Gender and Inspiration
May. 23rd, 2018 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I've put a question to the Internet – or at least the female faction thereof – to hunt down something that has been niggling at me for years. There seems to be an assumption that girls/women need to be inspired by other girls/women to pick up an interest/hobby/career. While I do not contest the argument that representation and gender equality/visibility are important, I certainly had no trouble being inspired by men, real or otherwise – the few females on my radar seemed rather boring by comparison. I know this must be true of others, so I'm trying to find out:
Do you identify as female?
Have you ever been inspired into an interest, hobby, or career by a male person, fictional or nonfictional?
(For example, getting into linguistics because of Atlantis or Stargate SG1, or sailing via Pirates of the Carribbean or Master and Commander.)
I would very much like to hear from you! If you're on Tumblr, you can reply and/or reblog the post there or reply anonymously to this post. (Or onymously, if you prefer, but you don't need to be a Dreamwidth member to comment, is my point.)
If you don't count yourself as female, please spread the word so I can get as much feedback as possible!
Do you identify as female?
Have you ever been inspired into an interest, hobby, or career by a male person, fictional or nonfictional?
(For example, getting into linguistics because of Atlantis or Stargate SG1, or sailing via Pirates of the Carribbean or Master and Commander.)
I would very much like to hear from you! If you're on Tumblr, you can reply and/or reblog the post there or reply anonymously to this post. (Or onymously, if you prefer, but you don't need to be a Dreamwidth member to comment, is my point.)
If you don't count yourself as female, please spread the word so I can get as much feedback as possible!
no subject
Date: 2018-05-23 09:23 am (UTC)Of course, Cherry & the gang - for writing PolarBook
Influences that led me to writing horror specifically:
John Bellairs
Stephen King
Harlan Ellison
David Lynch & Mark Frost (for 'Twin Peaks')
no subject
Date: 2018-05-23 12:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-05-23 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-05-23 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-05-24 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-05-24 03:04 am (UTC)-K
no subject
Date: 2018-05-25 01:51 am (UTC)Film (went to school for it; got a BFA in it) -- Peter Jackson's adaptations of Tolkien
Animation (secretly wanted to work as a writer in animation because of) -- Walt Disney, Hayao Miyazaki
no subject
Date: 2018-05-28 02:54 pm (UTC)I've also, more recently, taken up fencing at the grand age of 49 and the number of people at my club (male and female alike) who cite the Musketeers as an inspiration is probably a surprise to literally nobody.
no subject
Date: 2018-05-28 08:21 pm (UTC)I'm also fairly lucky that I've never run into "Girls can't do ___," which is I think one of the main reasons to have inspirational women in our lives, to counteract that particular toxicity. I knew from a young age that there were women who were scientists, women who were writers, women who were any number of other things I was interested in. That helped.
no subject
Date: 2018-05-28 10:32 pm (UTC)I'm now a professional seafarer, working on a vessel trading internationally. The career training path I took was one followed by one or two of the guys from school in most years, and I went into it (as a mature student) specifically after talking to a guy I knew who had also done it as a mature student. It wasn't until la few years after I qualified that anyone pointed out to me that I was the first woman from our area to do that course; I'm aware of another woman from the area who since qualified and worked at sea for a few years, and another who dropped out of the course as a trainee (the course has a fairly high dropout rate for both male and female trainees, so, not unusual - my college class was pretty unusual that we were 20% female, all the women qualified, and ten years later two of us are still at sea).
I don't know that I would particularly consider any of the individual guys I know as much of an inspiration, though, so I don't know how much it fits with what you're looking for - it was more a case of 'well, if he managed to do it and get a job, I don't see why I wouldn't be able to'.
no subject
Date: 2018-05-29 06:24 pm (UTC)I'm interested in space, astronomy, and all things Out There because of my grandfather, who was similarly interested and showed me all he could about it. We spent many many hours in planetariae, and poring over books of astronomy (if you've never read the book The Stars by HA Rey (the author of the Curious George books), you totally should look it up), and talking about space. His influence is a large part of why I love the night sky (and space and space travel and so on. He'd be dismayed that it's furthered my interest in science fiction, but... :D )
no subject
Date: 2018-06-06 01:36 pm (UTC)I was inspired in the past by a male professor to earn my degree in Literature. He was an exceptional being that was LGBTQ+ and very nurturing.
As far as hobbies I was also inspired by my grandfather to learn how to knit and sew. As I got older, I found that women were the most inspiring for my crafting and craftivism.
There isn't really a "need" per say to be inspired by other girls/women for an interest to be formed into something that you are passionate about. Yet, in my own experience, I have found that when I read and listen to women writing about their experiences I find that it is in fact easier for myself to be inspired to write and find my own voice.
Hope this helps.