Over on Twitter, Diana Rowland was complaining about female characters not remaining single which got me thinking and not in a good way.
I also had this discussion with a buddy, re the romance thing in TV shows. He loved the X-files because it didn't go there (until the end, some excuse for Anderson being preggers). He's not liking Fringe because it seems it might go into the romance thing. (God forbid Olivia have short relationships and then stay single). If it's a girl and it's single, it needs a man (or a woman, just so long as she isn't single), such is the prevailing attitude.
I wrote my female protag as a real girl (genre: epic fantasy). She sleeps with three men. One in a brief mention in a single sentence, two active in the book. All are for real, female reasons. She loves none of them. She ends single. I wrote what was natural, then during the plot thread edit phase checked her personal details against that of men, both fictional protags and real life. I saw no great difference with a male storyline in terms of numbers so left it alone.
For one fellow, she sees what he could be instead of what he is. Oops. Moving on. (Such a common female mistake...for examples think: bad boy and loser scenarios.)
She thinks she isn't going to live through the ending (she does, but don't tell her yet). He loves her she doesn't love him back, she takes him anyway because she craves that type of attention and wants something all about her and not the "greater good" even if it's only for a brief moment. Poor guy, but there it is. Women do this often enough, hell, even unto marriage, taking men they don't love. For the whole "center of the universe" thing, even if it's just in one man's eyes. She's a selfish woman, so it's only natural that she does it anyway in spite of knowing how wrong it is. I agree, it's insidious, but it's something a REAL girl would do.
I'm annoyed by the Kvothe's of the fantasy world, and sick unto death of not reading real women, especially in epic fantasy. I won't change my protag in these terms, but I find it disturbing that female characters typically only have sex with men they have a high probability of committing to by the end of a book (or somewhere along the way in a series). Then I think in terms of slut shaming and how such prevalent societal attitude might be an insidious driving force for such a common theme and I find myself grumpy. I had a lovely mug of coffee and now I'm grumpy. The coffee's lukewarm from time spent typing this post which makes me even more grumpy.
I guess I'm trying to provoke a discussion on the topic. Also, am I missing great epic fantasy series with real female protags? Are there epic fantasy books out there with real female protags? If so, let me know, I'd like to read them. (NOT urban fantasy...epic fantasy)
Martin is better than most, yes, but he's not quite there and I can't read ASOIAF in perpetuity.
I also had this discussion with a buddy, re the romance thing in TV shows. He loved the X-files because it didn't go there (until the end, some excuse for Anderson being preggers). He's not liking Fringe because it seems it might go into the romance thing. (God forbid Olivia have short relationships and then stay single). If it's a girl and it's single, it needs a man (or a woman, just so long as she isn't single), such is the prevailing attitude.
I wrote my female protag as a real girl (genre: epic fantasy). She sleeps with three men. One in a brief mention in a single sentence, two active in the book. All are for real, female reasons. She loves none of them. She ends single. I wrote what was natural, then during the plot thread edit phase checked her personal details against that of men, both fictional protags and real life. I saw no great difference with a male storyline in terms of numbers so left it alone.
For one fellow, she sees what he could be instead of what he is. Oops. Moving on. (Such a common female mistake...for examples think: bad boy and loser scenarios.)
She thinks she isn't going to live through the ending (she does, but don't tell her yet). He loves her she doesn't love him back, she takes him anyway because she craves that type of attention and wants something all about her and not the "greater good" even if it's only for a brief moment. Poor guy, but there it is. Women do this often enough, hell, even unto marriage, taking men they don't love. For the whole "center of the universe" thing, even if it's just in one man's eyes. She's a selfish woman, so it's only natural that she does it anyway in spite of knowing how wrong it is. I agree, it's insidious, but it's something a REAL girl would do.
I'm annoyed by the Kvothe's of the fantasy world, and sick unto death of not reading real women, especially in epic fantasy. I won't change my protag in these terms, but I find it disturbing that female characters typically only have sex with men they have a high probability of committing to by the end of a book (or somewhere along the way in a series). Then I think in terms of slut shaming and how such prevalent societal attitude might be an insidious driving force for such a common theme and I find myself grumpy. I had a lovely mug of coffee and now I'm grumpy. The coffee's lukewarm from time spent typing this post which makes me even more grumpy.
I guess I'm trying to provoke a discussion on the topic. Also, am I missing great epic fantasy series with real female protags? Are there epic fantasy books out there with real female protags? If so, let me know, I'd like to read them. (NOT urban fantasy...epic fantasy)
Martin is better than most, yes, but he's not quite there and I can't read ASOIAF in perpetuity.