Female lead characters

[Cyberman tM]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For many, many years the BBC's chief war correspondent was a wonderful woman called Kate Adie. Whenever there was any trouble spot in the world, Kate would be there, reporting from it for the BBC. When she finally retired, a few years ago, she was interviewed, and one of the questions she was asked was what the most difficult thing was about being a female war correspondent. She replied "lack of decent toilets".

Since I'm rarely looking for hidden meaning (how should I know the workings of another's mind?), I (too?) would take this literally.

There is an anatomical difference between man and woman that makes it easier for men to pee standing up (which apparently isn't the norm in all cultures, and AFAIK is something women are just as capable of).

So if men design an environment, having a comfortable throne to sit upon when you want to be alone doesn't take as much importance as it might for a woman.
I.e.: "The 1 out of 10 times, I can just drape some paper around the seat, no big deal", opposed to "every single time I have to drape paper, wasting time and paper (that may not be common anyway)".
(Or maybe not having a wind-proof enclosure. Consider the exposed skin when opening the trouser front or having it around your ankles.)


Finally, yes, if that is the most difficult thing - that's not saying it's not a serious issue in itself - then being woman or man in a war zone seems to be irrelevant.
Which, honestly, shouldn't be surprising - bullets and grenades don't care about your gender, and rarely will those shooting and throwing them.


-----

To get back to the main topic:
I'd like to say I don't really care, and I think that's true enough, but I enjoy a good female character in a different way than I enjoy a good male character.

[Atunah]

Interesting question, I hadn't really thought about it much.

My favorite genre is romance, and there I don't have to chose, I always get 2 main characters and in most cases they are one male and one female. Unless I read mm. So I get both.

Now I also love historical mysteries and urban fantasy and mysteries. So far most of the mysteries I read also have 2 leads, but it tends to lean more towards one or the other. historical mysteries seems to be split between the male lead and the female lead, depending on the series.
Urban fantasy on the other hand the lead is mostly female in the ones I read.

I read by genre mostly, I know what I like. After that I want a good story.

I do have to say that the term "kick ass female" is a turnoff for me. I just don't like that term. So at the time I am sticking with the urban fantasy series I have started as some new ones use that term. I want fully rounded characters and its weird to use that term as the only descriptor. After I read something I might say this is a strong female character, if I have to point it out at all.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

It might work better as a short story than a book.

What was the name?

Spoiler:

Between You and Me, by Lisa Hall.

[Dr. Drib]

I could care less if a protagonist is female, male, dog ["City"] cat* [ughggh!], robot, or other - as long as there is character development and literary quality. Some of my favorite characters can be found in Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past"/"In Search of Lost Time."




* = Not that there's anything wrong with cats (in fiction).

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Cyberman tM

Since I'm rarely looking for hidden meaning (how should I know the workings of another's mind?), I (too?) would take this literally.

There is an anatomical difference between man and woman that makes it easier for men to pee standing up (which apparently isn't the norm in all cultures, and AFAIK is something women are just as capable of).

So if men design an environment, having a comfortable throne to sit upon when you want to be alone doesn't take as much importance as it might for a woman.
I.e.: "The 1 out of 10 times, I can just drape some paper around the seat, no big deal", opposed to "every single time I have to drape paper, wasting time and paper (that may not be common anyway)".
(Or maybe not having a wind-proof enclosure. Consider the exposed skin when opening the trouser front or having it around your ankles.)


Finally, yes, if that is the most difficult thing - that's not saying it's not a serious issue in itself - then being woman or man in a war zone seems to be irrelevant.
Which, honestly, shouldn't be surprising - bullets and grenades don't care about your gender, and rarely will those shooting and throwing them.


-----

To get back to the main topic:
I'd like to say I don't really care, and I think that's true enough, but I enjoy a good female character in a different way than I enjoy a good male character.

They make a device so women can stand to pee. I know way too much information.

Now back on topic, I am not picky about character gender. Just give me a good character.

[ekbell]

This thread came to mind while I was flipping through the new book recommendation publication from my local library. BTW I don't particularly care, my reading over the last year has and more male protagonists then female but not by an overwhelming number.

As I was looking through the children's books I noticed fewer and fewer books with male protagonists until there were 2 out of 16 for grades 5-6. I then flipped to the teen section and started counting ... 33 books with female protagonists vs 12 with male protagonists. Many of these books are school drama, small scale fantasy (local effects only) and/or dystopias. As the parent of an preteen boy who prefers myth, humor and exploration- I'm feeling a bit disheartened. Not too much as Heritage History has provided us with plenty of PD myth and exploration books for his kobo and good humor isn't that hard to find but still..

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

I am a male and I love books with strong woman characters. Fortunately, there are many in my favorite genre, science fiction.

You could try Ryk. E. Spoor's Princess Holy Aura for a two for one special on the lead character. Admittedly, I have only read 3/4 of the book as I just downloaded the full release today.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Atunah

Interesting question, I hadn't really thought about it much.

My favorite genre is romance, and there I don't have to chose, I always get 2 main characters and in most cases they are one male and one female. Unless I read mm. So I get both.

What? No ff or ménage à whatever? Why settle for two?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

They make a device so women can stand to pee. I know way too much information.

Now back on topic, I am not picky about character gender. Just give me a good character.

The FUD? All those years, I thought that stood for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The FUD? All those years, I thought that stood for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

It attaches near the fud. How well it works I have no clue. JFGI.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The FUD? All those years, I thought that stood for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

It attaches near the fud. How well it works I have no clue. JFGI.

Hence the fear, uncertainty and doubt.

[Atunah]

Originally Posted by DNSB

What? No ff or ménage à whatever? Why settle for two?

Just being lazy with having to type out all the abbreviations I have read.

Its also overall a much smaller percentage than the masses of m/f I read.

[Katsunami]

Don't care... I just read the book if it interests me. I don't pick a book based on the sex of the lead character.

[DiapDealer]

I don't stress over it or anything, but if I happen to notice a streak of straight-white men writing straight-white protags in my recently read shelf, then I'll make it a point to purposely seek out a little diversity (authors, characters and subjects). I've discovered many new favorite authors/books that way.

I have no real preference RE character/author gender, but I do think I tend to have reading habits. And habits have a way of evolving into ruts/crutches for me. So I think it's a good thing for me to occasionally break those habits. YMMV.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Don't care... I just read the book if it interests me. I don't pick a book based on the sex of the lead character.

Hear! Hear! Absolutely!