Hello,
I was writing a short story and was challenging myself to write from the perspective of a woman. I hadn't done this before in first person. After finishing I asked my partner to read it through for notes. One of her largest criticisms with my first draft was my character's descriptions of characters she found attractive.
My partner had pointed out in her mind one of the hallmarks of male writing is the meat market packaging of attractive characters, that they often all share the same qualities or traits the writer finds attractive. I was told women (not exclusively of course) were normally drawn to a specific physical trait they found attractive. As an example I was surprised when she said that if she were to write about me she would talk about my hands in greatest detail.
It was really good feedback and I wanted to hear from more women on this. When you think of men or women in terms of attractiveness do you have a whole package that comes to mind or do you think in individual parts? If so what do you look for? I'm especially interested if you like parts of the body that men wouldn't think of.
