There's a word for this:
Oct. 19th, 2012 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
green_dreamsYou know how when a character's described in a book and something about them isn't specified, there's a default assumption about them? If gender isn't specified, they're assumed to be cis male[1]; if orientation isn't specified, they're assumed to be straight; if ethnicity isn't specified, they're assumed to be white.
Is there a word for this other than "cultural default assumption"? And is there a source that confirms this kind of thing happens that you can point to?
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[1] I still remember being bitten in the ass by this one. The story was written in the first-person perspective, and I was two-thirds of the way through before I realized the narrator wasn't a man. I don't think the author was trying for a clever dodge or anything, it just... gah. *embarrassment*
Is there a word for this other than "cultural default assumption"? And is there a source that confirms this kind of thing happens that you can point to?
---
[1] I still remember being bitten in the ass by this one. The story was written in the first-person perspective, and I was two-thirds of the way through before I realized the narrator wasn't a man. I don't think the author was trying for a clever dodge or anything, it just... gah. *embarrassment*
