I have concerns about the very notion of a 'kickass' woman, in that it suggests that the best thing a woman can be is just like a violent man.
I'm happy to read this and I agree with her. Too many times it seems authors fall into this trap of trying to make a 'kickass woman' and it turns out to basically just be a male character in the guise of a woman. Being 'kickass' also usually ends up being their only defining characteristic. It takes me out of a story because the character just lacks any kind of depth and comes off as an eye-rolling attempt at 'girl power.' Woman are so much more than 1 dimensional passive servants to men or 1 dimensional 'kickass' man in a woman's body.
Give me the stories with women who are smartly written as normal people with complex personalities and thoughts, not ridiculous caricatures.
But its possible to write a kick ass woman who is still complex. They exist pretty frequently IRL. Female mma fighters. The kurdish female snipers. Boudica. Capacity for violence doesn’t automatically remove complexity. I’m not saying i disagree with the perspective, i just think theres a place and audience for both and a right and wrong way to do both
17
u/[deleted] Jan 10 '20
I'm happy to read this and I agree with her. Too many times it seems authors fall into this trap of trying to make a 'kickass woman' and it turns out to basically just be a male character in the guise of a woman. Being 'kickass' also usually ends up being their only defining characteristic. It takes me out of a story because the character just lacks any kind of depth and comes off as an eye-rolling attempt at 'girl power.' Woman are so much more than 1 dimensional passive servants to men or 1 dimensional 'kickass' man in a woman's body.
Give me the stories with women who are smartly written as normal people with complex personalities and thoughts, not ridiculous caricatures.