Am I still a sexist pig if it was totally an accident?

It’s pretty easy to avoid blatant sexism in your writing, although some writers make it look hard.

“Shush, Bella. The men are talking.”

But subtle sexism is trickier. See if you can count how many times I was accidentally sexist in this extract from the book I’m currently writing:

“She doesn’t look familiar,” the gun shop owner said.

Disappointed, James touched the screen, and the picture of Emily disappeared. It wasn’t real – he’d found a picture of a similar woman, and warped her cheekbones and nose until she was almost indistinguishable from the real thing. But the forgery was based on his outdated memories – how much would Emily have changed these last four years?

What’s the score? Well, I got four:

“She doesn’t look familiar,” the gun shop owner said.

Disappointed, James touched the screen, and the picture of Emily disappeared. It wasn’t real – he’d found a picture of a similar woman

This implies that women who look similar are similar.

and warped her cheekbones and nose until she was almost indistinguishable

Same implication.

from the real thing.

This implies that women are things.

But the forgery was based on his outdated memories – how much would Emily have changed

This implies that only physical changes are important.

these last four years?

I think that last bit’s clean. But a hardcore feminist could probably find loads more.

So I’ve changed it to this:

“She doesn’t look familiar,” the gun shop owner said.

Disappointed, James touched the screen, and the picture of Emily disappeared. It wasn’t real – he’d found a picture of a similar-looking woman, and warped her cheekbones and nose until her face was almost indistinguishable from Emily’s. But the forgery was based on his outdated memories – how much would her apppearance have changed these last four years?

It’s kind of clunky, but not descriminatory. I’m posting all this just so you know - I go to a lot of effort for you guys. I mean “guys” in the general way. I’m not excluding girls. In fact, I’m doing it mostly for them. No! Not mostly. Exactly the same amount.



MITIFOTIT:
(Most Interesting Thing I Found On The Internet Today)

Wow, Pixar movies have gotten really violent since the last one I saw.

Blind Spot from Cecile Dubois-Herry on Vimeo.

Disclaimer: I’m about 90% sure this isn’t an actual Pixar film.