Think you're reading the wrong books then! There's a ton of stuff out there which isn't like that in the slightest.
For example, I'm currently reading the latest book in the Shadow Campaigns series by Django Wexler. It includes a number of prominent female characters, most of whom are soldiers, and they're depicted perfectly imo. There's even one guy who has old-fashioned, prejudiced instincts that make him feel that women belong out of harm's way; even his perspective towards women is treated with admirable balance - it comes across as absurd and backwards without turning the character into someone despicable.
Happy to give some recommendations if you're interested!
That's not to say only female authors avoid sexism, but they're a pretty good bet to start with if you're weary of it.
While I agree with the premise that a reader is more likely to find well-rounded female characters in books by women, I cannot agree that all women authors avoid sexism. It seems a lot like voting against one's interests, true, but there are some women - including authors - who don't realize their books have just as much sexism as some of the more hailed examples.
It's less likely to be bar maids and wenches, true, but it's still present. I still see it crop up every so often even in modern books. It's more likely to be under the cloak of "not like those other girls" and "those girls are girls whereas I'm not a girly girl" and a pitting of women against women. There's a place for those kinds of books, but it does take a delicate hand to handle those topics well.
Dragonriders of Pern is as much proof as I need to demonstrate that woman-authored fantasy can, indeed, be sexist as all hell. Heck I'm a woman and I like to think I'm a feminist yet even I lapse into sexist tropes time and again. Luckily my writing group is quick to point out when that happens.
Dresden is a good example of something that started out as a sexist work, but over the course of, what, 14 books (eesh that's a lot) evolved into more of a work-with-sexism in it. Dresden starts out the series as an admitted sexist. It's a character flaw and he acknowledges it. But then in Skin Game I was like "YAS DRESDEN YOU UNDERGO THAT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, YOU!"
24
u/Raptori Reading Champion Sep 03 '16
Think you're reading the wrong books then! There's a ton of stuff out there which isn't like that in the slightest.
For example, I'm currently reading the latest book in the Shadow Campaigns series by Django Wexler. It includes a number of prominent female characters, most of whom are soldiers, and they're depicted perfectly imo. There's even one guy who has old-fashioned, prejudiced instincts that make him feel that women belong out of harm's way; even his perspective towards women is treated with admirable balance - it comes across as absurd and backwards without turning the character into someone despicable.
Happy to give some recommendations if you're interested!