Tomato, Tomahto - It's All In Your Perspective (What Makes a Female Character Strong/Weak)

For the past couple of weeks, I have wrestled with the idea of this post.  And as I type this, I'm still questioning myself..  But the thing is, it's been eating at me...

You see, I'm a forty-something woman.  I was just a kid during the 1970's when women were fighting for equal rights.  I remember the controversy, the anger, the demand for equality.  And while I didn't have to protest, I am part of a generation that received the benefits of the movement.  That being said, I've still experienced my fair share of narrowmindedness.  For several years, my family owned a small business.  As co-owner of a marina, it never ceased to amaze me that some of the salesmen would try to talk to my brother instead of me. To get the same respect, I had to "prove" my knowledge.  It was nothing short of frustrating and demeaning.  Being seen as an equal, being respected for my work - these are things that are important to me.

At this point, let me clarify:  

The following isn't intended as an attack on the writer or the writer's work.  I didn't read the novel. In fact, I don't even remember the author's name or the title of the book. I only read the little promotional blurb and it most definitely caught my attention as a well written blurb should.   

So, back to my post...

When I stumbled across a New Adult romance and found that the heroine was a cash strapped college graduate, who in her desperation, decides that she will become a rich man's play thing, I cringed.   What was the point in getting an education, etc. if she was just going to lift her skirt.  I mean, I guess she couldn't meet her "knight in shining armor" as she worked her second job.  Nope.  The college loan payments must have been atrocious - because prostituting herself was the solution. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are many women who have made this choice and are good with it.  And as for the story, like I said, I didn't read it - and maybe the heroine had tried to find a second job, maybe she had resigned herself to eating Romen Noodles dinners...  Obviously, the heroine was trying to be honest - I mean, she really wanted to make her payments...  Maybe she should have decided that her credit was just going to have to suffer - at least until a better paying job came along...   But for me-when I read the blurb-I failed to see the romance and I certainly hated seeing a young woman portrayed in such a weak manner.  

It's Just a Story

I totally get that this story was a work of fiction and I'm sure there are readers who loved it. But with so many women and children being sexually exploited, portraying a "pay for sex" agreement as the beginning of a healthy relationship feels all sorts of wrong to me. Yeah, I know - It's just a story and I can lick the red right off a lollipop. 

Maybe It's Me

At some point, I wondered if maybe my feelings were due to my age? I sought the opinions of a younger crowd.  I am the mother of three sons so I presented the scenario to them.  They looked at me as if to say, "Really?"  But being the good mother that I am, I didn't let them off the hook.  Finally, one of them said, "Maybe her bills were really stressing her..."  Another nodded in agreement.  So then I asked, "Would you be good with dating someone who had made this decision?"  They looked at me.  The twenty-one year old said, "Look, just because I can maybe understand doesn't mean I agree... so no, I couldn't see myself dating her."  My seventeen year old said -  "If it was only the one time, then maybe... but that's just dating. I mean, it's not like I'd wife her up."

Uptight?

By now, you might be thinking that I'm a bit uptight and definitely judgemental.  You'd be wrong.  At nineteen, I was a single mother so I know all about making hard choices.  And maybe, that's why the premise of this story bothered me so much.  Because in the real world, the decisions we make follow us and most of the time, women who choose to sell themselves, don't end up with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  I was a single mother, working two jobs when I met my Marine.  Twenty four years later, he's still got my back.

Disclaimer:

I realize that there are women who have found themselves between a rock and a hard place, with no where to turn.  Their children need a roof over their heads and food in their bellies.  While I have never found myself in this position, I recognize that some women have.   Because of their circumstances, they may feel as though prostitution is their only option.  I'm certainly not casting judgement on the decisions they have made.

Self Published Sunday Welcomes HL Carpenter!

I am thrilled to welcome HL Carpenter to Self Published Sunday.  HL Carpenter is a mother/daughter writing team.  Their indi-published New Adult sweet romance, Jack and The Fountain of Youth is the latest adventure in their writing career.  The Carpenters are also the author of a satirical short story, The Demise of Fyne Literature, and a young adult novel, The SkyHorse, both available at Musa Publishing. 

Jack and The Fountain of Youth

a New Adult novella by HL Carpenter

Where did you get the idea for Jack and The Fountain of Youth?

Last year was the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de León's landing on the Florida coast. Since we’re Florida residents, we immediately began imagining what life was like back then. And what if...what if someone from the expedition actually did drink from the magical Fountain of Youth? What would that person’s life be like today?

How did you come up with the hero of your novella?

We were sitting on the porch in Carpenter Country (a magical place that is unreal but not untrue), when Jack popped up in the fountain in our garden. That was a bit unexpected, since our usual fountain visitors are birds, bees, and butterflies, so after we told Jack to stop splashing the water out, we handed him a towel and asked why he was there.

When he told us his story, we knew we had to help. How could we resist the kind of hero we believed only existed in our daydreams, a chivalrous guy with eyes the color of unsweetened cocoa who looked and acted like a caballarius of old?

Why did you decide to pursue indie publishing?

We’ve always thought of our writing as a business as well as an art, and our work has been published by a traditional print house and an e-publisher. We’ll continue to appreciate and create for both of those outlets. At the same time, we view indie publishing as an opportunity to grow and learn, and we think it’s important to explore all the exciting possibilities available to authors today.

TAGLINE

Some people say the Fountain of Youth is a myth. Jack Ponsi Dileonardo Thomas knows better.           

BLURB

Jack Ponsi Dileonardo Thomas is eighteen years old. At least, that’s what he tells everyone. He doesn’t like to lie. But he has to, because he celebrated his real eighteenth birthday five centuries ago.

Some people say the Fountain of Youth is a myth. Jack knows better. He drank from the fabled fuente in 1513. Over the five hundred years since, he’s given up believing his life will ever again be normal–and that he’ll ever rediscover the magical spring. But when he learns the Fountain is located on the property of Nessa Owens, Jack takes up the search once more. And when Nessa captures his heart, his quest acquires new urgency.

Caught in the midst of a hurricane, surrounded by centuries-old memories and present day mysteries, Jack must risk all for a future with Nessa.

Will love prove more powerful than the enchanted waters of the Fountain of Youth?

EXCERPT

“You want me to do what?” Eighteen-year-old Jack Ponsi Dileónardo Thomas stared at his gray-haired boss, and a memory he’d buried five centuries earlier lurched to life. He clutched the cold metal arms of his chair, fighting off the shock that threatened to topple him to the floor.

Colby Newman, editor-in-chief and person-in-charge-of-handing-out-assignments at the World Pryer, crunched a peppermint candy and stared back at him without answering.

During the six weeks Jack had spent as a summer intern for the Pryer, he’d learned Mr. Newman always lapsed into silence after dropping a bomb on one of his reporters. Mr. Newman was a great editor, but he had an odd sense of humor.

Right now, he didn’t look like he thought he’d cracked a joke.

Jack took a deep breath and unclenched his hands. The shock died away. The undead memory lived on. He said, “Did you ask me to find the Fountain of Youth?”

“Yes.” Mr. Newman twisted his thick lips into a smile that made him resemble the water-skiing gorilla on last week’s front page. “Go prove the Fountain exists, Jack. And I don’t mean another tired story on that moldy tourist attraction in St. Augustine. I’m talking about the real thing.”

“The real thing?”

Mr. Newman said, “You probably learned about the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León in school, Jack. It’s textbook history. He explored many parts of Florida during his search for the Fountain of Youth.”

“I know.” Jack knew all about the de León name and its place in La Florida’s past, though not from any school lessons. He said, “Juan led an expedition through the area around Everyoung, too.”

Mr. Newman nodded. “That means the Fountain of Youth could be right here, in our town. In fact, a reliable source called in that very tip to the hot line yesterday morning. The message was a bit garbled, but I have reason to believe he’s onto something.”

“You do?” For one shining moment, a beam of hope seared through Jack. He used all his willpower to shove it aside. Over the years, the flame of false expectation had burned him badly. “Why do you think so?”

“Call it an old newsman’s hunch.” Mr. Newman shrugged. “Even if the tipster is wrong, the Fountain of Youth makes good copy. I’m excited about this story. I’m assigning you to follow up.”

The still-swirling memories burst through the dam of Jack’s willpower and threatened to swamp him. He didn’t have to follow up, because Mr. Newman’s source was right about the location of the Fountain. It was here on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Jack knew that for certain.

He couldn’t say so, though. As much as Mr. Newman liked weird stories, he’d never believe that five centuries earlier, in the year 1513, Jack had accompanied Ponce de León’s expedition to La Florida, and discovered the magical spring.

Mr. Newman wouldn’t believe the rest of the story, either. Jack hadn’t understood what he’d stumbled across until years later—specifically, on the day he’d looked at his twin sister Maria and realized she had become a fifty-year-old woman.

And he was still eighteen.

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