Stephen King's 3 ways to write a woman!
Before I start, let me say that I'm sure there are examples that stand out that don't fit these typical molds, but lately I feel like I'm running into the same three characters when ever I pick up one of King's novels. I know I recently discussed women in gaming, so I guess this will be the "special" forms of women in popular literature. I'm pretty much going to discuss three of the most popular writers who stick to stock-characterization of women: King, George R.R. Martin, and Koontz.
We'll start with King first. He tends to keep his women-folk to 3 types:
1) Smart, but stuck-up/ball-breaker with a hysterical emotional core that she keeps hidden away because she got thumped in the head by someone once.. and wont open up to anyone until the big burly hero comes along..
2) Sexual women who are either "slutty" or "trashy". (Or "free with their body".. but I dislike that term and you can add me rolling my eyes big time here.) Also there is usually some sort of physical/mental trauma that has caused them to behave this way.
3) The Young Girl/Old Woman. These types are always the wisest character and are typically tom-boyish in nature. They will stay innocent and bright until some sort of "trauma" occurs and then they will start to turn into weepy-dames who just focus on the trauma and build their life on it. (Becoming types 1 or 2)
There may also be the 'girl next door' type every now and then, but as with type 3s there will be some sort of episode that will cause them to only focus on the trauma and cause them to make dumb choices that force the hero to go save them and then the character will just cling to the hero.
George R.R. Martin tends to expand a little to 4 types, but there are similarities:
1) Smart/Clever, but a complete bitch who will cut down anyone who gets in her way. Even if she herself sees that the choices she makes will lead her to folly, she still moves on because she can't "break in front of any man".
2) Prissy/Stuck up, they tend to fit the 'popular girl' who looks down her nose at everyone and even when their attitudes backfire they don't learn from their mistakes and continue to act like nothing happened or find other ways to put themselves up on a pedestal even at their lowest points.
3) Tomboy/Butch. Though these are the most redeemable characters, they of course have to be the most unattractive and stubbornly headstrong. If they arn't do-able then they must be dogs who take up male roles and can't enjoy ANYTHING FEMININE.
4) Rape-fodder. Yeah, I'm probably picking on Martin a bit here, but seriously it's like the guy's excuse is "Welp it is a fantasy setting so that means rape happens all the time no matter what age the girl is!" If you want to show how evil or brutal a character is Martin, there are other ways to accomplish this besides raping anything that has boobs.
While the 'Song of Ice and Fire' series is driven by the female characters, I find that Martin loves to pile on the abuse when it comes to character development. And rarely these women really learn from their mistakes.
Dean Koontz is pretty easily summed up to 2 types:
1) Dull as paste perfect "girl next door" who clings to the male protagonist.
2) Woman who has suffered serious sexual/mental/physical abuse, but is totally cured when male protagonist shows up and teaches her how to "live and love" or something like that.
Yeah, it is that simple.
Lastly, I gotta say for men who write horrific scenes, they seem the most childish when it comes to a woman's period. I just wanna scream: Hey! Guys! You just wrote about aliens eating a guy from the inside out/strangling thousands of puppies/serial murder, and the only things you can mention to explain a woman's period is her "woman pains" and "flowering"? Is a natural female function that frightening you have to use little code words? I'm not saying that we have to get "gory" here, but "woman pains"?
Anyways, like I said I am sure there are exceptions to these rules, but I was sure I wasn't the only one who noticed these consistencies.
We'll start with King first. He tends to keep his women-folk to 3 types:
1) Smart, but stuck-up/ball-breaker with a hysterical emotional core that she keeps hidden away because she got thumped in the head by someone once.. and wont open up to anyone until the big burly hero comes along..
2) Sexual women who are either "slutty" or "trashy". (Or "free with their body".. but I dislike that term and you can add me rolling my eyes big time here.) Also there is usually some sort of physical/mental trauma that has caused them to behave this way.
3) The Young Girl/Old Woman. These types are always the wisest character and are typically tom-boyish in nature. They will stay innocent and bright until some sort of "trauma" occurs and then they will start to turn into weepy-dames who just focus on the trauma and build their life on it. (Becoming types 1 or 2)
There may also be the 'girl next door' type every now and then, but as with type 3s there will be some sort of episode that will cause them to only focus on the trauma and cause them to make dumb choices that force the hero to go save them and then the character will just cling to the hero.
George R.R. Martin tends to expand a little to 4 types, but there are similarities:
1) Smart/Clever, but a complete bitch who will cut down anyone who gets in her way. Even if she herself sees that the choices she makes will lead her to folly, she still moves on because she can't "break in front of any man".
2) Prissy/Stuck up, they tend to fit the 'popular girl' who looks down her nose at everyone and even when their attitudes backfire they don't learn from their mistakes and continue to act like nothing happened or find other ways to put themselves up on a pedestal even at their lowest points.
3) Tomboy/Butch. Though these are the most redeemable characters, they of course have to be the most unattractive and stubbornly headstrong. If they arn't do-able then they must be dogs who take up male roles and can't enjoy ANYTHING FEMININE.
4) Rape-fodder. Yeah, I'm probably picking on Martin a bit here, but seriously it's like the guy's excuse is "Welp it is a fantasy setting so that means rape happens all the time no matter what age the girl is!" If you want to show how evil or brutal a character is Martin, there are other ways to accomplish this besides raping anything that has boobs.
While the 'Song of Ice and Fire' series is driven by the female characters, I find that Martin loves to pile on the abuse when it comes to character development. And rarely these women really learn from their mistakes.
Dean Koontz is pretty easily summed up to 2 types:
1) Dull as paste perfect "girl next door" who clings to the male protagonist.
2) Woman who has suffered serious sexual/mental/physical abuse, but is totally cured when male protagonist shows up and teaches her how to "live and love" or something like that.
Yeah, it is that simple.
Lastly, I gotta say for men who write horrific scenes, they seem the most childish when it comes to a woman's period. I just wanna scream: Hey! Guys! You just wrote about aliens eating a guy from the inside out/strangling thousands of puppies/serial murder, and the only things you can mention to explain a woman's period is her "woman pains" and "flowering"? Is a natural female function that frightening you have to use little code words? I'm not saying that we have to get "gory" here, but "woman pains"?
Anyways, like I said I am sure there are exceptions to these rules, but I was sure I wasn't the only one who noticed these consistencies.