Female Protagonists

[Rechan]

Most of Bernard Doove’s stories feature chakats as main characters, and they’re herms, so they’d be hard to factor into this list. A couple of exceptions are Jazmyn and Life’s Dream, both of which center around the relationship between a male and a female character. For that matter, in stories like that, how do you decide which of the two is the protagonist, especially in cases where the story switches viewpoint characters (hopefully in different chapters or scenes; otherwise the writer has committed the sin of head-hopping)? It’s been a couple of years since I read Handcuffs and Lace and my recollection is that the male and female lead are of about equal importance, but Rechan wrote it and if he says the female is the protagonist I’ll take his word for it.

Some books have more than one protagonist. This is why I wasn’t using books with main characters of multiple genders. Because a book can have more than one protagonist - Out of Position has Dev and Lee, and it’s equally them. If one had been female, I wouldn’t have used them. However, a book like Handcuffs & Lace is from one character’s perspective, and it focuses on them - yes, it’s their relationship With another person, but the focus is on…;. augh, this is a sticky tar pit. Such considerations make quantitative data hard. I also argue that I pounded it out in just a few hours.

I was also reminded of something Fred Patten said in his review of [i]The Streets of His City[/i]: "Aside from the first-page off-stage mention of Natier’s mother, there is not a single female in the book." I haven't read this book but I did read [i]The Prince of Knaves[/i] and noticed the predominance of male characters.

It's the same in the Out of Position series, where female characters are relegated to 'parent (source of conflict, in few scenes to begin with)', 'wife of side character' (peripheral, barely any lines), or 'fake girlfriend' (two, three scenes max). Granted, I haven't read Divisions yet. Science Friction's primary antagonist is female, and a very unpleasant character. I've not read Winter Games, but I hear the female side character is also not the most pleasant. Deathless by Graveyard Greg is another example; the only women to appear is a phone call from the mother, which is very brief, and two very brief conversations with [redacted for spoilers], who is female.

Now, I’ve not yet read Mysterious Affair of Giles, but the main character is a lesbian, whose girlfriend is present during the murder mystery, so that’s at least two females front and center.

I remember that too, and being... well, "surprised" isn't strong enough and "shocked" is too strong. Taken aback, perhaps, just because I wouldn't have thought it even possible to write something book-length with no characters of the opposite sex depicted, not even in minor roles -- unless maybe it was set in a purely single-gender environment like a convent or a boys' boarding school or something. But I haven't read any of the author's work, so to be fair, Fred's review is all I have to go on.

For the record, that series is about a prince who moonlights with a gang of thieves.

[Poetigress]

For the record, that series is about a prince who moonlights with a gang of thieves.

And absolutely none of the thieves could have been female? And none of these characters interact with or trade stolen merchandise with any character who could potentially have been female? And none of them have female family members that they could actually interact with on the page? Again, I haven’t read it, so I don’t know the plot and all the character dynamics, but… still.

I mean, yeah, I get that if you have a gay male MC, you don’t have the obvious (and possibly clichéd) opportunity of including a female character as a love interest, so that’s going to up your major male character count in a way that’s perfectly reasonable. But there are plenty of other roles besides love interest that a female character could play, in pretty much any fantasy or medieval type world; it might just take a little more thought and creativity on the author’s part.

[Rechan]

For the record, that series is about a prince who moonlights with a gang of thieves.

And absolutely none of the thieves could have been female? And none of these characters interact with or trade stolen merchandise with any character who could potentially have been female? And none of them have female family members that they could actually interact with on the page? Again, I haven’t read it, so I don’t know the plot and all the character dynamics, but… still.

I mean, yeah, I get that if you have a gay male MC, you don’t have the obvious (and possibly clichéd) opportunity of including a female character as a love interest, so that’s going to up your major male character count in a way that’s perfectly reasonable. But there are plenty of other roles besides love interest that a female character could play, in pretty much any fantasy or medieval type world; it might just take a little more thought and creativity on the author’s part.

Who has two thumbs and agrees completely? Thi… er, hm. You can’t see the point-at-self-with-thumbs gesture via text. Bugger.

[Ryffnah]

As I recall, Isaac Asimov’s Lucky Starr series had exactly two females in it – there was a wife of some other character at one point, and there was one sentence that mentioned Lucky’s mother – “the lovely Barbara Starr!” It was so striking for a female to actually be mentioned at all, that I’m pretty sure I’m remembering her name and the adjective that described her correctly even though I read it when I was about fourteen.

I don’t think it’d be that hard to write books with no female characters. In a lot of stories, the gender of the characters doesn’t really matter. So, just pick male every time it doesn’t matter. That’s how you end up with books like the Lucky Starr series (which, actually, I loved). And if people do it often enough, it stops even seeming weird. Then, it starts to feel weird when a character is female like the author must be trying to make some sort of point. And, as the author, if you don’t want your work to be seen as some weird feminist piece, then it’s easier to just write male characters.

[elementaljess]

I mean, yeah, I get that if you have a gay male MC, you don’t have the obvious (and possibly clichéd) opportunity of including a female character as a love interest, so that’s going to up your major male character count in a way that’s perfectly reasonable. But there are plenty of other roles besides love interest that a female character could play, in pretty much any fantasy or medieval type world; it might just take a little more thought and creativity on the author’s part.

Unfortunately that’s the cliche. That’s why I’m loving the series ‘Once Upon a Time.’ (tv, not book, unfortunately). The women are awesome. They’re everywhere. They have professions, motivations, and skills. They have interesting storylines and speaking roles, and yes, many of them involve ‘true love’ but it’s a sort of gritty, tongue-in-cheek thing, and they have lives beyond that.

I don’t think it’d be that hard to write books with no female characters. In a lot of stories, the gender of the characters doesn’t really matter. So, just pick male every time it doesn’t matter. That’s how you end up with books like the Lucky Starr series (which, actually, I loved). And if people do it often enough, it stops even seeming weird. Then, it starts to feel weird when a character is female like the author must be trying to make some sort of point. And, as the author, if you don’t want your work to be seen as some weird feminist piece, then it’s easier to just write male characters.

And that’s the sad part. “…it starts to feel weird when a character is female.” It’s too true. It’s also true, in the mainstream, that for many readers it feels weird if a character is gay, or a different race, and their race, gender, or orientation isn’t a plot point—like the author is “trying too hard to include minorities,” instead of saying, “Actually, all different kinds of people exist, so I’m representing the real world in my fiction.”

People don’t have to be gay, or female, or of a different race or religion for a Reason <–I think too many people are like, “Well he/she just as easily could have been straight (white/male)!” Or, “Why is the ship captain Female, are they trying to Make a Point?”

Sad state of affairs. But I think the shift is beginning…

[mwalimu]

I’m not familiar with the Lucky Starr series but a quick online search reveals they were written in the 1950s, a time period when it was still widely assumed that people in positions of authority were male. As CopperGryfon points out, to have cast a female in any of those roles would have drawn attention to it and had people wondering if there was some plot or character significance associated with it (and in may cases, attempts to make such things significant have often ended up later being viewed as sexist/racist/etc.). It is interesting to note that the Star Trek series, produced the following decade and targeted for American audiences, has seven major characters, only two of whom are white males who speak with more or less American speech; of the other five, we have one who is alien, one who is Scotch/Irish, one Russian, one Asian, and a black woman(!). And with the exception of Spock (the alien), their race and nationality are seldom plot points; by and large, they are simply presented to the viewers as “this is how people get along in the 22nd century” and don’t dwell on it.

[Poetigress]

I should probably note that when I said “I wouldn’t have thought it even possible to write something book-length with no characters of the opposite sex depicted, not even in minor roles,” I meant things being written now. Sixty-some years ago one might have had an excuse (though probably not even then). More than a decade into the 21st century… not so much. Yes, force of tradition and all that, but if you’re trying to write realistic well-rounded characters today, it would seem to me that there are few who don’t interact with the opposite sex at least sometimes in their lives.

[Ryffnah]

It is interesting to note that the Star Trek series, produced the following decade and targeted for American audiences, has seven major characters, only two of whom are white males who speak with more or less American speech; of the other five, we have one who is alien, one who is Scotch/Irish, one Russian, one Asian, and a black woman(!). And with the exception of Spock (the alien), their race and nationality are seldom plot points; by and large, they are simply presented to the viewers as “this is how people get along in the 22nd century” and don’t dwell on it.

Which brings us around to the point of every good conversation: Star Trek is really, really great.

[elementaljess]

Which brings us around to the point of every good conversation: Star Trek is really, really great.

Here here!

I should probably note that when I said “I wouldn’t have thought it even possible to write something book-length with no characters of the opposite sex depicted, not even in minor roles,” I meant things being written now.

Also, agreed!

[Ryffnah]

Unfortunately that’s the cliche. That’s why I’m loving the series ‘Once Upon a Time.’ (tv, not book, unfortunately). The women are awesome. They’re everywhere. They have professions, motivations, and skills. They have interesting storylines and speaking roles, and yes, many of them involve ‘true love’ but it’s a sort of gritty, tongue-in-cheek thing, and they have lives beyond that.

I like that about Once Upon A Time, too. I also like the female characters on Bones – smart, professional, scientifically-minded and with their own distinct personal lives.

[mark_engels]

I have recently enjoyed a couple of furry novels featuring female leads, including

LEGACY: Book One of the Resonance Tetrology
by our own @Archantael

Legacy

and

Red is the Darkest Color: a Pussy Katnip novel
by Brett A. Brooks

Red is the Darkest Color: a Pussy Katnip novel

And my own novel ALWAYS GRAY IN WINTER coming out from Thurston Howl Publications @ThurstonHowlPub features a female protagonist (though given she’s a werecat she’s only furry part of the time.) More on me and my “weres” on my author web site https://www.mark-engels.com/

MJE