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Let me share with you the women I have met over the past few weeks:
A victim, a fairy princess, a whore, a mother, a crone, a virgin, a sacrifice, a paragon of beauty, a housemaid, a spinster, a beauty queen, a shopoholic, a girlfriend, a chatterbox, a piece of eye candy, another victim, more virgins, more whores, more and more mothers and a whole slew of victims.
Where have all the strong women gone?
This is not to say that the women in the above list could not be strong, but in the books I've been reading recently, all women seem to do is wear flattering clothes so that men can ogle them and then either (a) feel desire and give in, or (b) feel desire, not give in, and then congratulate themselves for their fantastic self-restraint. Women over a certain age, from whom sexual desire has fled like an antelope flees a cougar, are cast in the mother role. From this benevolent position, they produce food and pronounce words of wisdom about the merits of the whores and virgins in (a) and (b) above.
What is most horrific about this phenomenon is that the perpetrators (authors) of these crimes are, themselves, women!
It's that cliche thing, isn't it? Oh, happy, easy, stereotyped characters. Without them, writers would actually have to think about what's happening on the page. How inconvenient.
Fight the good fight, writers, and ask yourself these questions about your female characters:
1. Is she blond and described as the very epitome of beauty?
2. Is her idea of a good time going shopping?
3. Does she giggle when some idjit ogles her?
4. Does she giggle when some idjit gropes her?
5. Does she giggle at all?
6. Does she, upon being ogled, groped or harassed, then go on to FALL FOR the idjit?
7. Is she passing time in school/work until she is rescued by a man?
8. Does she, having worn glasses her entire life, miraculously find her vision CURED by said man?
9. (a) Does she enjoy sex? (b) Is she judged negatively for this?
10. If you answered 'yes' to #9 (a), does she die (either at the hands of a monster, or by sacrificing her life for the life of the 'hero' she had sex with)? If you answered 'no' to #9 (b), and she dies, then you need to change your answer to #9 (b).
Let's hear it for strong female characters. Who is your favourite?
Let's hear it for Penny my main character who wears hiking boots and refuses to be a victim even though it kind of looks like she might be setting herself up with fantasies of being a princess.
ReplyDeleteA reminder that Xena was the Warrior PRINCESS... and would have worn hiking boots had they been available in the day. There's nothing wrong with being a princess. What about the Paper Bag Princess? She's cool and independent. We need more of those kinds of princesses.
Delete1. No. She's brunette, and just pretty--not drop dead.
ReplyDelete2. No. her idea of shopping w/o going into a vision would be ideal, but not always the case.
3. Sabrina Strong doesn't often giggle.
4. Sabrina Doesn't let a idjit--or a vampire grope her if she can help it and hates when they put the thrall on--c'mon!
5. Already answered above.
6. No.
7. No.
8. no... you mean that happens? God, who's the doctor?
9. a) A lot. b) she judges herself and wonders about it, but then she's a sibyl.
10. Sabrina doesn't die. She does Not become a vampire--ever. She has been bitten by vampires when she was unable to defend herself, but she is not a push over--at least that's what my fans say.
I hate nincompoop female protags.
Good post, great idea!
Thanks, Lorelei. Let's hear it for 'Strong' women!
DeleteBusted! As you know, some of my female character, on occasion, giggle.
ReplyDeleteIn context, Janet, and it has never bothered me. Tracy, for example, works through a lot and comes out with real strength of character. Hers is a journey of self-discovery. That's not weak.
DeleteAnna in my novels. She is strong enough for MacDonald. Then there is his mother that blew up an entire planet. I really don't like the weak, crying women in romance novels, nor the novels that have men crying.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind crying, provided that there's a real reason to cry. But if ANYONE weeps, I'm out of there.
DeleteExcellent post, Jessica, and very thoughtful.
ReplyDeleteOkay, my answers, and they're for Meredith Devon, one of my two main characters, an agent with MI6.
1. She's definitely not blonde.
2. Her idea of a good time wouldn't involve shopping.
3. Definitely not. She'd be more inclined to give him a hostile glare.
4. If some dolt tried to grope her, she'd hit him. Hard.
5. Never once. She might be inclined to smirk on occasion, but giggling is not her way of things.
6. Absolutely not.
7. Devon puts her energies into her work because she likes the challenge.
8. She does wear glasses on occasion, and she's quite comfortable with them.
9. She does, though work keeps her occupied at the moment. And she's a private person, so she doesn't tend to talk about her social life anyway, but she wouldn't care what others think of that regardless.
10. She doesn't die, of course. She's too compelling a character to die.
Meredith and I would get along just fine.
DeleteShe does, however, dislike her first name!
DeleteOh... she is interesting!
Delete