Gender and Inspiration

[tealin]

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!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Writing (on my own for ever), mythology, Arthuriana, calligraphy -- JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis
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