“Let’s be real: if women were “naturally” anything, societies wouldn’t spend so much time trying to police every aspect of their lives.”
I make a distinction between “likeable” and “admirable,” and personally prefer that main characters in the books I read have some admirable qualities (regardless of gender). This is why I don’t read grimdark fantasy, such as Kameron Hurley, the author of this piece, writes. However, I fully defend anyone who does read it, or write it, and Hurley’s point here – that different standards are applied to men and women – is well taken.
Thinking about my own characters, I’m fairly sure Tara, from the Auckland Allies series, isn’t likeable. And I have no plans for her to become so.
Originally shared by Daniel Swensen
“Stories teach us empathy, and limiting the expression of humanity in our heroes entirely based on sex or gender does us all a disservice. It places restrictions on what we consider human, which dehumanizes the people we see who do not express traits that fit our narrow definition of what’s acceptable. Like it or not, failure of empathy in the face of unlikable women in fiction can often lead to a failure to empathize with women who don’t follow all the rules in real life, too. I see this all the time in conversations with men and women alike.”
https://bitchmedia.org/article/defense-unlikable-women
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