Character Identification and a New Short Story: David Has Been Great

In this episode, Dara reads a short story that is new to the listener but not to him. The story has a female protagonist and when he shared it with a female friend a few years ago, he was told that not all women felt the same way as the character he'd written. In reply he said he'd never thought that would be the case.

In yet another example of the way assumptions and conflations are all too easily made, Dara pushes back against the idea of identifying creators too directly with their creations. He argues that other things are more readily identifiable, such as themes, trends, and tropes.

He hopes that his story, 'David Has Been Great', can be enjoyed without anyone thinking that the character's thoughts, feelings and prejudices are his own.

Guardian article on sigma masculinity (2024): https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/12/the-sad-stupid-rise-of-the-sigma-male-how-toxic-masculinity-took-over-social-media

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