Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
I still think it's simply that women generally prefer to read about women, and men prefer to read about men.
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To a certain extent that is true. But I also think it might be more complicated than that. For us to like the protagonist, to care about his/her success or failure, we need a way to identify with them in some way. It doesn't HAVE to be gender related.
I think back to the heroine(s) in "The Wind-Up Girl". Who hasn't felt prostituted out at times by circumstances and the power structure? And who hasn't had to figure out a way to work around corporate or governmental bureaucracy more interested in feathering its own nest than it is in doing good? I've never been a bio-engineered dog-girl working the red light district, or a female cop tasked with defending the corrupt status quo, but I could relate to those women.
Actually, I think the reason I liked that story so much was the great plot AND our almost complete understanding of the protagonists motivations.