There are Still Taboos for 'Good' Characters

Many old taboo writing topics--sex, race and religion--have gone mainstream in genre fiction and popular best-sellers. But there are still lines authors of popular novels hesitate to cross, especially for "good" characters. For example, a male character who engages in unmarried sex or homosexual relationships is now more acceptable as a hero, but a rapist or pedophile repulses and must be brought to justice. A female character can reject marriage and support abortion without offending the majority, but if she embraces incest, she loses reader empathy. A protagonist may be opinionated and volatile--as long as outbursts are not racist, sexist, elitist or offensive to some group stereotype. Sexual antics can be described in detail without being called pornographic now, but other bodily functions are still taboo--even when writers try to spare sensibilities by "latinizing," as if characters who defecate, flatulate, regurgitate, and masturbate have less ick factor. Other no-nos are more surprising. Americans have become so sensitive about weight issues (even though we are one of the most obese populaces) that "fat" seems to have joined "retard" and "Negro" as taboo epithets. Many Americans also are such animal lovers that any character who doesn't like animals is unsympathetic, and animal killing is seen as a mark of depravity. Aging is another taboo; if the protagonist has to be over 50, no one wants to know about sags, bags, wattles, flab, flagging sex drive, or any other ills that aging flesh is heir to. Older heroes and heroines must be preternaturally lively and attractive, yet redeemed from shallowness by experience, the only positive of added years in our culture. But probably the biggest taboo of all is normality. Today's protagonists embrace "exceptionalism," as the conservative politicos say of America. Middling looks, middling intellect, and middle-class background, even if thrown into exciting circumstances, aren't going to win fans. Give a main character an exceptional skill, a shocking secret, or a unique personal challenge to engage readers. Have we stopped believing that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things? For advice on writing about taboo topics, see https://litreactor.com/columns/storyville-writing-about-taboo-subjects