Amy ch. 01

[caprine]

My story, Amy ch. 01, was blasted by an anonymous critic because he/she could not comprehend a "gym rat" in 1946. I might point out that part of society, individuals and/or groups have been athletic and/or interested in fitness going back at least to the ancient Greeks (Olympics & Spartans!) in fourth century B.C. Closer to home and the present, there was also the bicycle craze in the U.S. in the 1890s and the early 1900s just before the advent of the automobile. And, what about the newest "fitness gym" craze that caused the builders of the Titanic to include the most up to date "gym" of the era on their new floating palace? It may have been unusual in 1946 to be a "gym rat," but it was not unknown! But, what does anonymous (or you), think of the story itself?

http://english.literotica.com:81/stories/showstory.php?id=245502

Caprine

 

[J.Q. Hack]

I suspect it may have been unusual to find a woman in the gym 5 days a week in 1946, but then again WWII unleashed huge and profound changes on American society. Women were demanding a place in the workplace, even after the men started to come home from Germany and the Pacific. Many war widows now had to struggle on their own and find ways to support themselves.

Perhaps what the comment about gym rats is getting at is you place a 2006 definition of attractive: athletic, tone, trim and very lean onto a post-WWII world. Sure they had their pin up girls who were attractive but those women weren't quite lean and trim by 21st century standards. Perhaps that is where the flaw is. I'm not an expert on this sort of thing but I do know that muscle magazines targeting men started to show up in the early 1950s -- but that was for a male (some scholars say mostly homosexual) audience. I really don't think women were targeted for fitness ads at that time. In doing research for my master's I came across advice columns ca. 1950 that advised a "chubby" girl that if she wanted to be asked out on dates by boys she'd have to lose weight to be more popular. However the answer never suggests for the girl to go to a gym. If a 1946 woman went to the gym 5 days a week I would be more surprised if she wasn't labeled a lesbian somewhere along the line.

Let me know what you think.

J.Q.

 

[WhiteTigerNipples]

I'm sure that the female athletes who competed in the olympics in those days would have adhered to some kind of exercise regimen, whether inside or outside of a gym.

One thing that the anonymous critics seem to overlook in their insistence on reality in a piece of fiction is that by its very nature it is the creation of a make believe world in which the author should be free to create an alternate reality to fit the premise of the story.

These same critics would probably not rail against a writer of fantasy who has winged adepts that can fly backward through time or chameleon people who can communicate on seven different levels by yodeling out their assholes.

Fiction is make believe, not reality, regardless of how real it sometimes appears to be.

 

[Darkniciad]

Very true, when you write in the "real world" you're going to run into a high bar for what level people are willing to stretch their range of belief. Anything outside the norm is going to bring about critics who say "that would have never happened then/there"

If you aimed it to be something different, and it is obviously plausible if generally unlikely, then don't worry too much over the critics. Just write a good story and it will carry most of the readership, nitpickers be damned.

 

[The Mystery Valiant]

What a joker

Pfffhhhhttt! Who the hell cares? It's a story! Not an autobiography! For crying out loud! I don't know if there were female gym rats at the time...., and it really doesn't effect the story one bit! If I wrote an erotic story about the astronauts having sex in the space shuttle, it doesn't matter if it never happened! That's why writer's have imagination's! And even so, how many autobiographies are even true dipictions of actual events anywho? Poetic license, poetic license! It's just some fool with a hard time with his own ratings on the idiotic writings he vomits out! I've already replied to another writer who suffered the same actions by some anonymous critics. Blow it off! Pass it by, drop kick the punk! It's a good story.