Emotion and stereotype in women

Do you think stereotypes are inherently bad? I think they can be useful tools in building a mental picture of the world and human nature, as long as one realizes people are individuals and even ones who seem stereotypical in one way are going to be unique in other ways.

Stereotypes share SOME common features, and are applicable in real life (hence, the very meaning of stereotype), but that doesn't mean your character is a flat carbon copy of another one. It just means she's sharing a common trait with other real and fictional people. Damn near everything fits into a stereotype... the bitch, the mother, the damsel in distress, the princess (in attitude, I don't mean literally), the teenager, the hopeless romantic, the librarian/geek, etc etc etc. As long as you have little things, or even big things, setting your character apart, don't worry about it.

Is it a good story? Themes are only cloying IMHO if the story is too weak. Otherwise the reader is paying intention to what is happening to the character rather than dissecting them...

I think it's like...child abuse. It's real. People suffer on both sides. It's all around us.

But women's depression and anxiety is not nearly as openly talked about as abuse, etc. It's a topic that I feel needs good books.

What's stereotypical about a woman being depressed? I've never thought of this as a stereotype at all, though I don't read much women's fiction. I don't quite see how depression in and of itself would support an entire novel, but I can't believe there would be a problem with having it as an important character element. At least, I hope it's not a problem, since one of my characters suffers from periodic severe depression too.

If the depression leads to bad decisions, I could see it moving a novel along. Bad marriages, substance abuse, leaving a good marriage, impact on the children or other family members.

My grandma and aunt battled depression but at the time mental health issues carried a stigma. My grandma ended up in ... East Haven ... for awhile. The two of them tried to live together while my single-mom aunt (bad marriage) tried to raise her son (dropped out of school in 8th grade, has a Saturnine personality of his own) and both depended on my mom and her older brother to pick up the pieces. My aunt married an abusive alcoholic but after he died squandered her inheritance, then she had a falling out with my grandma and didn't talk to her for years. She didn't even come to my grandma's funeral (um, that's bad -- real bad -- here in teh US Midwest)

Anyway, I could see depression being a prime mover in a story. Especially if you have a character who should be on medication but does not comply.

Hope that helps.

Ann

It is only stereotypical if your treatment of it is stereotypical. If you really are presenting it in a new and interesting way then don't put it in the trunk. I love the title - so evocative of women in history and religion. Our Lady of Sorrow, Anne of a Thousand Days, etc.

My mother suffered from severe depression and I've had a few bouts with it though I think mine is PMDD. The only real danger I see about writing a MC with depression is that the danger is to focus on the depression. Like posted above, depression can lead to many things that will move a plot along, but depression alone wouldn't do it, imho. Also, be careful that the MC doesn't come off as weak and whiny with too much of a 'victim' aura. Those kinds of characters seem to turn off a lot of readers.

It'll be a good demonstration of your skill to write this subject. Good luck!