If we were to notice closely, we would find that there is a stark contrast between characters written by men and those written by women. A good number of female characters written by men either fit the ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’ trope (Tara in Tamasha, Geet in Jab We Meet, Akira in Jab Tak Hai Jaan, etc.) or are only shown only to be an ‘accessory’ without any agency to further the plot of the film. They are often stereotypical characters like the abla naari, the sanskaari bahu, the mother, the vamp, the ‘bad girl’, etc.
However, when it comes to women writers producing male characters, they are found to be more humane, well-rounded, sensitive, empathetic – a mix of everything – and not just fitting into a single box. A Twitter user recently pointed out the same, sharing pictures of Rana from Piku, Jug from Dear Zindagi, the 3 men in ZNMD, and Vikram from Khoobsurat.
men written by women pic.twitter.com/KbZKjExnWr
— ًnyctophile (@sprihaxx) August 29, 2021
Responding to the tweet, a few others shared pictures of male characters written by men – the stereotypical macho man, the alpha, the cold, violent, and unforgiving type.
“men written by men” pic.twitter.com/kUBfifahZo
— टाइपोधीश (@Typodhish) August 29, 2021
Men written by men https://t.co/ZlRayuhawL pic.twitter.com/J62G5jIOjG
— That loud woman 🇦🇫 (@loudayy) August 30, 2021
Men written by men https://t.co/RfjVhyXk5D pic.twitter.com/ou5IM7vr5d
— Bawaal (@iamBawaal) August 30, 2021
Many expressed how we need more male characters to be written by women.
We need more content created by women. https://t.co/vz1f4YEP7r
— Outcast Variant (@outcast_variant) August 30, 2021
and sometimes when men write women they look at them with rose colored glasses and make them manic pixie dream girls whose only purpose in the movie is to get the cribbing men out of their misery. those portrayals of women are almost too good to be true and frankly boring. https://t.co/F9QoNTZxjX
— ✨ (@zoyakipizza) August 30, 2021
I just realised that all the fictional men that I absolutely loved were all written by women lol.
A perfectly normal human being with empathy, imperfectly perfect ❤️ https://t.co/mJ5NmTeCGU— Vanshika (@chocolate_truf) August 30, 2021
Wow….never realized these wonderful male characters were written by women https://t.co/QzCHk1N0yq
— aaditya (@aadibdl) August 30, 2021
Never thought this way. Women really see better, feel better and write better. https://t.co/65TDa9PIqj
— Sumitesh (@_Sumitesh) August 30, 2021
Abhay deol’s character in ZNMD is so perfect 😭💜 https://t.co/cGFjEjB540
— Sampada⁷ (@simpforbangtaan) August 30, 2021
the fact that women don't write men portraying them to be some sorted ideal personalities or some sort of an object, unlike (not all) men writing female characters https://t.co/hYoqY1EQ4N
— Manasvineeee (@manasvineeee) August 30, 2021
Some also shared other male characters who were wholesome. Like, Shyamal in A Death In The Gunj, Suri in Talaash, Danish in October, Sunny in Dil Dhadakne Do, and Ashwin in Sir.
Men written by women. https://t.co/DMNUMSl63v pic.twitter.com/fl1tWLBtiE
— Gulshan Devaiah (@gulshandevaiah) August 30, 2021
Men Written by Women 😍.
I loved these characters and kudos to the women for exploring the sensitive side of men, that even most male writer's couldn't bring out ❤️.
Films : Sir, A death in the gunj, Talaash and October. https://t.co/rgxOqXetxh pic.twitter.com/gAgi7linQw— Ramitha Vimukthi (@RAMIWEERASEKARE) August 30, 2021
men written by women https://t.co/1Qxk1K1NxD pic.twitter.com/VsNdgRrR5K
— Jay (@notanetizen) August 31, 2021
Men written by women. https://t.co/E2fRQX93f6 pic.twitter.com/4RIqudZGfU
— Harry's Comet (@riddhidiaries) August 30, 2021
and him https://t.co/6JOVPlQibG pic.twitter.com/6TfAn8t3D8
— #SignaDM (@howtfneil) August 30, 2021
+ Jai from Jaane tu ya Jaane na <3 https://t.co/1ywjrdC9jx pic.twitter.com/Jwd7iHyCvc
— ﾒᴢᴏᴏᴍɪ⁷ ⧖ (@hong_jesus_) August 30, 2021
I love all these but how can you forget to include Sunny from Dil Dhadkane Do?😭
Best man written by a woman.🤧❤ https://t.co/eylwrcXMjf
— Aayushi🎀 (@Kaahaniwali_) August 29, 2021
One thing common between everyone is: They listen. https://t.co/T69pNgcm6X
— Gaurav (@_arahan) August 30, 2021
Male characters written by women writers are indeed a delight to watch and is a positive diversion from stories told from the male gaze.