Hmm... interesting rant about female characters. I actually find that I'm not any more judgmental of a female lead than the male lead, and there are a set of characteristics that I just find off-putting regardless of gender.
It's funny you mention that most people will criticize a girl for getting jealous. It may be true, but I find that I've never actually done that before! When I read over that, the first thing that came to my mind was "Sabriel", because there was a scene in there where she thought Touchstone was getting it on with a random maid in the next room, and she becomes all bothered but doesn't know why. Hehe, it was an EPIC scene in my head, and still remains as one of the funniest 'romantic' scenes I've ever read.
Hmm... I'm trying to think of more examples. But I don't think it's a certain pet peeve of mine. At least if I criticize a girl for getting jealous, it usually means there are other things that have bothered me even before that.
Don't worry too much about feminists. I consider myself one too, but I wouldn't hesitate calling out unfair things happening to males. I mean there are tons of books where the main character was considered a prime example of a "strong woman", but all they really are are men in women's body. It's as if a woman can only be strong if they embody traditionally male traits. It's frustrating to me, because I know that if the character had been male, the things that he'd be doing in the book would be considered as 'bad' or 'wrong'. But make it a woman, and everyone's sticking it in the feminist shelf.
And that was one of my first qualms about KoA too, where we see Attolia slap Gen just because she was angry. I thought that was pretty abusive too, because Gen's injured, and that nobody pointed it out because she happened to be a woman. So it must be okay. But switch the roles, and I won't be surprised if there was a louder outcry.
"It's just somewhat disconcerting to me that I and seemingly other people tend to expect a higher level of emotional maturity and even emotional perfection from female characters."
Maybe so. I find that too, especially when reading reviews in Amazon or Goodreads. You read one response and the character's too this, and you read the next response and the character's too that. For me though, my expectations don't just pertain to females. Males too. (That's why I'm so picky with books. If I can't connect with the main characters, I'd just put it down.) I guess I should give an example... I know that there are many fans of "Finnikin of the Rock" by Melina Marchetta, but I just found Finnikin to be so unbearable. And yes, I do agree that there should be space for character development, but if I don't start seeing at least some degree of change or realization by the first half of the book, I'd usually just give up. I pretty much think Finnikin's like a boy version of Fire (by Kristin Cashore). Haha. I know many people will disagree vehemently with me, but since I don't want to hijack your comments page with my own ranting, I'll save all my reasons for later. Most of it is just subjective though.
I think one of the best examples I can give for a character who is initially flawed but grows to be a much better person is Anidori from "Goose Girl". I found that she was just so helpless, naive and passive... well, and sort of a crybaby. At first. But her development was so shockingly huge, and the way she grows right up until the very last page was just beautiful.
Anidori's my favorite character in all the books I've read. Ever. Haha. I think you can tell. ^__~
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-11-12 02:58 am (UTC)It's funny you mention that most people will criticize a girl for getting jealous. It may be true, but I find that I've never actually done that before! When I read over that, the first thing that came to my mind was "Sabriel", because there was a scene in there where she thought Touchstone was getting it on with a random maid in the next room, and she becomes all bothered but doesn't know why. Hehe, it was an EPIC scene in my head, and still remains as one of the funniest 'romantic' scenes I've ever read.
Hmm... I'm trying to think of more examples. But I don't think it's a certain pet peeve of mine. At least if I criticize a girl for getting jealous, it usually means there are other things that have bothered me even before that.
Don't worry too much about feminists. I consider myself one too, but I wouldn't hesitate calling out unfair things happening to males. I mean there are tons of books where the main character was considered a prime example of a "strong woman", but all they really are are men in women's body. It's as if a woman can only be strong if they embody traditionally male traits. It's frustrating to me, because I know that if the character had been male, the things that he'd be doing in the book would be considered as 'bad' or 'wrong'. But make it a woman, and everyone's sticking it in the feminist shelf.
And that was one of my first qualms about KoA too, where we see Attolia slap Gen just because she was angry. I thought that was pretty abusive too, because Gen's injured, and that nobody pointed it out because she happened to be a woman. So it must be okay. But switch the roles, and I won't be surprised if there was a louder outcry.
"It's just somewhat disconcerting to me that I and seemingly other people tend to expect a higher level of emotional maturity and even emotional perfection from female characters."
Maybe so. I find that too, especially when reading reviews in Amazon or Goodreads. You read one response and the character's too this, and you read the next response and the character's too that. For me though, my expectations don't just pertain to females. Males too. (That's why I'm so picky with books. If I can't connect with the main characters, I'd just put it down.) I guess I should give an example... I know that there are many fans of "Finnikin of the Rock" by Melina Marchetta, but I just found Finnikin to be so unbearable. And yes, I do agree that there should be space for character development, but if I don't start seeing at least some degree of change or realization by the first half of the book, I'd usually just give up. I pretty much think Finnikin's like a boy version of Fire (by Kristin Cashore). Haha. I know many people will disagree vehemently with me, but since I don't want to hijack your comments page with my own ranting, I'll save all my reasons for later. Most of it is just subjective though.
I think one of the best examples I can give for a character who is initially flawed but grows to be a much better person is Anidori from "Goose Girl". I found that she was just so helpless, naive and passive... well, and sort of a crybaby. At first. But her development was so shockingly huge, and the way she grows right up until the very last page was just beautiful.
Anidori's my favorite character in all the books I've read. Ever. Haha. I think you can tell. ^__~