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Jun. 23rd, 2011 08:59 pm One of my pet peeves in fiction (visual media are particularly prone to this, IME) is the Beautiful Woman Who Accurately Assumes Any Man She Targets Will Be Attracted to Her On Sight and therefore behave in a predictable manner. This has sub-categories (she is sincere; she has an unselfish ulterior motive; she has a selfish ulterior motive) but they don't really matter to my peeve, which is basically, men are not this monolithic. Some of them are gay, for one thing. Some of them are into girls but not this kind -- no matter how smoking hot you are, there's always a chance that this particular guy has a type and you're not it. And some of them are totally into you but therefore shy and/or cynical such that it actually constitutes a handicap. Some of them are into you but taken and faithful. Some of them are into you but don't want what you want or would allow as a result. Some of them may not take no for an answer.
Also most women are not this oblivious or self-centered. If you were raised in a bubble, you have no idea how other people will react to you, and if you were NOT raised in a bubble, you have probably observed that their reactions vary. And some of the most conventionally beautiful women are the MOST insecure, whether because being beautiful is crucial to their self-definition and so they worry more about losing it, or because they tend to work in the judgiest professions I don't know. Add to that how often women are judged for being sexual aggressors and this idea of a hot chick going all the way out the limb by, say, showing up naked in the absence of any encouraging feedback and with no apparent concern for the response is pretty much the death knell to my suspension of disbelief. I know I have entered that particular unattractive alternate universe which also maintains that all men always want sex and any woman can get laid any time she wants. though I would, I admit, be curious to see someone give this the kind of treatment![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
papersky gave Victorian social mores in Tooth and Claw -- treat it as literally true and follow it out to its logical consequences.
It adds an extra fillip to my annoyance when the woman in question strikes me as profoundly unattractive to the point of resembling a preying mantis. Your mileage may of course vary and I realize I am not the target audience, but still...
Also most women are not this oblivious or self-centered. If you were raised in a bubble, you have no idea how other people will react to you, and if you were NOT raised in a bubble, you have probably observed that their reactions vary. And some of the most conventionally beautiful women are the MOST insecure, whether because being beautiful is crucial to their self-definition and so they worry more about losing it, or because they tend to work in the judgiest professions I don't know. Add to that how often women are judged for being sexual aggressors and this idea of a hot chick going all the way out the limb by, say, showing up naked in the absence of any encouraging feedback and with no apparent concern for the response is pretty much the death knell to my suspension of disbelief. I know I have entered that particular unattractive alternate universe which also maintains that all men always want sex and any woman can get laid any time she wants. though I would, I admit, be curious to see someone give this the kind of treatment
papersky gave Victorian social mores in Tooth and Claw -- treat it as literally true and follow it out to its logical consequences.It adds an extra fillip to my annoyance when the woman in question strikes me as profoundly unattractive to the point of resembling a preying mantis. Your mileage may of course vary and I realize I am not the target audience, but still...
