Ladies: point of view question

With most of the writers here being male, it seems the point of view in most stories is from the male perspective. Even when stories are written in third-person, it always seems the author is weaving the tale from over the main male's shoulder. I would assume (that is bad, I know) that most ladies here have become accustomed to this perspective, but is it something you would prefer?

Most of my stories seem to follow this trend because its more natural for me, and I think it flows better. When I try to write with the female as the lead, I don't think it turns out so well though. This leads to my question.

Ladies, given the option, would you rather read a story that's well-written and follows the male viewpoint, or sacrifice quality by reading it from the female's view?

(Note: I'm not saying that I do either well, just about authors in general.)

I prefer lesbian stories to be from a female POV seems to work better that way

It depends on the story....as a woman I don't mind stories from the male point of view or female as long as its a decent story.

The only time it gets to me is if the female character thinks along the lines of "oh, god I need to suck his cock, oh I only sucked two cocks last night I need more" Then its a turn off, but of the male author is making an effort to sound "female" it doesn't bother me even if they aren't pulling it off that well.

The best writers here are the ones I have no idea what sex they are because their writing is so good it doesn't matter one way or the other.

Women wrtting

ohh its ohh so goo d from the womans point of view.since i am a women i find it so much more helps you experience what that charactor is experencing

I had been thinking this,you go!O IT is So much better for erotic effect(me a women)

Some days i just have too many !@%#@ opinions.Thank all who let me deal with my big expesions,opinion oh. I just find all these people so stimulating...stimulated ar,ar

It doesn't matter. The gender issue isn't the real problem. A lot of writers, male and female, wouldn't know an erotica story if it bit them in the ass. Just saying.

Ave Caesar.

I think this would have been a better thread if you had put up a poll?

I like to read a good story from the male PoV. Basically, prefer a good story, whatever the PoV.

Let me know if you write one (with safe sex) and I will review it in my blog. (Just reviewed a great story - with a genderless PoV, link here.)

First off, I just want a well-told story, no matter whose POV it is.

For a romance, I don't mind either the male or female POV, generally speaking. I might not like a certain character or narrator, but that would be specific to the story.

I agree with DirtyAllie in that for me, a female character who is something of a frat boy ideal is usually not appealing. But for some people, it would be, so there's nothing wrong with that kind of narrator.

I wrote a romance (King's Bay) with a first-person, male narrator and it seemed to go over fine. (Sorry, Naoko, don't think it qualifies for your review. ) That's probably the only one, though. The rest of my stories either have a female narrator, or are in 3d person and have different POVs.

Thanks DirtyAllie for making me LOL! Errr, I mean, I agree. The woman's POV in a lesbian story is a good call.

And thank you to all the other ladies that are expressing (here and via IM) what I see to be a common theme. I would have thought that a story from the woman's POV would have been more prevalent, so I stand corrected. Maybe instead of trying to branch out into a different perspective, I should focus on getting good at what I think I can do halfway decently on.


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Even though I've spent plenty of time raising my stories from a gleam in my eye until they have matured enough until I think I can release them into the wild, I don't think they are equal - and I absolutely don't love them all equally.

My personal favorite creation of mine is the two-part series "Tanning and Teasing," which I had to read yesterday. Ouch. It was painful. A great rule of editing is to let it sit, and apparently it's been long enough that I no longer glossed over the broken parts.

Naoko: I'll try to get back to you in a few days once the updated versions of these stories have been approved and go live. I just hope you will be kind...

CeasarBoobage said:

Thanks DirtyAllie for making me LOL! Errr, I mean, I agree. The woman's POV in a lesbian story is a good call.

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Oh, I don't know, I think a lesbian story from a male narrator POV could be quite an interesting read (and a fun write. It would make a fascinating FAWC contest assignment, I think).

CeasarBoobage said:

Ladies, given the option, would you rather read a story that's well-written and follows the male viewpoint, or sacrifice quality by reading it from the female's view?

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Quality is the most important factor for me -- doesn't matter if it's male/female/or third person POV.

I have started occasionally reviewing stories which are not eligible for my blog (safe sex please - BTW, amazing what activites are still 'safe sex' so ask if you're not sure) on Lien_Geller's thread in Story Feedback . Although I am trying to regularly post reviews on my blog, and keep up with some other Stuff (like my paid job!), so don't all rush to put your stories up there at once.

Caesar, I am always kind to boobs - of all description .

CeasarBoobage said:

Ladies, given the option, would you rather read a story that's well-written and follows the male viewpoint, or sacrifice quality by reading it from the female's view?

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Like the other responders, I'd have to go with "well written" ... at least in the sense that it seems to be coming from authentic experience. If I know that the writer is male, I would assume that he knows whereof he speaks. If not, the only yard-stick is whether I feel that the writer's description of reality closely resembles mine, or that the writer's reality is internally consistent.

A caveat here: "well written" could also be taken to mean "delivering the goods" which in erotic literature can bypass reality entirely. In that case, a trope (let's say, the one about how a mom and her son suddenly encounter each other naked, get the hots for each other, and get it on by page two) can be executed either deftly or clumsily, and the only criterion is whether it gets the reader off, regardless of how ludicrous the plot is. That's not a bad thing, because it gives the readers what they want, and a lot of writers here are skilled at pumping that sort of thing out on a regular basis. Let's just say that they probably have their readerships, and I have mine, and leave it at that.

I think you present a false dichotomy. I've read dozens of good stories told from the female POV, written by both male and female authors. I've read crappy stories told from the male POV, written by both male and female authors. If you perceive that as your own limitation, that's one thing, but to project that across all of Lit. is a bit of an overstatement, I would say.

Just as angels and assholes of all races exist, so do good and bad writers of all genders using all POVs, on LIT and IRL. Unless you can see (and maybe grope) each one, you can't *really* tell who's doing what and how. Some may be 'bots, or arcane collaborations, or ET aliens test-probing human minds. From our vantage, WE CAN'T TELL. But we can fantasize...