The Stereotyped Female

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"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God 
He created him; male and female 
He created them."

- genesis 1:27 

The other day when I was over at Jenny's house, I idly picked up a novel about Mary, Queen of Scots that neither of us had read and started in on it.  The writing was so-so; but the subject was the murder of Lord Darnley, and historic "cold cases" are, to me, fascinating things to study.  I was enjoying myself, until the author introduced the main female character (not Mary) and, I suppose, the love interest.  And then I started to groan.

The woman was the archetypical kick-rear-end character, constantly overawing the men with her fearsome wit and amazing skills.  She was, apparently, around to protect the main male character from his own naivete, but when I tried to look beyond her "coquettish smile," she seemed quite brainless.  ...And we'll not even go into how historically inaccurate such a character is for the 16th Century.

The character started me chugging on a long train of thought regarding the sexes in modern literature and the amount of stereotypes that crop up.  Judging more from reviews than from contemporary novels themselves, since I read few of them, it would appear that there are two ways to write a female character: either make her irritatingly "awesome" and capable of wiping out the entire male population with her pinky finger; or make her inept, the sort who sulks 80% of the novel and cries the other 20% and whom the hero must rescue at every turn.  I've seen a host of reviews that say of the heroine, "She started out kind of wimpy, but about seventy pages in she got her act together and kicked the villain's rear."  So apparently a lot of authors manage to cram both stereotypes into a single book - even into a single character!

The author of the novel on Mary, Queen of Scots is a man, and as I thought, it occurred to me that a man writing a female character is in a much tougher situation than a woman writing a male character.  Feminism has taken such a tight hold on our society: frankly, even if we're not "feminists," I think we must admit that we're more influenced by the movement than we would like to believe.  Women can be very jealous of their self-image, and there's the underlying belief that a woman can do anything, be anything, just as well as a man.  For men, this has to present a difficulty when they try to write a woman - because if they err toward the stereotype of a woman being helpless, they'll be labelled misogynistic, whereas if they err toward the stereotype of a woman in steel-toed boots, they'll be more leniently called "ignorant."  Women get off with being called "ignorant" no matter how they abuse a man's image, it seems.

And yet women are by no means innocent when it comes to stereotypes, female (painfully ironic) as well as male.  For in order to make men and women the same - which is really what feminism is attempting to do, and goes much beyond equality of the sexes - authors must either make women out of their men, or men out of their women.  Why is it that so many authors can't seem to avoid turning their characters into such caricatures?  Might it actually be because a great many of the underlying beliefs in our day and age are patently false?  That women and men are not the same, emotionally, mentally, or physically, and that maybe maybe women can't do everything just as well men can?

Saying such a thing tends to break a great many toes, but I think it's reasonable to look around and realize that most of the women we meet are neither spineless sponges nor steel-booted superheroes.  (We'll leave Black Widow out of the picture for now.)  They're somewhere in between, perhaps nearer one end of the spectrum than the other.  And it doesn't denigrate who a woman fundamentally is to be there.  The only reason we think it does is that we've got our notions of equality and capability and worth all mixed up and snarled.

I'm not saying there is no place for strong female characters, nor even that there is no place for Black Widow heroines.  But these characters have to be real, and not caricatures.  They've got to have foibles and weaknesses, and times when they just can't handle all the lemons life is throwing at them.  It is unrealistic that a character should be able to take care of herself a hundred percent of the time, or that she is never a failure at anything, or that she never has need of a man's help.   It's worse than unrealistic; it isn't real.  And no matter how many awesome fight scenes there are in which the heroine kills forty men at a time, and no matter how many times she tells the hero, "You can't save me; I've got to save myself," readers can spot the flatness of her character.  For even with all the effects of feminism, we still have some sense of what is real - and this isn't it.

what traits do you appreciate in a female character?

Beautiful People - Kay

pinterest: tempus regina

"I'm so glad I live in a world 

where there are Octobers."

Thus sayeth Anne Shirley of Green Gables, to which I answer, "Ah ha!  I always knew there was a reason I liked Anne!"

October is a beautiful month.  It means the proper beginning of autumn, and preparation for November's NaNo writing, and - best of all - my family and I going on our annual beach trip.  When a month is full of such lovelies, who could not adore it?   It being October means, however, that there are several Announcements.  First off, I already mentioned that I will be on vacation Oct. 12-19, and I doubt I will be posting during that period.  If I am very on-the-ball, I might have posts ready-made to go live; but since I doubt I'll be that proactive, and because last time I tried scheduling a post it didn't work, I don't think you'll see any Scribbles posts that week. 

Secondly, and much more fun for you, Jenny and I are celebrating the second anniversaries of our novels The Shadow Things and The Soldier's Cross this November!  Scribbles will be full of giveaways, chatty posts about the book and publishing and that good stuff, speaking French and German, covering screens and I know not what.  (Kudos if you got that reference.)  There will also be question-and-answer posts, so if you have anything to ask, hurry and send me your questions!  You may post them here, send them via Facebook, or email me, and I'll answer them during November.  It's going to be big, folks!

On now to the subject of this post.  I didn't do anything with Beautiful People last month; Sky and Georgie's meme is on hold due to the busy-ness of their lives at present, but I do like to shuffle the previous questions about and go on with it all the same.  This month I'm bringing in another character from Tempus Regina: Regina's younger brother, who isn't actually present through most of the story.

kay

1. What does he look like?

Kay is very thin and pale, all limbs and sharply-defined bones.  His hair sticks up in odd tufts and, being black, makes his face even paler and thinner; he has large eyes, brown with an odd, heavy coloring of watered gold.  If his mind had grown with his body, he might by this time have been the quintessential Byronic hero.  As it is, he looks something like a ghost.

2. How old is he?

Kay is fourteen - in years, at least.

3. What kind of personality does he have?  Introverted or extroverted?  Cheerful or morose?

Extroverted, despite being mentally ill.  Kay is friendly in the same careless, open way a child is friendly, for he knows no reason not to be.  Living in the slums of Victorian London, such naivete can get him into worlds of trouble, and Regina is often hard-pressed to keep her brother safe.  At the same time, Kay has the usual childish streak of selfishness about him and can be difficult to cope with; he is, in essence, the typical child of four in the body of a fourteen-year-old.

4. What animals does he like best?

Kay is fond of most animals.  He especially likes moths, and loves to watch the light through their wings as they fly around lamps.  Also, some years ago he saw a fawn in a picture book and now talks about it frequently; he is set on seeing one and petting it.

5. Is there something he is afraid of?

Kay is not afraid of much; he isn't self-aware enough to be afraid.  As long as he knows Regina is somewhere nearby, he can cope quite well with darkness and the usual childhood bogeymen.  He doesn't like spiders or beetles, and always makes Regina kill them.   He had croup frequently as a little boy and whenever he coughs, he's afraid he'll have it again.

6. If he had magic, how would it express itself?  (Alright, so that's original to me...)

I've asked the question, and now I'm having a hard time answering it.  His would not be an "elemental" magic - commanding the elements, that is; nor would he read other people's minds, for that wouldn't interest him.  I think he might be an animal-whisperer, with the power to call creatures and command them.  

7. Is he musical?

No.  He has not had access to any instruments in the past nine years, nor is he by nature musically-inclined.  He is, I believe, more of a painter, and would perhaps produce pleasant water-colors if given the opportunity.

8. Does he have any annoying habits?  Any habits at all?

Regina could list a host of annoying habits, but the childish selfishness mentioned before is at the root of them.  He asks far too many questions - why's and wherefore's and when's and who's, and all sorts of things that Regina cannot or would rather not answer.  He is often pushy, and excels at sulking when he doesn't get his way (which is often).  He hums to himself, too, which grates on Regina's nerves after a long day of work.  Sometimes, however, he will brush her hair, and that is one habit she does not dislike.

9. What sort of laugh does he have?

Kay rarely laughs, but he has a wide grin when amused.

10. How do other characters feel about him?

Regina's feelings for Kay are mixed.  He has been her burden for nine years and he makes a heavy load indeed, for it is difficult to care for a child and know at the same time that he will always be a child.  At times she feels herself close to hating him - but perhaps she only thinks that because she is not truly aware what either hate or love is.  But whatever her feelings, she'll still go to any lengths and make any sacrifice to keep him safe.  It's just that those lengths and sacrifices hurt her more than she would care to confess.