Why are we still talking about whether or not female characters are likable? Today’s it’s the default to embrace male characters who exist all across the spectrum of morality. But it remains incredibly common for critics and some viewers to fault female characters for being “unlikable” and declare that their movies or shows are, therefore, unwatchable. Historically, female characters have been sidelined, more often the love interest than the leading role. As a result, they’ve been over-defined by how much a male viewpoint character likes, or indeed, doesn’t like them. “Which do you think guys like best on girls, long or short hair?” “Deep question. Personally, I prefer blondes.” In real life, being considered unlikable holds women back far more than men, with one NUMBER_TOKEN study revealing that in male-male interactions, likability "Is not an influencing factor", but in male-female and female- female interactions, likability is crucial. There’s also the matter of what qualities are likable in women versus men: in studies of the Reysen Likability Scale, we see that women’s laughter is rated as more likable than men’s, and attractiveness is seen as a determining metric of likability. “I like her, she seems smart.” And when it comes to female characters on screen (who are so often reviewed by male critics), there tends to be a conflation between likability and relatability, as if the only way we would ever be able to relate to women on screen is if we’d like to hang out with them. In reality, though, people are messy, flawed, and sometimes can be pretty damn unlikable-- and the best characters illuminate this, along with all the nuances of the human condition. Here’s our take on the gendered bias of likability, and why we need to stop talking about whether or not female characters are likable at all. “Doing something great is overrated, because then people expect that from you all the time.”
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