Novel Based on Feminist Quote Career Suicide?

I recently started writing a young adult dystopian novel inspired by a radical feminist's quote, who claimed that the ratio of men should be reduced and maintained at 10% of the population.

I thought that would make a great premise for a novel, where all the men in the society have had their numbers decreased and controlled, been segregated from the women, and forced into slave roles.

The main action of the story revolves around a girl who wants to find love, so she tries to escape the society (which bans marriage and relationships with men) with a "slave boy" she meets.

I really like the concept, and I think it's semi-original. For me, it's just an interesting story. But my concern is that people will read into it, and interpret it as a deliberate commentary on feminism itself. And since the society (or the woman running it) is essentially the villain, I'm worried it will be viewed as a direct criticism of feminism.

And criticizing feminism probably isn't a good move for someone who's trying to build a career as an author, is it?

Just wondering what your thoughts are this situation? I'd love to hear your insights!

Use a pseudonym.

And it depends on the story you tell. If it looks like you are just saying women are evil, then yeah, that will be looked down upon, as bad writing if nothing else. Good stories have two sides, and good characters have multiple dimensions. Think of the movie The Matrix. The matrix is evil, but the people hooked up to it are happy, so how can it be evil by making people happy?

Bible_Belt said:

If it looks like you are just saying women are evil, then yeah, that will be looked down upon, as bad writing if nothing else.

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That's exactly what I am wondering...

Would having a government completely made up of women that enslave men frame women as the "bad guy" in the reader's mind?

Because that's what I don't want. I don't want to send a message I never intended. And that's why I'm asking.

However, in answering this question, I think there are two other considerations to take into account:

1) I have strong, reasonable motives for the government subjugating men, which I think most people could actually sympathize with (at least partially), even if they disagree with the end result. They could understand the intentions were good, though they might question the means.

It's kind of the same reasoning as blowing up a plane with a bomb on it, even though it's filled with innocent passengers, to protect a city from being decimated when it crashes.

2) The lead character is noble, and also female, along with other women in the story, who disagree with the government and oppose it. So there's women on both sides of the debate. It's not so much "victimized men" vs "cruel women," but two groups of women with different beliefs and values in opposition with each other.

Knowing these details, how do you think the average woman would respond to such a story or theme?

It won't be well-received unless the enslavement of men in the plot was righteous backlash to some hideous, over the top thing men as a gender did, like try to enslave women, and it backfired, and unless that thing is hammered over and over. In essence, unless such a story is full of feminist memes, it could very well get you blacklisted and branded as a political enemy.

If you want women to like it, you'll need a romance novel/50 Shades of Grey angle. Maybe the Empress of the world falls in love with a guy who likes to tie her up. Or maybe it's her daughter who does - then you'd have a Romeo & Juliet story. Forbidden love is what sells to women.

dasein said:

It won't be well-received unless the enslavement of men in the plot was righteous backlash to some hideous, over the top thing men as a gender did, like try to enslave women, and it backfired, and unless that thing is hammered over and over.

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The enslavement of men comes about because they started WW3, a nuclear war which almost wiped out all of humanity. Thus, this government is brought about to end war and crime, and bring peace and preservation to the world that remains.

Do you think that would justify a government run by women that enslaves men?

dasein said:

In essence, unless such a story is full of feminist memes, it could very well get you blacklisted and branded as a political enemy.

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Yup, that's why I brought this up with you guys, before getting serious about this project.

I remember reading a post by Pook, where he told how some author killed his writing career by writing a story that was allegorical, and, I think, about feminism. And since most agents (gatekeepers) are professional women, I can see how this could easily happen.

The thing is I'm not out to make a statement. I just read that feminist quote and thought it was a great premise. It hasn't been done before (that I know of), so it seems like an opportunity, as it's difficult to find original or semi-original ideas in story these days. Practically everything's already been done.

But maybe there's a reason this hasn't been done before. Hmmmm.

Bible_Belt said:

If you want women to like it, you'll need a romance novel/50 Shades of Grey angle. Maybe the Empress of the world falls in love with a guy who likes to tie her up. Or maybe it's her daughter who does - then you'd have a Romeo & Juliet story. Forbidden love is what sells to women.

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Very interesting. You pretty much nailed my plot! Except there's no BD$M.

The lead character is the "empresses"'s daughter. She wants to shirk her claim to the "throne" and instead flee the city with a guy the law prohibits her from having relations with. She (and the guy) risk death in doing so. So, yeah, when boiled down, it's essentially a "forbidden love" plot, a sort of Romeo and Juliet.

The fact that you called it makes me wonder if it's perhaps a little too predictable... or else you're just very bright and intuitive.

Thanks, but there's only so many stories to be told. Even Shakespeare has been accused of stealing several of his plot lines.

Are you familiar with The Stepford Wives? It was considered a feminist story for its day. It's about men making robot women for wives. Maybe the women who take over the world could be robot wives gone bad. It would be Stepford Wives meets Terminator. Then everything would really be the fault of the men anyway, for creating what enslaved them.

I really liked The Twilight Zone. The old one in the 60s is classic, but I grew up with the 1980s ones. I also like The Outer Limits, a very similar show. Each episode is a different story, usually with a twist ending. Those shows can give you a lot of ideas.

Bible_Belt said:

Are you familiar with The Stepford Wives? It was considered a feminist story for its day. It's about men making robot women for wives. Maybe the women who take over the world could be robot wives gone bad. It would be Stepford Wives meets Terminator. Then everything would really be the fault of the men anyway, for creating what enslaved them.

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That's an interesting twist. However, I don't think it would really work with this story, at least not without it changing into something else. And I like "Romeo and Juliet meets Terminator".

But like I mentioned earlier, do you think men almost destroying the human race is justification enough to have a government of women enslave them? Or do you think their motives need to be even stronger than that to make them sympathetic?

Gimple said:

The enslavement of men comes about because they started WW3, a nuclear war which almost wiped out all of humanity. Thus, this government is brought about to end war and crime, and bring peace and preservation to the world that remains.

Do you think that would justify a government run by women that enslaves men?

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Here's some possible twists that might work without the black eye.

1. A bioweapon type pathogen kills most male embryos outright in the womb and mentally disables all male survivors otherwise. So it isn't enslavement per se but caretaking.

2. Bioweapon again, but makes men violent and uncontrollable, so the enslavement is kind of mandatory, and for the good of society.

3. Highly realistic, cheap sex robots are developed, men withdraw into their own slack, automated empty sex existence, birthrate plummets dangerously as planet begins to die.

4. The Matrix version - Ostensibly, women are brutally enslaving men, perpetrating the most oppressive kind of regime over them. Gradually throughout the main plot, it is revealed that this is the 47th attempt to keep the world from annihilation via war, and that no matter what has been tried previously, men figure a workaround over hundreds of years that leads right back to annihilation.

There are ways to do the enslavement thing without killing your career, good luck.

Gimple said:

The main action of the story revolves around a girl who wants to find love, so she tries to escape the society (which bans marriage and relationships with men) with a "slave boy" she meets.

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There is a simple solution to your quandary. Make the "slave boy" a minority (preferably African American) and the evil women white and you will probably end up on the New York Times best sellers list.