Writing Tips 3: Female Protagonists

You might find it odd that I, Infernity Zero, am writing a blog about females when I, Infernity Zero, am 101% male. Well, that's because with the advent of shows like FiM, Steven Universe, Legend of Korra, Miraculous Ladybug etc., more and more shows are putting the "better half" in the spotlight. And as a feminist myself who supports equal rights for both genders while still acknowledging that men and women are inherently different, I think that's a good thing.

Rose: You finished covering yourself, Mr. Politically Correct?

Hey, the last thing I want is to be accused of being sexist. Anyway, while such an avocation is inherently empowering, a lot of writers make a few common mistakes when writing girls. So, I thought I'd give a few tips when writing female protagonists.

Tip 1: Don't draw attention to it.

The time of Rosie the Riveter is over. The idea of coed characters is the standard, not the exception. Yet as Supergirl shows us, people still try and make a big deal about actionized girls. The irony is, if you do draw attention to this and make it seem abnormal, you're actually REINFORCING the stereotype of women being weak. For example, I was playing air hockey with one of my dad's friends; and when she took the lead, she started taunting me that I was about to be beaten by a girl. When I pointed out that she was actually making herself look weak by implying that such an occurrence was unnatural, she retracted her words. If this is the rule, you need to treat it as such. The sight of a woman on a team has to be normal.

Tip 2: Have them get hit.

TV Tropes defines a Faux Action Girl as a female character who talks a big game but can't put her money where her mouth is. A good example is Mai Valentine from Yugioh. The way she goes on, you'd think she was one of the best duelists in the world, but she never wins a single duel onscreen. A lot of the time the reason this archetype comes into play is because the writer wants to have female fighters but doesn't want to have them get hit by males because of the Wouldn't Hit a Girl stereotype. So, they get captured or taken out of the action early to avoid that. At best, they'll fight other girls instead. Now, as a former Taekwondo student, I've sparred against girls before; so let me tell you, they can take a hit and hit back just as hard. And again, by not letting them get hit, you're once more saying that they're too weak. Either that, or you go the Buffy the Vampire Slayer route (HATE HATE HATE) and have them effortlessly win almost every fight they get into. But I digress. Having the girls actually take some punishment shows that they're tough, especially when they take the beating and still win. Don't be afraid to get them dirty either. Scratches, torn hair, blood, the works.

Rose: You mean like what you did with Old-Shine?

I hate catfights. They're annoying and unrealistic. Fights between girls in real life aren't sexy, they're brutal.

Tip 3: Make them falible

I don't just mean from a Mary Sue standpoint. Just from a regular standpoint. Don't make her automatically the smartest one because she's a girl. Don't paint her as above the antics of her peers. Unless she's like Twilight who's Not So Above It All no matter how serious she tries to be. Have her make mistakes. Have her succumb to slapstick. A lot of people, without meaning to, make their girls too dainty because they're afraid of damaging their characters. Faust herself had to deal with that when making MLP and had to enforce the slapstick as it ended up. Just make them human. It's okay.

Tip 4: Don't nerf the male characters.

This one's important because a LOT of otherwise good shows make this mistake. Even Steven Universe (only one male character has any fighting prowess at all and his skills are primarily defensive) and MLP (Shining Armor fails constantly, Spike is the World's Chew Toy, and Big Mac is barely there.) fall into this trap. Some people get into the mindset that in order to pave the way for the female characters, the male ones need to be made useless, incompetent, or pushed aside. Not only does that actually devalue the female characters, you're also setting up some unfortunate implications gender-wise. It's also lazy and a cheap way of advancing the plot without hindrance. One of the things I like about RWBY ironically enough is that the male to female buttkicking ratio is closer to the center. To make the genders equal, you need to give both sides accomplishments because girl power only goes so far.

That's all I, Infernity Zero, have for now. Let me know what you think as always.

Comments

[Kirito-Persona]

Great advice though part of what makes me sad, and this is no fault of yours Zero, but what makes it sad is that, for all the great shows you listed above, there are still a number of people (especially in game design) that seem to have a hard time grasping those rules :/ so my respect to you good man, and keep it up with the awesome writing advice!