Unwritten women

CHRISTIAN MANDEVILLE

In my free time, I like to write on a number of Internet forums and archives. None of my pseudonym-fronted stories or essays has become noteworthy, but these excursions have brought me repeatedly into the community. And in each microcosm of our various hiding holes on the web, there always seems to be a section of authors who feel comfortable stating, "I just can't write female characters.”

Why is this such a phenomenon? There are always novice authors who simply have difficulty creating any characters, male or female (not to mention other identities).

These guys are still writing directly from themselves (as I've yet to encounter a woman who "just cant" write one gender) and will hopefully grow beyond the restriction.

The true problem, as I've seen it, is that male authors create complex and fascinating male characters, yet women seem strangely absent. Maybe they're far from the storyline, or are unseen pillars, holding up the main characters (all male) as they go about their adventures. This is exemplified in The Lord of the Rings series, where women make so few appearances that I can only remember four women with dialog throughout the course of the series.

In Tolkien's case, it seems he was restricted by gender-roles at the time, and I would allow a bit of leeway for that. In the forums where I write, such as “Archive of our Own,” or the assorted Forumotion domains, however, I've seen present day authors adopt the same style of women – being in the universe, but having about as much effect upon it as a houseplant.

One such has a veritable series, equivalently seven chapters in length last checked, and the author was publicly asked why none of his five main characters were women.

"Because I don't feel that this story needs any romance element," he responded.

No commentary on altering the plot occurred, no mention of altering the relationships – this author simply couldn't conceive of having a woman in the foreground unless she was a conduit to a love-interest plot.

Others emphatically state that women are irrational, or so emotional that they don’t understand them. As one such author typed emphatically; "It's not that I don't want [female characters] in my work, I just don't get them. If you don't understand a character how can you develop them?"

While it's completely true, in my experience, that you need to empathize with a character and understand them to help them grow, the solution to overcoming this ignorance is simple: Read books with genuinely strong female characters, read books written by women hang out on message boards and casually talk to women – ask them their opinions. 


Or better yet, do as Neil Gaiman suggested to those seeking advice on developing female characters: "Just write people."

Fiction is the genre about the impossible and the improbable. You can break barriers, be they laws of physics or cultural norms, but if you can't write women in fiction, then you have bigger problems than static characters.