'Strong' Female Character

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by keats81, May 28, 2011.

  1. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Huh? Gender depends on personality?

    Explain, please.
     
  2. Frog

    Frog New Member

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    I hope I'm not duplicating someone else's advice, but here's my thoughts;

    True feminine strength does not come from being aggressive, self-confident, extroverted, or masculine. It comes primarily from 1) Staying true to personal convictions, and 2) having control over one's emotions. This does not mean your female character cannot fall deeply in love, merely that she does not become a simpering ball of rose-colored glasses when she does, and that her romantic connections may make things difficult for her, but they do not determine her behavior. She can be sweet and loving, but not be a doormat; stay on her good sight, because if you challenge her sense of decency she'll fight you to the death. She'll bend over backwards to help you, but don't try to coerce or manipulate her; you won't be pleased with the result. She'll sing, but she's not singing because you made her, she's singing because she has something to share with you. She feminine because it's her nature, and not to attract YOU.

    Don't know if that made any sense. Hope it helped.
     
  3. Kio

    Kio New Member

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    What I got from it was that it depends on how the character acts. If the character acts like a man, then she's a man (by social standards). If she acts like a woman, she's a woman (again, by social standards). Not that hard to decipher.

    Which raises a very good point, actually. I've noticed a lot of threads titled the same way as this one, as if the character's personality is based on her gender. It doesn't matter whether the person is female or male, everyone acts different, despite gender. Sure, there are subtle differences, but not anything major.

    I know that it's a little harder to make a strong character that is female and not fall into the several traps laid out by popular media (giving her a fiery personality, making her cold-hearted, making her "strong" yet still incapable of fully supporting herself, etc.) It's nobody's fault, really; females are a little more complex when it comes to emotions and dialogue. For example, a woman could say nothing is wrong when everything is wrong. After a while, you have to learn body language to understand women because they EXPECT you to read their minds. You know, things like that.

    But there are always exceptions.
     
  4. SteamWolf

    SteamWolf New Member

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    I always thought gender was determined by word count :p
    *ducks and hides*
     
  5. Three

    Three New Member

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    What I'd meant was that the personality of the character always comes before/at the same time as deciding the gender. I think writers run into trouble when they say 'I need a female/male character. Now what should he/she be like?"
    Mine usualy have their genders decided with their personalities, but if you're making the decision later in the game, the gender (or preference, mind,) should be whatever one that would make that personality more interesting.
    Sorry it was a little vague. Does it make sense now? :D
     
  6. Quezacotl

    Quezacotl New Member

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    To paraphrase Extra Credits (True Female Characters)
    To create a true female character, one must face the problems said gender faces, or how they react to societal pressures being forces upon them.

    Therefore a strong female character is not necessarily a badass ice queen with superpowers who tears her enemies to shreds, but rather a mother who is trying to raise her children despite poverty, lack of a job, etc. Strength comes through confidence and tenacity, not through muscle.
     
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  7. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    Strong female characters, to me, aren't superheroes or strong in the heavy-lifting sense. They're strong emotionally and mentally, as well as physically.
     
  8. keats81

    keats81 New Member

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    Thanks everyone! You've all been really helpful. Sorry to those I disagreed with in the beginning of the thread. I looked up the things you were talking about and was pleasantly surprised. Read the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and loved it.


    ****Spoilers**** for those who haven't read the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo:

    She was genuine at heart. My character won't be quite as intense looking, but I enjoyed her strength. I guess I can't ignore my character as being physically capable of taking on an enemy. I especially liked the way she worked her way out of her problem with that pig of a man that she tied up. The way the author captured it was the kind of style I was after. At first the man was taking advantage of the girl and she seemed quite powerless but with a little logic, like Hermione, she managed to trap him and assumed control over her situation, even if it was rather brutal...lol

    However....I'm still looking for that happy character who is able to defeat an angry enemy with their happiness. Perhaps the happy character realizes their happiness and the scene where the enemy is defeated without a sword is a sort of climax. Not everyone can be defeated in such a way I guess. So the big baddie in my book will still have to be killed I think. I haven't defeated the antagonist yet however.

    p.s. sorry if it sounds like I play as god with my characters. lol It seems effective. I'm the author so I guess I am the one defeating the antagonist even if its really a character in my story who does the finishing blow.
     
  9. Unlucky#7

    Unlucky#7 New Member

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    Well, in that case, just make your character a very optimistic person who never gives up despite the world she lives in - a warring world. And being so happy, a light radiates from her and blinds the bad guy. Haha, I don't know. I'm sure you'll come up with something though. :p
     
  10. marina

    marina Contributor Contributor

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    The best way to explain how that works in a novel with a warring world is to recommend some good examples. So good read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. Reading is the best way to understand.
     
  11. Ashrynn

    Ashrynn Active Member

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    I think you'd really have to define strong in the context of your story first.

    Is it strong to punch someone and drop them in one hit?

    Is it strong to stand up to someone who is doing the wrong thing?

    Is it strong to say no to peer pressure?

    Is it strong to fight for what you believe in?

    What essentially would strong mean? In the moment when she finds the one who murdered her family, does she have the stregnth not to kill? Or would strong be pulling the trigger?

    If you view strong as only physical force, than that seems flawed to me, but you can do it easily. Work out five times a week, martial arts training, perhaps even a female soldier who has been dishonorably discharged?

    I don't think it's hard to think up what a strong woman could be or who she is. What kind of character is it that you're creating?
     
  12. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    War itself is an activity that focuses on aspects of strength that are considered masculine - physical power and endurance, stoicism in the face of pain and death, single-minded pursuit of an objective.

    Your female character can excel in these areas, and be strong without being considered masculine. But strength can also be expressed in a more yin sense as well - refusal to bend one's principals, not yielding to the temptation to join in the violence, not surrendering to rage and despair. Tending to a wounded enemy despite personal revulsion at the enemy's violent and contemptuous attitudes and prior acts, even when your comrades turn away from you for "giving comfort and aid to the enemy."

    These are strengths more often associated with a female perspective, even though a male character could exhibit the same fortitude.
     
  13. Killer300

    Killer300 Senior Member

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    To expand on Cognito's point of you, the main character of Trigun is an excellent example of the latter type of strength. He's a pacifist, even when confronting horrible humans. That last part comes up in the series, but basically, he won't kill anyone, even if they are horrible people. His strength is that he never compromises his ideals, even under extreme distress.
     
  14. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    [​IMG]
     
  15. IfAnEchoDoesntAnswer

    IfAnEchoDoesntAnswer New Member

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    OK, that image macro (struck-through N) is going completely over my head. Clue for the clueless, please?
     
  16. Kio

    Kio New Member

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    Yeah, I don't get it either.
     
  17. KP Williams

    KP Williams Active Member

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    He's saying there's no N in his name. A response to Killer300 calling him Cognito.
     
  18. IfAnEchoDoesntAnswer

    IfAnEchoDoesntAnswer New Member

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    ah! I missed that. I have a sort of autocorrect built into my optical system (I make a horrible copy editor).

    I once saw an ad that said "Can you umslcrnabe this?" and for several minutes I was looking at it thinking "unscramble what?"
     
  19. Killer300

    Killer300 Senior Member

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    OH! I'm sorry! Cogito, I'll remember, hope I didn't annoy you too much.
     
  20. keats81

    keats81 New Member

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    Okay so at the moment I think she appears to be somewhat of a pacifist and always holds true to her principles. However something causes her to slip. A friend is about to be killed by another character and she is not going to just sit and watch. Obviously she chooses the friend over the stranger trying to kill her friend and kills the stranger. or maybe she throws something at the stranger to divert their attention. While fighting this stranger she is more defensive as she has been able to disarm them. The stranger causes their own death because of their own carelessness and ends up falling off a ledge into the rocky gorge below. She didn't kill him. He died because he was incompetent. How is that? An accidental death.
     
  21. Kio

    Kio New Member

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    Uh... in what way do you want this clip to be applied? I saw the whole clip and I'm even more confused. I understand that the ronin (no good with names) tried to become a master-of-arms and ended up getting the lord angry by being modest upon winning, but I don't get how this could be applied to your male lead. Do you mean you want the male lead to be based on the ronin or the experiences the male lead faces to be based on the complications faced by the ronin? Or do you mean the lord? Or maybe the fighting? Is your story even based on ancient Japan?

    As for the female character, it sounds fair. However, an accidental death sounds a bit like a copout. Make her kill the stranger for real. It could cause some interesting internal conflict. A killer pacifist? Everyone loves those!
     
  22. keats81

    keats81 New Member

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    Well, okay theres a lot to explain...I have been creating this series for about four years now, but now I'm at the phase where I'm actually writing, and I've gotten quite far. Although, I'm having to tinker with the plot and the characters a bit due to the fact that I have changed a lot since I began. There are no samurai in my book...I have created something that is like the samurai, and kind of like janissaries and other similar groups. It is complicated however...its my own creation, but influenced by groups like the latter two. Its all detailed in the appendices that I made. :p I am taking a lot from feudal japan and celtic Irish and welsh mythology and history and even the classics. So it is my own imaginary world and it is sort of feudal in appearance and social structure but I was looking at many periods of history for inspiration as well. I study Politics and History at my university so there are a lot of connections made with medieval and colonial Irish history. Thus, it is a very big project...

    The male lead is sort of like a ronin. Masterless and clanless at least. So the male lead will have some minor complications with what he is but nothing too serious. The principles of his "samurai-esq" way of life are more like tenets like you see with the ten commandments. There is nothing too difficult to follow. The laws and practices of fiefdoms and kings have a greater effect on the characters in my book. My "samurai like group" have their own laws, like the real samurai did and are not actually bound by the laws of any ruler...or at least that is what some of them wish. Therefore, the MC's complications are more with the world around him and himself. He is a very serious and dark character and his past is revealed in bits.

    I agree with you about killing the stranger for real. That seems like more of an event than an accidental death. But, I am still going to have an accidental death in my story somewhere...;)
     
  23. Killer300

    Killer300 Senior Member

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    You know what? You really need to watch Trigun. The main character, Vash, meets someone later called Wolfwood who is kind of like a ronin, but more importantly, is the moral opposite of him. He kills people all the time, and does so for Justice. Mercy is what Vash is mainly interested in. What's interesting is how these two viewpoints contrast so well. Justice, according to Wolfwood at least, is mainly about punishing those who did wrong, even if they are human beings who could in theory change their behavior. Vash believes in Mercy, which here means that no matter how bad a person is, it's possible for them to redeem themselves. He wouldn't even kill Stalin, just because of this belief system. Very interesting contrasting.
     
  24. Daydream

    Daydream Contributor Contributor

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    The MC in the book im currently writing is a female. I for one much prefer a female protagonist to a male one. Just seems more interesting, also it's kinda fun attempting at exploring the female mind :p I do agree on not finding characters likes Wonderwomen and Catwomen any interesting, but I do like a female character who has a strong side aswell! Also love seeing girls kicking ass!
     
  25. animefans12

    animefans12 Member

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    ^I have to agree with you. Seeing females kick ass is awesome. :) I don't really like the kind of logic where many people think males have to do all of the work while the females are mostly the "damsel in distress."

    Anyhow, I'm creating a female protoganist where she's not physically strong, but mentally strong. I'm creating a book about paranormal events in a school and I want my main character to be a bit brave... Not too brave to the point where she'll have some super ghost-buster weapons with her, but brave enough to withstand the nightmare.
     

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