“Writing Strong Female Characters: What You’re Doing Wrong”
If you look at movies currently in theaters, there are several with female leads: Furiosa (Mad Max: Fury Road), Casey Newton (Tomorrowland), Susan Cooper (Spy), and Pitch Perfect 2 which features several roles played by women.
With that in mind, I was interested to read a blog entry by author Hannah Heath: Writing Strong Female Characters: What You’re Doing Wrong. In it, Hannah lists eight items:
1. You think of her as a strong female character: “The fact that you have to put the word “strong” in front of “female” shows that there is something very wrong with the way you view girl characters. Females are strong.
2. She’s super good at “guy things” for no particular reason: “This one cracks me up. This girl can do everything. She can fix cars, fire a gun, knows how to skateboard, and can pack a punch better than any guy. Why? Um…well, because it’s defying man’s superiority! “
3. You’re objectifying her: “Strong females do not parade around in skin tight suits, low cut blouses, dresses with slits up to the thigh, or midriff-showing tops. They do not flaunt their bodies or try to seduce bad guys in order to get a good shot at killing them. Ever.”
4. She has no personality: “This is exasperatingly common. Other than kicking butt and taking names, having the generic dark past that she struggles with, Ms. Strong doesn’t really have much of a character.”
5. She’s distant and not very nice: “She’s snaps at everyone around her, hates the world, and is kind of self-centered until the end of the story. She’s afraid of letting people into her life because she got hurt once. Deep down she’s insecure and lonely.”
6. She’s perfect: “Strength is not synonymous with perfection. Strength is having flaws but fighting to deal with them.”
7. She falls in love with your male character for no apparent reason: “Romance is good and all, but not when it’s only there for the sake of being there. Give her a reason to fall in love that goes deeper than ‘He’s cute and I understand him.’
8. Her weapon of choice is a bow and arrow or she always wears leather jackets: “Naw, I’m just kidding. It’s totally fine if you want your character to do this. Just be aware that it’s pretty common.”
Hannah goes into much greater detail in her post, which you can read here. But it raises a question: What other ways are female characters portrayed in movies, TV and books that feel inauthentic to you?
Twitter: @_HannahHeath.
If you resonate with Hannah’s list or have others to add, please head to comments. I’m interested to read your thoughts.
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