(no subject)
So. I've been thinking a lot lately. (I do that when I'm trying to avoid work). I've had a number of conversations lately in which I have expressed distate for a female character in a book/film/comic/tvshow etc. and my brother has said that it's because I don't like any women.
And...if we're taking a general head cound of characters I like...this is almost entirely true. I mean, there are female characters I like, but they are few and far between. And I've been thinking about why this is, and I think I've hit upon a reason for it...
When I'm talking about books with people I'm quite clear that I don't like female protaganists, if I flick though a book and find a female prot, the book will have to have something remarkable about it for me to continue on with it. There are exceptions, most of which Celia Friedman can be thanked for, but generally this is true.
My reasoning for this is that their femaleness is (generally) of too much note (I should point out here I am mostly talking about fantasy and sci-fi novels as they're what I read, also, that I am generalising hugely) and...I really hate that. If it's a male protagonist, there's nothing about him being male, there's no grand conflict, nor any mary-sue esque explanation that they're exceptional within their sex, they just GET ON WITH IT, because for a bloke to be a great warrior/hero/scourcerer etc is absolutely normal, but for a woman, OH MY THEY'RE SO UNUSUAL AND TALENTED. No. Why can't the women be just as talented and fabulous as the men? When you get people trying to write strong women, I find that so often they have to make a point of it, which devalues other women within whatever universe it is, and kindof ruins whatever point they may have been trying to make in the first place.
I'm not saying that I want a female character who barely notices she's a woman, because, well, then she might as well be a man in a dress, but I don't want a song a dance about it.
ALSO. ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS. Right. Woman comes into a show (yes, supernatural for example) and all fandom exploads with hate, and then the other parts of fandom expload with "YOU JUST HATE HER BECAUSE SHE'S A GIRL". And, well, some people, maybe, but actually I just think it's the idea that women are used as some kind of romantic vehicle for male characters.
Case Study: Supernatural. I would have liked Anna a whole lot more is she hadn't slept with Dean, not because "No one can have dean but meeeee!" but because...why does she have to be interested in him? Does she not have better shit to do with her time? Jo. I liked her a lot more the second time around when there wasn't any tension with her and Dean, (Also, seriously, they put her in that episode with the apartment they bought, I forget, and she was KICKASS for all of two seconds before she got trapped and they had to save her). Ruby, driven demon-type. Liked her a lot more when she wasn't having sex with Sam and she was quite happy doing her own thing, plz and thankyou.
I hatehatehate when women are introduced as an....an appendage to a male character. I get that with stuff like, well, Supernatural, two male leads, they are going to be side characters, but why do they have to inspire romance or protectiveness, can't they just be strong independant characters? BLAH BLAH I am making a very confused and incoherant point here.
I think my issue is I want a character I would happily relate to, who I could point at andd say "Yes, I would quite happily be associated with her and her actions"
Like Buffy characters. OR. Kate Beckett. Love her.
I don't even know what I've typed now. It's like 2am and I am brain fried from dissertation. I've probably offended someone or said something misinformed, but such is life.
And...if we're taking a general head cound of characters I like...this is almost entirely true. I mean, there are female characters I like, but they are few and far between. And I've been thinking about why this is, and I think I've hit upon a reason for it...
When I'm talking about books with people I'm quite clear that I don't like female protaganists, if I flick though a book and find a female prot, the book will have to have something remarkable about it for me to continue on with it. There are exceptions, most of which Celia Friedman can be thanked for, but generally this is true.
My reasoning for this is that their femaleness is (generally) of too much note (I should point out here I am mostly talking about fantasy and sci-fi novels as they're what I read, also, that I am generalising hugely) and...I really hate that. If it's a male protagonist, there's nothing about him being male, there's no grand conflict, nor any mary-sue esque explanation that they're exceptional within their sex, they just GET ON WITH IT, because for a bloke to be a great warrior/hero/scourcerer etc is absolutely normal, but for a woman, OH MY THEY'RE SO UNUSUAL AND TALENTED. No. Why can't the women be just as talented and fabulous as the men? When you get people trying to write strong women, I find that so often they have to make a point of it, which devalues other women within whatever universe it is, and kindof ruins whatever point they may have been trying to make in the first place.
I'm not saying that I want a female character who barely notices she's a woman, because, well, then she might as well be a man in a dress, but I don't want a song a dance about it.
ALSO. ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS. Right. Woman comes into a show (yes, supernatural for example) and all fandom exploads with hate, and then the other parts of fandom expload with "YOU JUST HATE HER BECAUSE SHE'S A GIRL". And, well, some people, maybe, but actually I just think it's the idea that women are used as some kind of romantic vehicle for male characters.
Case Study: Supernatural. I would have liked Anna a whole lot more is she hadn't slept with Dean, not because "No one can have dean but meeeee!" but because...why does she have to be interested in him? Does she not have better shit to do with her time? Jo. I liked her a lot more the second time around when there wasn't any tension with her and Dean, (Also, seriously, they put her in that episode with the apartment they bought, I forget, and she was KICKASS for all of two seconds before she got trapped and they had to save her). Ruby, driven demon-type. Liked her a lot more when she wasn't having sex with Sam and she was quite happy doing her own thing, plz and thankyou.
I hatehatehate when women are introduced as an....an appendage to a male character. I get that with stuff like, well, Supernatural, two male leads, they are going to be side characters, but why do they have to inspire romance or protectiveness, can't they just be strong independant characters? BLAH BLAH I am making a very confused and incoherant point here.
I think my issue is I want a character I would happily relate to, who I could point at andd say "Yes, I would quite happily be associated with her and her actions"
Like Buffy characters. OR. Kate Beckett. Love her.
I don't even know what I've typed now. It's like 2am and I am brain fried from dissertation. I've probably offended someone or said something misinformed, but such is life.