on writing female characters

[splinteredstar]

Okay, so. This is mostly me trying to sort my own brain out. Sometimes writing things down helps me figure out what they are.

Short version: sometimes I get wigged out over female characters.

Context: I have an old, old idea. Involves rebels against an oppressive government, only the leader of the rebellion falls under the influence of the superweapon (I can ramble about how that works later) and goes bug fuck insane. Still not certain if the crazy is terminal.

Originally, the rebel leader was a man named Joshua, but Joshua ended up being a very different character (a Royalist, for one). So I split him into two, Joshua and Julian, Julian being the rebel leader who eventually goes insane and becomes the villain. And it sat for a year.

Well this week I was struck with the idea. What if Julian was instead Jillian?

But that sort of opened a mess of questions in my head. A good rebel leader (and good villain) requires passion and drive and cunning and charisma. Would making the villain a woman ‘make a statement’ about women with those traits? I always despaired as a child that all the powerful women in fiction were evil. But if I /don’t/ make the character a woman, is that making a different, equally bad statement? Does equal representation count for the antagonists?

Worrying about all this is a bit daft, I know. A character shouldn’t be swayed by the pressures in my society. But I do worry. What if I’m being swayed and not aware of it? There's a mess of social implications with female characters which of course also exist for male characters, but I don't feel them as strongly. Thinking about it is better than, well, not thinking about it, but how do I find an /answer/?

Arg. Any opinions would be wonderful.

 

Comments

[inkdust]

Well, if you're interested in an opinion, here's mine. Make the villain a woman. Make her powerful and fearsome and terrible. And then make a major female character on the side of Good who is as badass and wonderful as the villain is terrible. Give both of them extremely admirable qualities and extremely present flaws. And then tell your story.

[caecilia]

This. I love female villains. And when the fate of the world depends on the outcome of a power struggle between two women? That's even better. Putting a bunch of female supporting characters on both sides as well is best.

[splinteredstar]

Hmm... I don't think I'm quite couching this as "power struggle between two people" as much as "one person slowly losing struggle against own madness." But yeah, there should be more than one powerful woman. Hm. Queen, maybe...

[caecilia]

Ha, sorry. When I read your post I started thinking about my own ideas. I guess that's a good thing?

I love queens and lately I have been thinking of stories about queens doing things. You know what else I like? Strong, powerful peasant girls and middle class merchant ladies. They don't have to be considered powerful in-universe to be powerful as characters.

[splinteredstar]

Oh, of course. It's jut that I know there's a king running around, so a queen would be expected. I'm toying with the idea of one of the main characters being the Princess, but I'm not sure. The set up still needs some development, I think.

And it is!

[sarillia]

Yep, this.

I've said before that I think the key to good representation is having several characters who fit into whatever group you're worrying about who are all different people. If you have just one, it could conceivably be read as a statement about how all X are Y, but if you have several with various vices and virtues then it's hard to read anything into except that they are individuals like anyone else.

[splinteredstar]

Yeah, I think that's it. It's just, it's like I'm aware of the social ramifications of characters, and the whole mess of social politics and implications, but it's difficult to know what to /do/ about it.

I am getting some ideas, though, about what I can do. Thank you, everyone.

[sarillia]

I find it kind of strange that I don't worry more about this. I'm very conscious of social implications and often critique things from that angle, but somehow I just don't worry about it that much while I'm writing. With this subject, I'm okay with only worrying about it after someone has read it and commented on it.

[splinteredstar]

Yeah, you're right. I mean, part of the problem is I'm not sure if there 's a "good" side yet, so much as "slightly less crazy" side. But yes.

[inkdust]

Well, slightly-less-crazy side, then. That could be even better :)

[splinteredstar]

*nod* Like, calling Joshua a 'royalist' kind of over simplifies it. Because there's the current crazy king, the royalists who want the crazy king's considerably less crazy but totally unwilling brother on the throne, and the rebels led by Jillian, who starts out democratic but becomes increasingly anarchistic as her sanity slips.

So I'm not really sure there's a right or wrong side. Just shades of lunacy that happen to point in opposite directions, until Jillian goes completely crazy and starts burning everything. But yes, putting equally compelling women opposite her (in each faction, most likely) is probably the way forward, isn't it?

[inkdust]

Definitely the way forward. Nothing makes a statement like creating an "only one." The more women you include, the less you could be seen as saying anything about gender (except maybe of equality). I tend to write more female characters than male, so I'm happy to be a sounding board, if you find them trickier.

[splinteredstar]

Hm, yeah. Thank you! I might take you up on that offer, some time.

It's just. I grew up with two older brothers, and always hung out with their friends and boy scout activities. And a lot of the older novels I read growing have male protagonists, and the female characters were so far from people as to be useless. So even now I'm like "oh god, women, how do I."

But that's my own issue. I'm working on it.

[inkdust]

Ah, I understand. I was always the typical girls-are-way-better :D But every bit you do helps. I wish you luck!

[serria]

Ahhh, I can understand where you're coming from. Most of my stories feature women in "nontraditional" roles, but when I start thinking about it that way, I start worrying if I seem like I'm trying to make a statement, and "women are so badass and cool" is just as bad as "women are conniving and evil" because these traits should be completely separate from the actual gender of the character.

I don't think you should worry about making the villain a woman. Try not to even consider it mattering, focus on the character beyond the gender. But a good general rule is that if you're worried about making a social statement with a character that's going to be reduced to his or her group, then have another character from that same group that's not in the "controversial" position. If your villain is gay, that's fine, but if you don't want an audience to suspect you might be homophobic, have at least one other gay character who is a hero, or at least as more admirable traits. Same with a female villain - are you able to make another female character on Joshua's side, who also perhaps has those traits of being clever and charismatic, but isn't a villain?

I think equal representation definitely applies to villains, too. Or rather, I don't like to think of it in those terms. More just writing about real people who happen to be fictional. But it is important not to reduce the character to that particular trait or group status, and better to have other members of that group present in the story who are not antagonists. Especially if you, the author, are not in that particular minority group yourself.

[splinteredstar]

Yeah. I'm just aware enough of all the gender politics to notice that people can interpret things as statements, and that representation matters - but the solution as to what I'm supposed to /do/ about all that is a little murkier. The traits /should/ be separate, but that doesn't mean they'll be taken that way.

Yeah, I try to. But I don't want, well. Like I said, when I was younger I figured I had to be bad, because all the strong women were bad. I don't want to fall into that trap, that strength and cunning and independence means evil. So yeah, put an opposite number, one who disproves that. *nod nod* Not quite sure who, yet, but I'm starting to get ideas.

I don't usually. I'm just aware enough to realize that representation matters, and I worry about the effect I might have on readers. It's like, I know that gender doesn't matter to me personally, but I know that it matters to the world.

If I wasn't actually in a minority group I would try and find someone who /was/ who didn't mind me pestering them with questions. I'm not completely new at this. *wink*