Women Share The Biggest Mistakes Male Authors Make With Female Characters

Here’s an experience familiar to any woman who’s read a book by a male author: you’re reading a passage about one of his female characters. She’s doing something you’ve done a million times before, but the way it’s written just feels wrong. Often, a description of the most mundane activity, like applying makeup or wearing high heels, reveals that the author has no idea what he’s writing about. And not only that, it feels like he did no research or even bothered to ask an actual woman for advice.

Ever since books have been written male authors have been misrepresenting the female experience, and now women are setting the record straight. It all started with Tumblr user annerocious, who wrote a post titled simply “Dear Men Writers,” in which she laid out a few inaccuracies she was tired of seeing.

Photo Credit: annerocious

This prompted women across Tumblr to share inaccuracies they were sick of, and soon there were almost enough to write a whole book. Check them out below via Bored Panda. And hey, if you’re a guy, author or not, it wouldn’t hurt to take notes.