to dialogue/behaviors, etc, then it ends up being a story not worth anyone’s time.

3A. Yeah, see above. The reason we don’t see a lot of male MC in YA or things similar to it is because it is a female dominated audience and most of the authors are female. Since male and female are very different, a female can often have a difficult time writing a convincing male character, especially a male lead.

  1. No. Everyone should write what they know. Even being able to relate to men very well myself, I still have done a ton of research about how they’re different and how each of them thinks about ALL sorts of things. It takes a lot of time and if you aren’t okay with writing a person’s perspective more often how a character’s biology is supposed to be, it just won’t be good.

  2. It depends on the writer. I assume if some one were to write a story with male/female option at the beginning of a story, I’d assume it’d make the difference in the story itself, so a lot more coding would be involved, it’d be very complicated because both male and female should have somewhat differing choice of words and choice of behavior. So you’d have to take into consideration how other characters in the story react to you as well. Not saying it isn’t doable but as far as if it is a good idea or not, it is completely dependent on how well the author can write it, if they have the patience for it, etc. etc.

  3. No. No. Definitely not. I haven’t seen any male lead stories, but if there were, I don’t doubt they’d be much different than how the males are as secondary character. They cater the female lead, which is fine for the audience and for the point of the stories and stuff, but not as realistic as a male actually is. - I can elaborate, but I’m trying to keep it short and sweet today.

6A. Only if the author can write it well. No point in writing something for the sake of its existence just to misrepresent.

That’s not to say that some guys really are as portrayed in some of these stories, but a vast majority of them aren’t really that way, so…>.>

Yeah. XD

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For the ISTJ - I just went out to research it, and I might have either remembered incorrectly, saw a different study or misunderstood it, but I wasn’t actually right about that. So just to clarify real quick >

10-11% of males have the ISTJ (all four of them), and then 37-38% of males of just S and J.

About 6-7% of females are ISTJ. And 43% of females have just S and J.

40% of the overall population has S and J. I’m not sure where I remembered that before…>.> But yeah.

I might have seen something about the I or T or something. Who knows at this point? I’mma try to find it, though.

My original point being that I think like an ISTJ, and so does an estimated 10-11% of the male population. Therefore, I like being a character that’s more likely to think this way or that has the option to be more like an ISTJ, i.e, a male. XDXD

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I know this was posted a while ago, but I think men actually can relate with what Summer is going through. Men can be infertile and be unable to get a person pregnant.

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finna go hard on some peeps, sit tight and enjoy :kiss:

1. Why do you think authors started adding the option to play as a male?
First of all, I think we ALL agree that Episode is created for female players. There’s no point on saying otherwise since there’s not a single featured story with a male mc or ability to choose the gender.

Now, I’m not saying there won’t be any stories for male players or written by male players, but the majority is female. Therefore, the concept of male MC was an interesting take on ability to write of the author. But of course- people ruined this.

People make stories with male MCs to have more reads. Why is having a male MC so important that you have to put it on the description? Just as putting “POC MC!” putting “Male MC” is also offensive imo. Like- sis, its obvious u did it for the reads smh.

2. Do you like to play as a male protagonist?
I’m fine with it, I don’t mind.

3. Is a story truly different if the protagonist is male?
Yes. Because females’ and males’ brains work differently. Also, because of the gender roles of society, males will react some stuff differently than females.

3A. An argument is that even if you are a male, the character still acts ‘feminine’ thus is still technically a female lead story. This usually happens when the author just replaces the MCF with MCM without
changing any dialog. (Main Character Female / Main Character Male)
This is not the only case. I know a famous story with a male MC. The author said "'writing males was easier. "
At first I was like, ok, maybe it is but then she continued with “They just talk about boobs and sports all the time.”

I’m no where near male but this offended even me. If someone said “Writing girls is easier! Boys, shopping, beauty and stuff!” people would be going crazy. Anyways the point is don’t write about any of the genders if you’re going with streotypes. :kiss:

4. Should every story include an option to play as a male?
Nope. Some stories are better with fe/male POV.

5. What are the benefits / disadvantages to writing a story with a male option.
I can’t think of any- maybe writing a terrible male would bring some stuff? Idk. Just dont do streotypes aaaaaa

6. Does Episode equally represent males in their own featured stories?
Equal represention? uwu whats that~

6A. Should Episode write a Gem - Featured story in which you can play as male.
It would be soooo good to have something like that. It’s even good as a marketing move.

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They definitely can, but I feel like it’d be harder for a woman because women play a bigger role in pregnancy. I mean, women like carry the baby in their stomach and stuff so I think it’s harder for her to accept that she can’t do that. So, I agree that men can be infertile and relate to Summer, but the fact that Summer is a girl and not a guy magnifies the pain in a way. Even in historical literature (most I’ve read, not all), women have been shamed and even rejected for being infertile while men aren’t portrayed to be as affected (not implying they can’t be though).

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bump <3

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Why do you think authors started adding the option to play as a male?
The main reason is probably because some readers would prefer to be male and those writers care about their readers, but also because it promotes more gender diversity (although there are genders other than male and female) and because it gets them some more reads.

Do you like to play as a male protagonist?
I don’t care about the gender of the main character.

Is a story truly different if the protagonist is male?
Usually no.

An argument is that even if you are a male, the character still acts ‘feminine’ thus is still technically a female lead story. This usually happens when the author just replaces the MCF with MCM without changing any dialog. (Main Character Female / Main Character Male)
I haven’t read any stories like that. In the ones I’ve read, the mc’s personality seems gender neutral.

Should every story include an option to play as a male?
I don’t think so. It’s the author’s decision, anyway. I have noticed that customizable mcs are less developed than non-customizable mcs.

What are the benefits and disadvantages to writing a story with a male option?
Well in a lot of only female mc stories, the main character becomes a love toy for the boys, which makes me mad. This simply doesn’t happen in stories with a male option. I read a female mc only story once, about the mc fighting program for men only, and she was falling in love with the men BECAUSE she was female! It made me MAD.
The disadvantages of making a male option would be that you are more likely to reach the line limit and have to shorten your story, and might accidentally call the main character by the wrong pronoun.

Does Episode equally represent males in their own featured stories?
No. They are either a snobby love interest, a generic love interest, or a background character.

Should Episode write a Gem - Featured story in which you can play as male? (Or if they have one, write more?)
Yes. Being a girl love toy in Episode stories is super annoying, but you be that in every featured story.

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  1. Why do you think authors started adding the option to play as a male.
    I think that’s giving both male readers and female readers the benefit of having to play as a character of the gender they identify as. Every time I play those stories with the gender options, I always chose male, even thought I’m a girl because I think it’s refreshing to play as a male character after reading tons of stories with female MC.
  2. Do you like to play as a male protagonist?
    Oh heck yea! After reading thousands of stories with female mc, I be in a mood for Male mc stories.
  3. Is a story truly different if the protagonist is male?
    Depends on the setting and plot of the story. But most of the time, no.
    3A. An argument is that even if you are a male, the character still acts ‘feminine’ thus is still technically a
    female lead story. This usually happens when the author just replaces the MCF with MCM without
    changing any dialog. (Main Character Female / Main Character Male)
    I think gender dosn’t matter for the way the character talks. Not all females act feminine and not all guys act masculine.
  4. Should every story include an option to play as a male?
    No, I think it varies on the setting and the intended POV.
  5. What are the benefits / disadvantages to writing a story with a male option.
    The benefits are there will be more males playing the app. I really don’t see any disadvantage.
  6. Does Episode equally represent males in their own featured stories?
    If the featured stories are from the authors in the community, then yes. But if it’s not from those authors in the community, then no. I feel like the male characters in featured stories are kind of two dimentional or act like a bad boy cliche. I don’t read a lot of featured stories, so this is kind of biased.
    6A. Should Episode write a Gem - Featured story inwhich you can play as male. (Or if they have one, write more?)
    Yes, they should. When there are new users playing the app for the first time, the first thing they noticed are the featured stories. This can encourage more diversity in Episode users, meaning…more male users. I can see why they often write Female Mc stories. This is because of the female to male ratio in this community. But with the male mc featured stories, it can change that.

I haven’t published any stories yet, and I’m about to published soon and it’s a story with a male MC :wink:

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:smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Bumpo.

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Bump

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Bump.

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Bump