I suppose I haven't thought much about how I feel about women in literature. However, I find myself agreeing with whomever said, "most female protagonists are either overconfident windbags or unrealistically shy lessons-in-a-box. I like characters that are believable." Trying to come up with a likable, believable female protagonist in a book is rather difficult for me, despite having read many books.
I'll give you a hint of what I'm looking for.
Adjectives that are abhorrent when describing female characters in books:
- sexy
- shy
- cute
- flat-chested
- confident
- embarrassed
- flushed
- breathless
- bubbly
- clutz
I find it unnecessary to describe the overall physical appearance of a female character. I don't much care if she is physically appealing or has insecurities about her appearance. I am also sick of female characters that say something stupid and immediately become ill-tempered when called out on it. The word "confident" seems sort of out of place on that list, but I included it because if the author has to explicitly say "she was confident" rather than describing the character doing something in a confident manner, it's both bad writing and trying too hard.
Phrases that need to stop showing up in relation to female characters:
- She stopped to think (an action that everyone could benefit from doing more often, but is often used to show how "slow" the woman is, rather than able to take quick, decisive action).
- She checked her appearance in the mirror (sure, we all do this, but not always to make sure we look as attractive as possible. Sometimes we just like to be sure there isn't spinach in our teeth).
- She hated how that part of her looked (so? Just once, I'd like to read about a female protagonist who is quietly comfortable with how she looks, not admiring or hating certain aspects of her body throughout the story)
- She was distracted by how hot he was (This is very much a romance novel thing, but occurs in other more interesting books as well. I'd like to see a female character who doesn't have to remind herself to be committed to her goals, regardless of the physical appearance of the other human beings around her).
I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I'd like there to be more characters in books that are like the strong, real women that I know from my daily life: thoughtful, decisive, willing to apologize, comfortable, adventurous, capable, intuitive, inventive, skilled, funny, noble, kind. Realistically all women have flaws, but can we avoid writing characters that are sulky or brash, addicted to romance, obnoxiously judgmental, militant feminists, stupid or clumsy. Above all, I think we should abolish the caricature of the female protagonist in romance novels.
As I consider all the dumb women in books, I can't help but wonder how they came to be. There are a lot of amazing female authors who probably haven't made a goal of creating the most irrational, unrealistic characters imaginable. Probably. Where does this obnoxious character come from?
Perhaps it's simply difficult to portray a well-rounded woman within a book consumed with many other characters, a plot, and a fantasy world. Except the protagonist should be getting a lot of attention from the author's pen, right? Perhaps the author is trying to prove a point with all these idiotic characters. If so, point taken, can we move on please? Perhaps no one knows how to create a likable strong female character. If that is the case, what business have we in continuing to write books like this?
This isn't to say that I've never come across female protagonists that I like. It's a struggle to think of them through that muddle of bad ones I was describing above, but they do exist, and I hope to find more of them.
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