It's easy to forget that as recently as 1974, a married woman (who was, of course, married to a man) couldn't open a checking account or get a credit card in her name without her husband's permission (he had to co-sign). I'm working right now on a novel that takes place in the late 1980s. One of the characters is a trans girl. Or that's …
It's easy to forget that as recently as 1974, a married woman (who was, of course, married to a man) couldn't open a checking account or get a credit card in her name without her husband's permission (he had to co-sign). I'm working right now on a novel that takes place in the late 1980s. One of the characters is a trans girl. Or that's how we'd refer to her today. The social, medical, and psychological view of the 1980s was different. I'm anticipating having to explain things in my front pages.
I think it would be easier to get audiences to understand the credit card thing now because of MAD MEN and its zillions of imitators. I think it would be harder to get modern audiences to understood people at the time -- men and women -- supporting and arguing for that position, without them coming across as total ninnies and cartoons. But honestly, I'd like to try! I'd like to see that, as in MRS. AMERICA.
The transgender thing is interesting, because transgender folks definitely of *themselves* has changed so dramatically since the 1980s. I recall a lecture by Kate Bornstein saying that she she herself "between" genders, neither man nor woman (she was and is no non-binary), and I know she came in for a lot of shit for that (and has since revised her self-definition somewhat). The question is, can you be faithful to the time period without offending people in the present? I mean, hey, we all gotta eat. But OTOH, I do think being accurate is also really, really important. Good luck!
It's easy to forget that as recently as 1974, a married woman (who was, of course, married to a man) couldn't open a checking account or get a credit card in her name without her husband's permission (he had to co-sign). I'm working right now on a novel that takes place in the late 1980s. One of the characters is a trans girl. Or that's how we'd refer to her today. The social, medical, and psychological view of the 1980s was different. I'm anticipating having to explain things in my front pages.
I think it would be easier to get audiences to understand the credit card thing now because of MAD MEN and its zillions of imitators. I think it would be harder to get modern audiences to understood people at the time -- men and women -- supporting and arguing for that position, without them coming across as total ninnies and cartoons. But honestly, I'd like to try! I'd like to see that, as in MRS. AMERICA.
The transgender thing is interesting, because transgender folks definitely of *themselves* has changed so dramatically since the 1980s. I recall a lecture by Kate Bornstein saying that she she herself "between" genders, neither man nor woman (she was and is no non-binary), and I know she came in for a lot of shit for that (and has since revised her self-definition somewhat). The question is, can you be faithful to the time period without offending people in the present? I mean, hey, we all gotta eat. But OTOH, I do think being accurate is also really, really important. Good luck!