First, we will travel through the years of the female protagonist. Just kidding
Okay but really. I'm going to talk about the female protagonist generally. Mmkay, so to begin with, Marely was dead.
....
Okay but seriously this time. Girl characters are portrayed very differently in different genres and time periods. For example, take ANYTHING by Shakespeare and it's almost offensive of his portrayal of the female. Like how often do you have to have characters threaten to rape a girl? And why is it that it's not like kill or beat up like it would be had it been a guy character stuck in the woods or wherever with you?
Why is it that when it's a girl it's sexual and that they're all vulnerable?
I sincerely hope they would pepper spray that douchebag to death.
But if you take Katniss from The Hunger Games then you see this strong, fierce, almost callous main character. Which is a refreshing change. But here's the thing that we have to realize, is that not everyone is like that.
Stereotypes are often used when writing, it shouldn't be like that but it is. And the stereotype on women is that they're weak and need a man or someone to help them get their shit together. So the complete opposite of that which is trying to become a trend these days is to make your girl characters completely strong, take on leadership roles, basically be guys with girl parts and minds.
The problem with this is that it's an unrealistic portrayal.
I'm not hatin' on Katniss or even saying that all girls are weak. In fact, I am firmly a feminist. & personally I absolutely LOVE the whole strong female MC thing.
It's just that the fact of the matter is when you think about most women they are nowhere near this mainstream attempt at making the girl character basically take on a male persona.
But that shouldn't make them the weak and useless character who only looks to men and other people to solve their problems for them.
I'm saying that yes, if your character is strong and fierce and hard or cold make her that way because of the CHARACTER, not because of an archetype. Not because that's what appeals to audiences these days (or is trying to).
Don't do it just so you can not offend women everywhere. Because here's the thing, a story isn't just about the story. More than anything, it's about the character and their journey.
Take Katniss, she starts off giving 0 fucks and only wanting to get back to her family, then by the end of the series (I won't spoil anything) she leads a rebellion and is becoming somewhat less unselfish and there are a lot of character arcs.
So if the character starts off weak, that's OKAY. Just as long as by the end of the book there's an obvious change.
If I'm writing about this already vulnerable, weak character who experiences heartbreaks or betrayals or deaths of beloved, then chances are she'll either break from all of this and become weakER or she'll become stronger from it. It all depends on the portrayal of the character and how the character reacts to things.
But if your character starts out strong--it really depends on HOW the character is...
Hmm for example. In the redraft of UP (so far...which means in my head) Lillyana starts out as a weaker character. Not weak per se, but very broken. By the end of the book, she'll be strong and defiant and fierce.
That's just how she'll react to things thrown her way. She squares her shoulders instead of hunching over and weeping about her predicament.
Which brings us to Muffy. Okay, so I've gotten comments saying she's a pussy and needs to man up.
No but really. Let's take a moment to think about this. And I'll admit, she IS weak. But at the same time, it's a series, there's room for growth!
Anyways it starts out with her being fourteen, and her entire world completely changes. And not only this, but Muffy is super socially awkward. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but she totally is. So then she starts making friends, and all this great stuff, but she obviously won't take on the "leadership, alpha" role (not in the beginning) because she isn't used to even having friends.
Then you have to factor in the fact that suddenly (SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T READ THE NECROMANCER'S SECRET) there's this mad-woman named Tempest hunting her down, and I just tried to add and aspect of realism to my stories. So I just put myself in Muffy's situation, and in a lot of ways we're alike and in a lot of ways we're not, honestly, I would run away.
I would be the Anti-Hero. That's how I am. That would be my archetype. I'm forever the reluctant hero, which makes me very similar to a MC you guys do not know yet
But seriously, she's just acclimating to this whole new lifestyle, and this is a lot of stress and fear to thrust upon a fifteen/sixteen year old girl. It really is.
Based upon the rough sketch I have in my head, there is going to be a DRASTIC character change.
So there you have it. Not sure if it's a thorough "explanation" but it's also late as I write this.
Basically, all I'm trying to say is that there are too many female characters that are trying to be hard to be something they're OBVIOUSLY not. Just think about the kind of character you're writing about. Think about their backstory, what's happening to them, how they react to certain things.
Otherwise, it creates for very blah reading.
So, there are my two cents. Not the deepest, most profound thing ever but yeah.
I think what people forget also, is that to make a character strong doesn't mean they have to be a total bitch. I mean sure if you think of Madeline Stowe's character Victoria in Revenge you totally think, shit man the only way a woman can hold her own is to be a total bitch.
But no. They can be sweet and still strong. How, you ask? Maybe they're very compassionate and protective, and the protective aspect would make them much more likely to stand in front of InsertCharacterHere to take the bullet.
I mean I know when people think of strong characters they think of Badass Buffy, Katniss, but they can be sweet.
Take Willow from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I mean that girl was the sweetest thing ever (aside from the time in season 6 where she went all crazy and evil) but she was strong. Sometimes, stronger than Buffy. She was almost always there for her friends and even though vampires made her want to shit her pants in the first season, she became this prominent character WITHOUT offending everyone along the way. Again, aside from her crazy moment in Season 6.
But, in the end, it all depends on the character. If she's a bitch, WHY is she a bitch? No one is a bitch just 'cause.
So there you have it. Hopefully that was somewhat insightful for ya'll. If not, I apologize for wasting your time.
(Here's an aside, just real quick: I WROTE THIS WEEKEND. FINISHED CHAPTER TWENTY- EIGHT, GOT LIKE A FOURTH/THIRD? OF THE WAY THROUGH CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE OF ID. I FEEL LIKE A CHAMPION. AND OMFG THERE IS A HUGE PLOT TWIST. LIKE I'M SO EXCITED, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. BUT I DID IT ON THE SPEECH BUS NEAR REALLY IRRITATING PEOPLE, SO I SERIOUSLY FEEL LIKE I HAVE MY LIFE TOGETHER).
....
Okay but seriously this time. Girl characters are portrayed very differently in different genres and time periods. For example, take ANYTHING by Shakespeare and it's almost offensive of his portrayal of the female. Like how often do you have to have characters threaten to rape a girl? And why is it that it's not like kill or beat up like it would be had it been a guy character stuck in the woods or wherever with you?
Why is it that when it's a girl it's sexual and that they're all vulnerable?
I sincerely hope they would pepper spray that douchebag to death.
But if you take Katniss from The Hunger Games then you see this strong, fierce, almost callous main character. Which is a refreshing change. But here's the thing that we have to realize, is that not everyone is like that.
Stereotypes are often used when writing, it shouldn't be like that but it is. And the stereotype on women is that they're weak and need a man or someone to help them get their shit together. So the complete opposite of that which is trying to become a trend these days is to make your girl characters completely strong, take on leadership roles, basically be guys with girl parts and minds.
The problem with this is that it's an unrealistic portrayal.
I'm not hatin' on Katniss or even saying that all girls are weak. In fact, I am firmly a feminist. & personally I absolutely LOVE the whole strong female MC thing.
It's just that the fact of the matter is when you think about most women they are nowhere near this mainstream attempt at making the girl character basically take on a male persona.
But that shouldn't make them the weak and useless character who only looks to men and other people to solve their problems for them.
I'm saying that yes, if your character is strong and fierce and hard or cold make her that way because of the CHARACTER, not because of an archetype. Not because that's what appeals to audiences these days (or is trying to).
Don't do it just so you can not offend women everywhere. Because here's the thing, a story isn't just about the story. More than anything, it's about the character and their journey.
Take Katniss, she starts off giving 0 fucks and only wanting to get back to her family, then by the end of the series (I won't spoil anything) she leads a rebellion and is becoming somewhat less unselfish and there are a lot of character arcs.
So if the character starts off weak, that's OKAY. Just as long as by the end of the book there's an obvious change.
If I'm writing about this already vulnerable, weak character who experiences heartbreaks or betrayals or deaths of beloved, then chances are she'll either break from all of this and become weakER or she'll become stronger from it. It all depends on the portrayal of the character and how the character reacts to things.
But if your character starts out strong--it really depends on HOW the character is...
Hmm for example. In the redraft of UP (so far...which means in my head) Lillyana starts out as a weaker character. Not weak per se, but very broken. By the end of the book, she'll be strong and defiant and fierce.
That's just how she'll react to things thrown her way. She squares her shoulders instead of hunching over and weeping about her predicament.
Which brings us to Muffy. Okay, so I've gotten comments saying she's a pussy and needs to man up.
Anyways it starts out with her being fourteen, and her entire world completely changes. And not only this, but Muffy is super socially awkward. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but she totally is. So then she starts making friends, and all this great stuff, but she obviously won't take on the "leadership, alpha" role (not in the beginning) because she isn't used to even having friends.
Then you have to factor in the fact that suddenly (SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T READ THE NECROMANCER'S SECRET) there's this mad-woman named Tempest hunting her down, and I just tried to add and aspect of realism to my stories. So I just put myself in Muffy's situation, and in a lot of ways we're alike and in a lot of ways we're not, honestly, I would run away.
I would be the Anti-Hero. That's how I am. That would be my archetype. I'm forever the reluctant hero, which makes me very similar to a MC you guys do not know yet
Based upon the rough sketch I have in my head, there is going to be a DRASTIC character change.
So there you have it. Not sure if it's a thorough "explanation" but it's also late as I write this.
Basically, all I'm trying to say is that there are too many female characters that are trying to be hard to be something they're OBVIOUSLY not. Just think about the kind of character you're writing about. Think about their backstory, what's happening to them, how they react to certain things.
Otherwise, it creates for very blah reading.
So, there are my two cents. Not the deepest, most profound thing ever but yeah.
I think what people forget also, is that to make a character strong doesn't mean they have to be a total bitch. I mean sure if you think of Madeline Stowe's character Victoria in Revenge you totally think, shit man the only way a woman can hold her own is to be a total bitch.
But no. They can be sweet and still strong. How, you ask? Maybe they're very compassionate and protective, and the protective aspect would make them much more likely to stand in front of InsertCharacterHere to take the bullet.
I mean I know when people think of strong characters they think of Badass Buffy, Katniss, but they can be sweet.
Take Willow from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I mean that girl was the sweetest thing ever (aside from the time in season 6 where she went all crazy and evil) but she was strong. Sometimes, stronger than Buffy. She was almost always there for her friends and even though vampires made her want to shit her pants in the first season, she became this prominent character WITHOUT offending everyone along the way. Again, aside from her crazy moment in Season 6.
But, in the end, it all depends on the character. If she's a bitch, WHY is she a bitch? No one is a bitch just 'cause.
So there you have it. Hopefully that was somewhat insightful for ya'll. If not, I apologize for wasting your time.
(Here's an aside, just real quick: I WROTE THIS WEEKEND. FINISHED CHAPTER TWENTY- EIGHT, GOT LIKE A FOURTH/THIRD? OF THE WAY THROUGH CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE OF ID. I FEEL LIKE A CHAMPION. AND OMFG THERE IS A HUGE PLOT TWIST. LIKE I'M SO EXCITED, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. BUT I DID IT ON THE SPEECH BUS NEAR REALLY IRRITATING PEOPLE, SO I SERIOUSLY FEEL LIKE I HAVE MY LIFE TOGETHER).
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