We Need More Heroines

I'm a feminist.

Feminism gets a lot of hate, but ultimately it stands up for gender equality, not the superiority of women. In my eyes, being a feminist is believing that both genders have the right to feel safe walking down a street, just as much as it is the right to equal pay and all that malarkey. Gender equality should be represented in fiction, and that's why I'm writing this. I think that we really are making progress regarding gender equality in fiction. I don't want to force people to become a feminist against their will, nor do I want to make every character female. 

We need more heroines in fiction.

I should define what I mean by heroine. I don't just mean the main character who is female, and not even someone who is necessarily heroic. 

What I want is more female characters, even minor characters and villains, who are heroines in representing what women in fiction should be like. They don't have to be advocates for the cause, but they have to be three dimensional. 

I'm not even saying that every female character that walks onto the page has to be strong because that isn't true. Characters can be weak, meek and even utter assholes because that's what people are like in real life. I'd much rather read about an immensely flawed character who felt real than a cardboard cut-out who just happened to hold a bow and arrow and has badass spray painted on her chest. 

I don't want to make every protagonist or every supporting character female. I just want there to be more balance. How great would it be if every female and male character passed the sexy lamp test? 

There's a reason why I think that females need more representation in fiction. Recently I've read a lot of articles about similar topics (there is this, this and this, and this post touches on it a little), and it got me thinking about how much controversy feminism causes. What's wrong with saying that gender equality is important? Maybe people don't realise that that is what feminism is. Without a surplus of strong heroines in literature, it's no wonder that some people are mistaken. 

I've written about my favourite heroines before. We need more Celaena Sardothien's who make no apologies for being both feminine and kickass, and we need more Jane Eyre's who pioneered for equality before people even deemed it an issue. Hell, I even want more women like Bellatrix, Cercei or Amarantha. 

Growing up, my favourite book series was Harry Potter (hey, it's still my second favourite series. Spread the HP love) and because of that I had an abundance of female role models. I've read fantasy my whole life, but only in the past year or so I've really got into the genre and surprisingly, most of the books I've read feature strong heroines in some way, shape or form. Maybe it's just because I'm very selective. Maybe it's because most of the books I've read are modern and authors are making an effort to create a diverse cast. 

It's interesting that most of the issues I have with female characters come from YA contemporaries/paranormal romances. 

Most of those books are specifically targeted at teenage girls (and that is an issue for a whole other blog post), so basically I'm the perfect audience. People my age are not stupid, but we can be heavily influenced by the things we read. So many books rage on 'sluts' who are only the antagonist because they're dating the hot guy that the protagonist has been in love with since she was seven, and many female protagonists stand by as a bunch of supernatural hot men fight over her as they fall into a massive plot-hole, only to brush that last bit off and assume the reader didn't notice.

It makes me sad that whilst I'm a sixteen year old bumbling idiot who does things like walk into glass doors and can't spell definitely without autocorrect, there are grown adults who don't recognise that this is an issue. 

Another issue is that both male and female characters seem to have roles that only one gender can fill.  I want to see more stories where the female characters don't apologise for being in typically male roles, and vice versa. The reason I read fantasy is to escape into a different world, so how come that in most of these books, the gender roles are exactly the same as they are on Earth, only four hundred years out of date?

I'm not going to lie--the story in which the woman goes against the norm to do what she wants is wonderful. I know all the words to Mulan (and all the voices. No shame) and there are some books that I love which feature that trope. But why can't there be a world in which women can be soldiers, politicians or space navigators? Why can't men be healers, beauticians or stay at home dads? Even if people aren't willing to go that far, wouldn't it be cool to read a story about a man trying to make his way in a feminine world, whether it be a wannabe soldier determined to make it in an army of women, or a straight male getting hate for working in fashion. 

There are so many issues involving gender equality, and I'm pretty sure that I've just rambled on about the things which make my eyes roll. What I'm trying to say is that in order to make progress, we need more three dimensional women in literature because some people don't understand what a 'strong' female character is.

I hate it when a woman is classed as strong just because she can kick ass. There should be more to her than that. 

Simply making characters female isn't enough any more, and in my opinion it it never has been. 

One genre that often gets labelled as trashy is chic lit/romance. I don't read much of this myself, but there are so many amazing books in this genre and I don't understand why it gets so much hate. Is it because romance is conceived as a female thing, therefore making it 'weaker' than other genres? Is it because it's predominantly written by women? Am I reading too much into this? 

I'm a believer that we should do what we preach, and that's why I'm trying to make my current WIP as diverse as possible, with an array of male and female characters. That doesn't mean that I'm making them warriors or soldiers instead of giving them pretty dresses to wear. It means that I'm trying my best to make them people.

I like to read books about women who are just as strong as the men. That can't be too big of a demand.

What are your favourite heroines in literature?