Heroes & Heroines: Females in Fantasy | storytelling nomad
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By Katy  Posted in Inspiration, Writing	 Tagged Buffy, Entertainment, fantasy, Jennifer Fallon, Joss Whedon, Robin Hobb, storytelling nomad, writing
26 comments on “Heroes & Heroines: Females in Fantasy”
June 2, 2011 @ 1:56 am
Joss Whedon is my hero. I remember the first time I watched an episode of Buffy, and I was completely hooked. I watched the entire series in the following month :)
It’s hard to find characters as engaging as Buffy in YA fiction, at least for me. I really liked L.A. Meyer’s Bloody Jack character, Jacky – but half the time she’s masquerading as a man. The same for another favorite, strong female character of mine – Eona, in Alison Goodman’s novel Eon.
Personally, I would love love love to find a book where the main character is a girl who doesn’t end up being rescued by a dark stranger. I’m just saying it would be nice.
June 2, 2011 @ 4:24 am
I love Whedon, too, but for a different reason: Firefly. I’d say the heroine there would be Zoey, who is often more combative and aggressive than her male company. Still, she’s too loyal to the male leader to be a leader herself. That said, the show would never have really worked with two captains. Or even with Zoey as captain, because she was never given the personality to make viewers love her (like Mal.)
June 2, 2011 @ 10:35 am
Firefly was amazing, and also sadly short lived. The fanbase remains, however, and is testament to the quality of the show. Yep, definitely Zoey. Joss is so good at strong female characters…Echo in Dollhouse is another. He must be awesome to work with too, because many of the actors have played in a number of his shows. Thanks for reading :)
He is amazing, isn’t he!?! I have the collectors edition DVD set, and I have watched it too many times to remember!
I’m not familiar with the characters you’ve mentioned, but I’m interested to look into them. It would be nice though, wouldn’t it? I honestly don’t know if anyone can beat the Buffster, but we can always hope! Thanks so much for commenting Gabrielle!
June 2, 2011 @ 3:26 am
The gender ambiguous or male pseudonym issue makes me sad. Honestly, I personally don’t even look at authors names on books–unless it’s an author I’ve come to adore–though I know others do. Also, I don’t really like pseudonyms to begin with. Publish under your own name and gender proudly!
Unfortunately, I will admit that sometimes I choose male main characters on purpose to make the story more “gender-neutral,” or “gender-friendly,” across the board. [shameful hang of head]
Have you ever read the Sword of Truth series? I think it does a rather good job of presenting two main characters–one male, one female–who are mirror images of each other in strength and self-reliance.
June 2, 2011 @ 10:30 am
I’m the same, the only thing I usually notice about an author’s name is whether I’ve heard of them before and if I like/loved them or not. I have never even considered not reading a book because I doubted a female author could convey the story well, or vice versa. Likewise, I never considered a pseudonym until recently!
I haven’t read any Terry Goodwind, but I’ve heard good things. I will add it to my (scarily long) reading list. Thanks for that!
June 2, 2011 @ 4:26 am
I never considered the importance of a gender neutral pen name. Hmm…
Although it isn’t the primary reason I write, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t like to see my name in print. But pen names seems to be worth at least considering.
June 2, 2011 @ 7:38 am
The whole reason I’m doing the series of interviews of female fantasyauthors is because the perception in the US and the UK is that fantasy is a bt of a boy’s game.
I’m also a big Joss Whedon fan. Firefly!
June 2, 2011 @ 10:44 am
Boys shmoys! I must read through some more of your interviews with that in mind! Firefly! I’m just glad he got the Avengers gig…I have no doubt he’ll do a brilliant job of it, which might give him more (well deserved) prominence amongst the more mainstream movers and shakers in television and cinema…which could lead to more Whedon shows? A girl can only dream!
June 3, 2011 @ 6:57 am
George Sand, Leigh Brackett, J.K. Rowling, Jay Presson Allen, Andre Norton, P.D James, Dale Messick, Isak Dinesen, George Eliot (and that’s just off the top of my head), and this is still going on? Cripes.
It’s a bit of a worry isn’t it?
The whole argument about male/female and their attitudes always remind me of a quote from George Carlin:
Not that it’s entirely true nor even relevant, but… that’s what it all reminds me of.
Ha! I like that one. Perhaps it is the answer to all our questions surrounding this topic?!
June 4, 2011 @ 6:11 am
Well, it sure as hell makes sense for my wife and me. ;)
June 4, 2011 @ 12:26 pm
Ha! I’m sure you’re not the only ones either!
April 24, 2012 @ 1:15 am
Joss Whedon my brain crush – HA, love it! Me too, that guy is practically a demi-god in my eyes.
My media teacher did have a debate with me once on Buffy about the ‘girl power’ and the fact that even though she is a strong character she still has to be visually appealing to males. I refuse to to agree with that though, I understand what they are getting at but if they’re suggesting a female has to me MALE-LIKE to be strong that’s not quite right either.
Who says you can’t be kick ass and sexy at the same time?!? :P
May 5, 2012 @ 9:01 am
Who says, indeed!!!! And yes, Joss Whedon is a demi-god! Did you see this, the other day? Amber Benson, Felicia Day, Patrick Rothfuss and John Scalzi all on video having a roundtable discussion about writing. *Swoon*
May 7, 2012 @ 7:42 am
Oooh no I haven’t. I will definitely be watching this, thank you! :)
April 24, 2012 @ 8:35 pm
If it is a challenge you see, perhaps it might be one worth taking up just because you can.
I quite agree with your points here – however I would like to add something. Being in India there is definitely a severe limitation on what books are available and what are not and that often depends on which ones sell well enough abroad to justify bringing them here. And unfortunately, far too often I see stories of fantasy tales being written by female authors and the blurbs and such almost always seem to have some point in there about “will they be able to keep their passion in check while war rages around them?” or some other such romantic-y reference and all it does is reinforce the stereotype.
I can’t say if all those stories have a stronger focus on the romance angle than their male counterparts (who also have love interests in their books, albiet not always and not always present in the bulk of the narrative) but they definitely give the impression they do and I feel that at least based on what I’ve seen, they often are so. And this is something that is the same regardless of whether their protagonist is male or female, someone is always in love or will clearly be in soon.
I think female authors themselves need to break out of their own brains a little on this matter, stop thinking like a woman (in a manner of speaking) – specifically when it comes to fantasy stories.
And for the sake of all that is sacred in literature: I would plead with women everywhere to stop with the twilight! It’s the most terribly written book I’ve ever forced myself to try (I couldn’t even finish the first one) and the way those hordes of not just girls, but WOMEN react to it does nothing but reinforce the stereotype that this is what women want and make agents and publishers seek out writer who either write stuff like it or are willing to make it happen.
Sorry for my long, rambling post, couldn’t help the thought dump that just came through while reading.
Oh and I think if it was possible, I’d say I’m pretty much goofy over Whedon’s brain as well – browncoat for life!
Thanks for your comment, Spider42. It’s an interesting debate, and you make some excellent points.
We could certainly all do ourselves a favour and write outside what’s expected of our gender, but I guess storytelling is not always about making a statement or changing the world, so much as telling the story within. If the majority of females writers are inclined to write lovey dovey scenes, then my advice to them would be go for it. You have to write what is true for you, and there is obviously a market for it. Likewise with Twilight; it’s poorly written and contains a lot of nonsense, but it resonates with a large proportion of young female readers, and I wouldn’t hold that against anybody. Teenage girls, in all their self-indulgence, need something to read too, after all.
I think the problem is that there will always be women who write romances, just as there will always be men who write fighting, sword and war stories. In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, as long as we don’t make assumptions that ALL females write romance and ALL men write fighting books, and that writers don’t feel pigeonholed to write by those stereotypes.
And perhaps more importantly, that we readers don’t determine what books we buy according to those assumptions.
Thanks for the weekend reflection. It’s definitely a topic worth revisiting!
You’re most welcome, I enjoy and actually look forward to discussion on genuinely interesting topics.
Thanks and I have to say I completely agree with everything you’ve just said.