| A lot of people say that a good female lead should be one that doesn't exhibit feminine traits, or one that doesn't flaunt her sexuality. I really think this is wrong. I mean obviously there are many ways to get a female protag right, and I don't want to be reductive here, but this is a harmful misconception imo. If you remove all feminine identity from a female character, you are reducing her to a "woman with a dick" protag. Additionally, this mindset presupposes that "masculine" traits are inherently more desirable for a protagonist over feminine traits. You can have a compelling female protagonist even if she's sexy, flirty, motherly, or whatever. The ISSUE that countless stories face is how they have the character function is the story. To this end, I would almost say that the character's function in the story is more important to her "quality" than the actual traits that comprise her. If you have a female character who dresses sexily for the sake of fanservice or fap material, that's bad. If you have a female character who dresses sexily because she wants to and the show doesn't tout her as a sex object for male consumption, that's fine. If you have a female character who is motherly and exists solely to fit in as a surrogate mother for a male character, that's bad. If you have a female character who is motherly that doesn't exist to service a male character, that's fine. The placement and function of the female character is just as important as what qualities you assign to her. |
KingKatsura said: One who grows stronger as the story progresses and can be independent while still embracing femininity. Great example is Yona, who is weak and dependent on others at the start, but she acknowledges this as a weakness and uses it as a basis for becoming a stronger person. Counter-example is Yona ripoff Shirayuki, who is extremely naive and dependent on others to constantly save her, but never acknowledges her naivety, and then continues to be saved like a damsel in distress while the story innaccurately frames her as a strong and independent female lead. TheBrainintheJar said: AlisLandale said: I always go by the rule "Don't write female characters, write people." This goes for any group, whether it be women, racial minorities, gay people, trans people, etc. As long as they're people first and foremost, and they're written well, I'll probably like them. Three of my favorite female characters are Marika from Mouretsu Pirates, Rin from RideBack, and Sinon from Starship Operators, and I like them because they're believably written and have strong motivations. I guess when you boil it down, I like realistically written characters, no matter the gender. :P If you're dealing with minorities, especially with groups like LGBT's you will need to address that part of them. Don't just make someone gay. Being gay means having an integral aspect of life different than everyone else. That said, being gay is only a part of someone's identity. ^ this, it's just as important for her to embrace femininity imo, unless there's a compelling reason to strip her of those qualities |
DaBackpack said: A lot of people say that a good female lead should be one that doesn't exhibit feminine traits, or one that doesn't flaunt her sexuality. I really think this is wrong. I mean obviously there are many ways to get a female protag right, and I don't want to be reductive here, but this is a harmful misconception imo. Well said. 1) Feminism is not just that it's okay for women to do stereotypically manly things. It's okay for women to do stereotypically womanly things too. But they should have a choice in this matter. 2) Not discarding femininity completely makes a character a lot more believable. After all, that's the way real women live. |
| A strong, (black) independent (sassy) woman, who don't take no shit from nobody. |
| Be thankful for the wisdom granted to you. |
| What makes a good female leading character? The same things that make a good male leading character. |
| I'm gonna say most of the girls in Claymore except for Clare. They're strong, all had decent personalities and for the most part didn't depend on a guy/romance. |
| Whatever makes a good male lead character, really. |
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so being female is secondary?????? |
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