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iamafanofcartoons · 1 year

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We need to address how media, and media critics, portray female characters poorly. What can be done about it? What are examples of media works that portray complex female characters well? What are writing tips for people trying to write complex female characters? Why do media critics hate on women?

Its just something I noticed.

Male writers drop the ball with female characters all the time. They'll give the men all the good lines but women get weak roles and no sense of humor. When we complain they then make a female character who has too many boyfriends and too much ego and too much power but no resourcefulness, or she's super powerful but still needs a man to save her, and of course they make her complain about everything and fight with everyone who helps her. I could go on and on.

A lot of people are incapable of viewing female characters as anything other than an innocent saint or a portrait of pure evil. Arguably the best characters are morally ambiguous ones who live in the gray area between good and evil, but women are much less often afforded that distinction than their male counterparts.

I'm been having a huge problem connecting to media. The only women around are very young or very old and their main defining feature is usually motherhood. If a woman my age exists who isn't a mom she's usually either obsessed with men or desperate to have a baby (or will be once the right dude comes along).

Fanfiction has great female characters , but you keep running into people who will only write a complex woman who's tied to a male main character.

Michael Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery . POC Female Protagonist. You probably have heard or seen a lot of hatred against.

Korra from The Legend Of Korra. Sequel Series to ATLA. POC Female Protagonist. Despite losing fights and suffering extreme trauma and making mistakes, critics passionately bash the show, calling her a Mary-Sue, and accusing the show of being Protagonist-Centered Morality.

A lot of the time if there is a military high ranking female character or just female leader that is masculine or butch she will be the villain to be defeated by the traditionally feminine or at least more feminine heroine/love interest of the hero. I hate this because it basically implies that a woman can only be good if she’s conventionally attractive or a love interest. It’s saying being butch is bad/evil.

Even movies trying to be feminist, like “Contact” which I had to watch for homework? With Jodie Foster from the 1990s told the brilliant, focused woman scientist to not be so “confrontational” (as two male characters stole credit for her work right after they stole her funding) and to be happy with “small moves.” They continued to pat her on the head and tell her to be quiet through the whole movie. The one time she even spoke to another woman was to ask where she could find a really pretty dress. This was supposed to show growth in her character arc.

If I recall correctly, one of the playable characters in the next release of the grand theft auto series is gonna be a women. People online were flipping out over this saying they are being too "woke", among other things. Its funny to me because there has been 5 gta games with only male protagonists, and now there's 1 female in it and suddenly its a problem. Its like these people think there are only 2 genders in games, male and woke.

Heck, people love basic trope laden protagonists..... until they are women.

People love unreasonably over powered characters that are loved or feared in equal measure by the entire cast..... until its a woman.

Then all of a sudden, she's a Mary-Sue and the show/game/book is "Protagonist-Centered Morality"

Some characters who are torn apart for their initial naïveté like Sansa Stark or Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) are immediately written off as stupid girl characters. Never mind that one becomes a political powerhouse and the other routinely saves the world. People just write their characters off as too “girly” or “annoying” before they even have the chance to redeem themselves in their stories.

Feels like at it's core, people don't like women trying to build self confidence and play out power fantasies. The only difference with the original Mary Sue was that she was imagining being liked by everyone, which was every woman's dream back then and to a certain extent, now. The power was being well liked, and that made her annoyingly boring because there was no struggle for her. Men think struggle is needed, even in fantasies and dreams, but it isn't.

The term Mary-Sue gained a new popularity by shaming female characters (such as Rey, Galadriel, Captain Marvel,…). I am not saying the term is not used towards male characters as well, but it is more rare, and it is rarely as violent as when it is used to characterize a female character.

More importantly it is used against female characters unevenly compared to male characters, its accepted as a genre trope for a male character to be extremely capable or to acrue experience and ability rapidly throughout the narrative. But when it's a woman suddenly "realism" must apply, a real person doesn't simply gain strength and talent through endless perfectly leveled hardship. In simpler terms, Batman can launch a thug across the room with a single punch and it's awesome, Black Widow, however, is breaking the laws of physics when she does her famous around the neck takedown.

Neither are realistic, arguably any grown man launching another grown man bodily through the air with a casual punch is less realistic than a woman pulling off a skilled takedown, but the unequal application of standards says all that needs to be said about the critic.

Writing a "mary sue" to be male often results in a praised character that people don't really worry about. Like Goku or Kirito. People are fine with it. Enjoy it. And there's massive amounts of rather popular fanfiction taking random male characters in series and sue-ifying them, making them the protagonist over the actual main characters, and slapping in poorly developed romance arcs. It's "mary sue" 101, but hardly anyone talks about them in that light.

Meanwhile a woman shows a level of competence similar to another character in the same series (e.g. Rey to Luke or Anakin) and the accusations are everywhere.

Calling these characters one-dimensional is one of the dog-whistles of the modern [whatever]-gate colony creature.

They know that they'll get savaged if they come out and say they're mad because this character is a woman, so they couch everything in these subjective terms. She's one-dimensional. She's flat. She's badly written. She's a mary sue. I just couldn't relate to her.

You can argue with them, you can point out that, say, in Star Wars, that Rey's ability to handle weapons intentionally established in the early scenes of TFA, that we see the setup for the skills she's going to display later in the movie/series, and that her first win is against a badly wounded Sith apprentice. By contrast, Luke successfully fights his way through a huge space station against professional soldiers, then hops into a starfighter he's never flown before, outflies a bunch of experienced pilots, and pulls off a physically impossible shot to save the day.

But sure. Rey is the one who strains credulity.

You can point all that out, but none of it matters. They're not arguing in good faith. They're just mad that there's a girl, and know better than to say that out loud.

He pulls off the shot because he has a throwaway line about murdering animals the size of a camel for fun in his civilian craft that just so happens to have controls similar to the military superiority fighter because they were manufactured by the same company. Because that doesn't strain credibility. Also guess which parts were filled in later by novel writers who were like, "holy **** that makes no sense at all"

Sailor Moon and Sansa Stark are two female characters that start out as whiney cry-baby girlie girls who evolve into political powerhouses and heroes in their own right. But most people write their characters off immediately, because they’re disgusted by their girlish-ness.

While our media gives male characters a chance to grow, female characters are generally written off unless they either show masculine traits, or are used for fan service. It’s why women in movies and TV are usually a kickass tomboy or a girlfriend character.

So anyway, I guess my point is that there are amazing kickass women characters who are well-written and evolve and grow, but their growth tends to be written off as frivolous and not as cool as their dude counterparts.

Imagine an anime where the woman is the main character and she's strong, smart, and not sexualized ?

How about Guardian of the Spirit (seirei no moribito in Japanese)? The MC is a mercenary woman who fights with a spear. She's a complex character, maybe somewhat emotionally stunted because of growing up on the road. She meets a wonderful, compassionate male healer and I love how they break stereotypical gender roles. There's also a complete badass old lady with magical powers and a temper. One of my favourite characters in any genre.

But I'd like to add SuleMio to the list.

Some people did not like that Gundam had its first female protagonist last year, or that she's engaged to another girl, or that they have a romantic moment where Miorine makes Suletta "promise to be with me forever".

It's my first Gundam show and I was nowhere near the fandom, but even I heard the howls of rage from the otakus over that show while it was airing.

“ I highly recommend reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Strong female main character with a supportive cast of male characters. His Skyward series is also good for this. Sanderson is great but there are some female fantasy writers that do this even better IMO. NK Jemisin has tons of great female characters. Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb series has a majority female cast and I’d say 4 or 5 of them are in the top ten most interesting and complex female characters I’ve read. “

You heard of The Bechdel test: Two women have to talk about something other than a man. There is no time window. It came up in a 1985 comic Dykes To Watch Out For and although it is not a great indicator of more feminist content, it's a wonder much media fails to pass that test.

Have you seen

Arcane? That is a wild crazy masterpiece with awesomely complex awesome characters. It's animated, yeah, so what? But I mean, to say "it's animated" is a heavy understatement. Have you seen Jinx? Have you seen her portrayal of psychosis and godknows what else was happening in her head? No one in history came even close to that.

Queen's Gambit? Anya Taylor-Joy brought Beth Harmon flawlessly through immense complexity of the character

Mare of Easttown - Kate Winslet there is, I kid you not, the best acting I have ever seen. Her character is going through complex situations and emotions and learning to deal with her human side. Bryan Cranston raised the bar ridiculously high with Walter White, but Kate Winslet pushed it further up, set explosives on it, and walked away like a badass without looking at the explosion. No one is topping that anytime soon.

I'm sure there are more examples. But what I love about these, and a big part of what makes them perfect is that they are their own characters and aren't defined by men around them. Their greatn

I wish female characters were given better in terms of development and characterization. Honestly, I feel like a lot of people hate female characters simply because most male dominated media does such a poor job of writing women, and those characters aren't given the same excuses as poorly written male characters.

Anyway, yeah, sorry for my rant. Having grown up on Anime, Harry Potter, Star Wars, you name it?

I later in life realized what was missing, what is needed, and really needed to hear other people's input on this stuff.

I never understood the need for every main character to be only a cishet white guy. I had already come up with several characters of my own, all of them LGBTQIA+, and half of them women, and several also POC. But my writing and art skills are poor so I can't visualize them properly...

We need more female authors, and we need to promote the ones that are out there more!

(there are plenty of really, really good female authors, in all genres, but often they get less attention, because, well, misogyny)

Edit: If you want an example of how the double-standard towards women and LGBT is applied? Go watch RWBY or Legend of Korra. Both involve a deconstruction of tropes. Both involve women standing up against an authority that demands respect based on being authority, not based on respect. Both shut down the white male savior trope so hard, that men and women who love the patriarchy despise both shows.

But of course, anything that Team RWBY or Korra does is immediately held to a double standard and ripped into for anything that they do NOT because they’re flawed or because of writing decisions. Its because they’re LGBT women that they’re held under a microscope. Or have you noticed that every fixit fanfic for both series involves defending the Patriarchy while supporting toxic masculinity and trying to revive the White Male Savior trope that both shows have tried so hard to bury six feet under?

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nascentsoulstudios · 9 months

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https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/phoenix-rising-updated-08-12-23-wip/140948 Link to the WIP page on the Choicescript forums for Phoenix Rising!

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sweet-as-writing · 2 years

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Tips on writing LGBTQ characters

Hi! These are just a general list of tips, and as with any writing advice, there are always exceptions. If you are writing LGBTQ characters (or really any characters belonging to a marginalized identity group), make sure to get a sensitivity reader and do your research!

Don’t make their sexual orientation/gender their only trait, even if they are a more minor side character.

Avoid “protecting your gay darlings” but also don’t kill off all the gay characters. This can be hard to balance especially if you don’t have a lot of gay characters, but essentially you should separate their sexuality from their life/death situation unless they are a key part of the story. A gay character can survive, but not because “aww so precious and pure” and also can die but not “it’s revenge for their sins/inevitable because of the society they live in”

If you are writing historical fiction, don’t be afraid to make people homophobic/transphobic/generally unaccepting. Even “good” characters can have preconceived notions they need to overcome. Also, in more ancient times, society often had a different relationship with LGBTQ people and didn’t label them in the same way we do today. So do your research!

If you aren’t LGBTQ, don’t be afraid to write characters that are. Just do your research and know your boundaries. Make sure you know what to avoid writing and get a sensitivity reader to make sure you haven’t crossed any inappropriate lines.

If you are LGBTQ, you don’t have to write characters of your identity, but it’s often a great way to express yourself and create authentic representation. Even so, it’s still possible to fall victim to stereotypes and harmful tropes simply because we live in a society full of them. So still get sensitivity checkers and do some research if you aren’t 100% sure of a subject.

In fantasy/sci-fi worlds, don’t be afraid to play around with concepts of gender and sexuality!

You can write the “stereotypical” feminine gay man, masculine lesbian, etc, or the “anti-stereotypical” LGBTQ character, or a “normal” (i.e. abiding by societal norms) character, and still make it work or mess it up regardless. Instead of trying to defy stereotypes or falling victim to them, focus on creating a 3 dimensional character who goes beyond their appearance.

Be very careful when it comes to transgender deadnames. There’s occasionally a time and place for mentioning them, but more often that not, don’t bring them up unless it’s relevant to the story.

Hope this helps, and again, do your research and have other LGBTQ people look over your writing!

#writing advice #writing tips #writing lgbt #writing #writblr

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sinsuselessopinions · 3 months

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Ugh I've gotta stop writing fanfiction and start writing an original story about a collection of difficult trans interpersonal relationships each with heartwarming conclusions to their conflicts that gives me hope for the world looking all cute n shit

#writing lgbt #writers block #queer #neurodivergent #trans masc

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genderqueerdykes · 3 months

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just talked to a 65 year old genderfluid person on an internet forum whose topic was completely unrelated to queerness. people love to tell young genderfluid people that we're "confused" or that it's "just a phase" but that just ain't the truth. we're out here, and we make it to old age, just the same as we were all those years ago, unchanging in knowing who we are on the inside. my heart is full, my skin is clear, and my crops are flourishing

#genderfluid #transgender #trans #lgbtqia #lgbtq #lgbt #queer #nonbinary #non binary #multigender #our writing #queer elders

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a-teacup-of-golden-cracks · 5 months

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I'm incredibly hot and I use this power almost solely to fulfill my ultimate fetish

#the jolly writings #how has this post broken containment I didn't even tag it #but I will now #nsft #topposting #trans nsft #nonbinary nsft #lgbt nsft #196 #bottomposting #shitpost

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going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi · 1 year

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#writing #writer #gay #queer #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtq+#queer writing #queer writer #lgbt writing #lgbt writer #writing things #writer things #writing problems #writer problems #writing memes #writer memes

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whereserpentswalk · 8 months

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androgynealienfemme · 11 months

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"I know what butch is. Butches are not beginner FTMs, except that sometimes they are, but it's not a continuum except when it is. Butch is not a trans identity unless the butch in question says it is, in which case it is, unless the tranny in question says it isn't, in which case it's not. There is no such thing as butch flight, no matter what the femmes or elders say, unless saying that invalidates the opinions of femmes in a sexist fashion or the opinions of elders in an ageist fashion. Or if they're right. But they are not, because butch and transgender are the same thing with different names, except that butch is not a trans identity, unless it is; see above."

-"I KNOW WHAT BUTCH IS", Butch is a Noun, Essays by S. Bear Bergman (2006)

#butch is a noun #s. bear bergman #lesbian #lesbianism #transgender #trans man #butch #butch lesbian #trans butch #transmasculine #gender stuff #trans lit #lesbian lit #this essay fucking rocks #lgbtq+ writing #lgbt writing

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ihhfhonao3 · 10 months

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You know that smut you like? Y’know, the really, REALLY good one? You know that one? Yeah?

An asexual wrote that.

And that really good romantic fluff you like? The really cute one, the domestic fluff? Y’know that one?

An aromantic wrote that.

So before you go to sleep reading fanfiction tonight, be sure to thank all the asexuals and aromantics that are writing your favorite fics!

Because no, we are not the pure little children you think we are.

Everybody say thank you a-specs!

Thank you a-specs!

Alright, I’ll let you go now :3

#asexual #asexuality #aromantic #aromanticism #aegosexual #aegoromantic #aroace #aroallo #alloace #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #queer #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #shoutout to all the aces who write smut and all the aros that write romance #y’all are the best

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nascentsoulstudios · 9 months

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For anyone who wants to write inclusive historical fiction, this website (Writing The Other) is great for any kind of writer. As a white, female Asexual author, it is important for me to maintain an idea of what is appropriate for writing POC and Allosexual people. And this course is from the amazing people who wrote the book Writing the Other. I've attended one of their seminars before a long, long, time ago. This one, I can't afford, but I hope you all take it and enjoy it!

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utopicwork · 4 months

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Something a little more experimental and a little more personal, Ill write descriptions when I have the spoons

Update wrote the ids

Addition: this poem is now dedicated to Lily

#writing #orbit mind is the app btw #long post #transmisogyny mention #trans #lgbt

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dog-pilled · 6 months

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cw: intox, somno

my fantasy of the day:

spending the night with your owner, because you haven’t been sleeping well lately, and they know just how to put you to sleep!!

“c’mere pup, let’s get you some melatonin to help you go to bed on time tonight.” you protest, but only slightly - as fun as it is to stay up with your owner, you know you need your rest.

“open up-” they gently hold your jaw as they place the tablet on your tongue, and softly run their fingers through your hair as it dissolves in your mouth, leaving behind a fruity taste.

only moments later, you’re snuggled up against your owner, their chest against your back, as the drowsiness begins to set in. all the while your owner is softly tracing their fingers through your hair and over your skin.

just as you’re on the verge of sleep, you feel their fingers make their way up to your mouth. just a finger or two, gently tracing your lips or softly pressing against your tongue, but not enough to wake you from your sleep-hazed state. you’d much rather stay cozy where you are, nearly drooling over your owner’s fingers at this point.

the fingers in your mouth stop for a moment, but are almost immediately replaced with their other hand, as the first slips under your waistband with slick fingers gliding over your tdick. you let out a small, sleepy gasp at the sensation.

“shhh, it’s alright pup, go back to sleep. i’m only helping, remember?” your owner coos with a gentle kiss to the back of your head. the fingers in your mouth massage gentle circles across your tongue, while the fingers at your crotch gently stroke your tdick, back and forth.

before long, you notice you’ve been softly whining and panting in your sleepy daze. maybe you’ve even began sucking on the fingers in your mouth or rutting against your owner’s hand without realizing. but just as you’ve nearly fallen into a blissful sleep, you feel the fingers that were rubbing against your tdick glide down, and then into your already soaking cunt.

you gasp once more as you feel your owner’s fingers slide into you, gently thrusting and massaging how it feels best. it’s hard to do much in this sleepy state other than whine and moan around the fingers in your mouth.

“shhh, it’s alright pup, relax. there ya go~ such a pretty, sleepy mess-” your owner coos once more as the fingers inside you slow down, just to add their thumb against your tdick. their fingers curl inside you as their thumb massages in circles that feel so good, almost helplessly moaning and drooling over the fingers in your mouth as you cum over your owner’s hand.

“what a good pup~” your owner praises, as they bring their motions to a slow and plant gentle kisses along the back of your head, neck, and shoulders. they hold you tightly against them as you come down from your orgasm, falling asleep in your owner’s arms soon after.

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