Quote:
Originally Posted by library addict
For me it depends on the author and the execution in the text.
I do wonder why we are more forgiving of bad behavior in male characters than in female ones though. Is it because as women we hold heroines to a higher standard? I don't like the boys will be boys mentality. When judging characters behavior I always try to think if these gender rolls were reversed would it still be okay with me? On the one hand it is fiction so I don't expect total reality. But the "its okay for boys but not girls" is not okay for me.
In real life I do not like swearing at all. I think we have a wide and varied language and people shouldn't swear. But I don't mind reading it. I think it just does not register the same way in my brain (visual vs audio). Eve Dallas from the In Death series is one of my favorite heroines ever and she swears a lot. So again, it's all in the execution of the story.
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You make some good points. I think for me I am more forgiving of bad boys because I see the romance as the heroine is the strong one coming to rescue the hero and well for the lack of a better word tame him and make him a nicer guy in the end. I do hold my heroine's to higher standard. They are the ones who have the power to heal their hard hearted and sometimes tortured hero.
Like in Effortless would I have been so in love with Kiera had she been a match for Kellan's behavior absolutely not. Because Kiera was a good person that made Kellan too want to be a good person and clean up his act.
In 85% of the romances I have read it's the heroine that saves the tortured hero. the heroine is the one who shows the hero how to love and be loved. She is main character of the story and so yes I hold her to a higher standard than the hero.
I also think for a women it's the whole a
lady does not swear idea. Swearing doesn't bother me if the persons mad or hurts themselves or they talking about someone they don't like but using swear words out of context does bother me in movies, TV, real life and books.
I think the difference in NA with heroine's having a potty mouth is they are almost always talking in first person. Maybe if it was third person it wouldn't bother me so much but when reading in first person you are hearing every thought the person has and it shows their personality real quick. If the heroine isn't a nice girl how she going to save her hero? She can't. The hero is going to have to save her. To me that makes for a boring story most of the time.