Telekinesis? There's An App For That.

I'm not sure if I should be upset, worried, or relieved that I still can't figure out exactly what kind of insane my antagonist, Jeremy, is. Psychotic, yes. Schizoaffective, most likely yes. Psychopathic, possibly. Borderline, most likely yes. Writing him is fascinating. He really thinks he's doing it right. It makes me want to absorb the DSM-V, which I think won't be out until 2013.

In this latest scene, he's got Dana imprisoned in an abandoned mental institution, and he's having a conversation with the cosmic entity that lives in his head, as well as with the unconscious main protagonist. Really, all he wants is to start over. Fix everything. The world is broken. Why can't he be allowed to fix it? All he would have to do is destroy everything in existence and pull another reality over into its place. Maybe he could be a leader.

I am obsessing over one thing in particular: Making sure that this book does not feature any Rape As Plot Device scenes. There are a few scenes that call for... telepathic violation, I guess. I will need someone to beta read. I also want to make sure the story is not misogynist, that the female characters don't hang on the strength of their sex or gender, that they hang on the strength of their humanity.
I've had conversations with people who had asked, "Well, maybe near the end, the male antagonist can rape the female protagonist and conceive a child, and that could be a plot point for another book." And my brain would begin shrieking and raging and no no no no fucking no oh dear gods no. No rape. No pregnancy. No Magical Child plot point. I refuse. Is this a common thing? Subjecting the female to absolute violation or forced motherhood because it might fit the story? What is this, a soap opera?

I don't want my characters to carry their strengths on the backs of gender stereotypes. My male protagonists do feel protective of my female protagonists, and absolutely vice versa. None of this Me Man Me Strong and Me Woman Me Need Protecting crap. They're best friends. They look out for each other. Also they have psychic powers and can easily toss cars around and stuff. That makes me wonder: If all humans were telekinetic to certain degrees, what would happen to physical gender stereotypes? I don't understand why there even has to be a damn gender divide. We have working bodies. It's not our sexes or genders that determine which house chores we should do. In the book, all my protagonists do all the chores and there is none of this "Well, you're the man/woman, you should do this." Not even for opening pickle jars. There's telekinesis for that.

The problem with my striving to shatter gender stereotypes through my writing, though, is that it will sneak in when I'm not paying attention, because cultural and societal influences run deep, despite my personal upbringing. My parents taught me to be a human, a person, not necessarily a woman for the sake of womanhood. We can say, "Men are like this and women are like that" all we want, but we know that's not true. My husband cleans the house and washes dishes and irons clothes and buys groceries and does all these things that "should be woman's work" and sometimes he gets teased. Why? It's bullshit. We're PEOPLE. We are not our genders. I do not have the physical strength, dexterity, or stamina to perform certain tasks. My husband does. So I ask him. Hey honey, can you carry this bucket of cat litter into the house? Can you move this desk? And he does, because he can. If I could, I would. But so many people out there might look at me and think, Oh, isn't she so tiny and cute? She needs to be protected. That's great, thanks, but I can take care of myself.

Also, why can't men wear eye makeup and lip gloss? Who says they can't? (This has nothing to do with my characters.)

I'm going to stop rambling now. I need to write.

Also, if I said anything offensive in any way, please tell me so I can learn and grow.