In real life, I think a great deal of the communication between generations consists of variations of "you don't understand", "listen to me" and "whaaa...?" And that's from both sides.
In fiction, though, there's a ton of great story ammo in intergenerational interactions. Giselle has already touched on some of this earlier on in the cycle, but I find myself wandering into these areas in fiction lately myself.
I've always been quite into older women, and I'm certain that's part of where my desire for genuinely curvy heroines (in real life as well as fiction) comes from. But as I age, I find myself getting all wistful over those times earlier in life. The times represented by babysitters, college girls, interns and step-daughters.
So I've decided to finally bite the bullet and begin writing these kinds of stories. Or I suppose, to finish off the ones I'd toyed around with earlier on. The older man/younger woman dynamic feels so different to me than the the younger man/older woman (which I've written before in a few short works).
And I think it's the communication side of things which I'm enjoying quite a bit. It can be a bit of a cliché, but the general social truth seems to be that women mature earlier than men in social, cognitive and emotional matters. So pairing a 38-year-old mechanic with his 19-year-old step-daughter might be the only way to give that man a sense of authority (beyond the physical) in the relationship. Or the nookie, if that's all that's happening.
That's a neat little segue into the other factor I'm enjoying with these stories, too. The hands-on style of discipline that these young strumpets seem to require, or simply desire, is a lot of fun to write, as well.
And quite simply, there's a rawness and a straightforward nature to these stories which is quite refreshing. I love writing shifters, and spinning longer erotic romances and romantic comedies...but sometimes it's such a fun indulgence to get straight to the heart of the matter. Well, "heart" might be aiming a little high. Wink, wink...
According to your bio, you like to write about women who are roughly the equals of the men they are involved with "sharp tongues and witty minds." You may want to adjust that now because there is no way a 19 year old girl will be the equal or near equal of a 38 year old man. The power differential in terms of income, career/work, social standing, life experience, sexual experience, etc is a chasm. Just because girls and women are socialized to be more responsible at a far earlier age than many young men are, does not negate this. (It simply says sad things about our society's expectations for men.)
ReplyDeleteYou can write as you like and I'm glad you are enjoying writing. But please don't kid yourself that a typical woman might not think this age difference is kind of creepy, or might not roll her eyes because we are in general so sick of this in every Hollywood movie ever already.
Our culture's instance that women are not sexually attractive after the peak of their childbearing years is deeply sexist. If you enjoyed writing about women who were older than you...but only until you aged enough that older women were in their 40s or 50s, you might want to examine why. In true dominance and submission, both players are equal. That's the power and the beauty of it. To imply anyone can only feel dominant if they are a generation older than their partner.. well, that's not true dominance, that's weakness.
Again, you absolutely can and should write what you would like, and enjoy what you write. But don't kid yourself that it's not playing on sexist tropes that harm both men and women culturally. It is.
So when are we going to get the chance to read some of these tales, Willsin?
ReplyDeleteAs for the age difference being "creepy", I suppose that might be true in some couples. However, I don't think that's always the case. Younger women definitely can find older men attractive, for their own sake. Plus there are plenty of cases in which a horny younger woman deliberately sets out to seduce a more "responsible" older man.
I'm not going to really touch the age difference issue and questions of maturity. While I'm sure what Lisabet says is true, I've also seen cases where an age difference felt exploitative. At the same time, a fantasy is a fantasy.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do want to say, though, is that I'm finding myself at the transition point where it's possible to feel attraction to people who are inappropriately younger than me. It's a really weird shift, and I'm still getting used to it. Up until just recently, I only ever liked age appropriate people, partly because anyone younger wasn't an actual adult. Now I can meet young twenty somethings who seem hot, and then realize that I'm old enough that being with a young twenty something is weird. It's a part of aging I hadn't thought about, and haven't confronted until now.