I think Carrie may have a point that there is a generational
aspect to the question of gender in hardboiled. Being a bit
older, I read Grafton and Paretsky when they first came out
in paperback. I agree with Jim that they both were very aware
of the cultural disonance when they stepped into the
primarily male domain; they counted on it. However, I was
struck that their debuts were among the most traditonal PI
books of their time. Male writers were actively stretching
the genre at the time. G & P adhered to it very strictly
(I'm only talking about the very early books by each). It was
as if they recognized recasting the PI's gender was a huge
change and they did not want to risk any other reason for
reader tune-out. As they became more sure of themselves and
their audience, both authors stretched out.
Personally, I didn't much like Grafton (only read the first
two), but do like Paretsky. This had nothing to do with the
gender of either, I just didn't like Grafton's writing. Her
characters did not involve me. Paretsky's do. Her obvious
political outlook never bothered me, but I think I'm far more
in agreement with it than Jim. (The political agenda of
right-wing authors sometimes bother me, but I agree that good
writing is good writing.)
I have gone on to read and enjoy quite a few female writers
writing about female PI -- Linda Barnes, Karen Kijewski and,
especially, SJ Rozan, among many others.
Carrie also said:
"Making my argument in a more direct manner: I continue not
to understand why some consider it appropriate to make
comments and harbor preconceptions regarding female
characters that would clearly not be appropriate about
blacks, gays, etc."
I have problems with this for two reasons. First of all,
Grafton, Paretsky, etc, are women writers. I don't mean that
makes them inferior or even different, but they are women. It
is impossible to forget that, if only because the marketers
won't let us. As was noted, a large part
(the majority?) of the mystery market is now women. So
marketers make a big deal of these writers' gender. It's a
selling point.
There are a few exceptions, like SJ Rozan and Sandra
Scoppetone's early books as Jack Early. Both involve women
writing male characters in first person. In these cases, they
probably find it best to downplay the writers' gender. It is
interesting in each case how well these women do the male
voice. Rozan alternates gender with each book of her series.
Of course, Leigh Brackett could also do the male voice to
such a degree that many, including Howard Hawks as seen in
the famous story of their meeting, assumed she was a
he.
I also don't buy that women are the only writers/characters
who are grouped (or belittled) in this way. For instance,
David Brandstetter is known for being a homosexual detective.
Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones are known for being black
detectives, as are numerous others, including Lew Griffin
(whose white writer is seldom, if ever, pictured on his
books).
Other than white males, descriptions of most other PIs are
prefaced by that which makes them different from that norm.
And even the white PIs are often reduced to a single unusual
trait -- Dan Fortune is a one-armed PI.
Far from a conspiracy to marginalize these characters, these
adjectives are attempts to spotlight the singularity of the
characters. It is a sign of how far women have come in the
genre that female PI is no longer an unusual trait on its
own. Originally, Paretsky was just another female PI writer.
That alone set her apart. Now she is a strident left-wing
female writer.
Mark
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