Types of Girl Protagonists That Aren't Used Nearly Enough(A List)
Redheads, especially redheads that aren't Balls of Fire™
Girl characters who are tough but don't hate on children or girly things, it's just not their thing. They admire other girls who do such things, but it's just not for them.
Ones who wear skirts?? Where are my girls who like wearing skirts?
Girl heroes who wear glasses and find a way to work with the glasses in order to fight rather than just not wearing them(because bro you will be blind, plz save yourself)
Girls who exist without any kind of trauma. I love angst, I really love angst, but it's nice sometimes just to see characters who are living life without trauma. The whole Broken Girl trope can be a little overdone.
Girls who care, really care, about other people. Gentle girls. I feel like girls in fiction today are a lot more focused on themselves individually and are really callous toward other people. The 'strong female character but she's actually just a jerk' trope still hasn't gone away completely. Girls who care aren't written so much anymore.
Tough Girl characters who have solid friendships with the guy characters. (like Cara Dune, one of my favorite characters ever :D )
Girls who aren't traditionally beautiful. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. Give me the wider set eyes and the big noses and the funny ears and the broad shoulders. Give me the acne scars and the rosacea. Those things are stunning, and I want them portrayed very much.
Girls who are thick as thieves in stories that don't feature all girls. Hear me out here. The story has to feature guys as well as girls. If it's an all-girl story it'll never be noticed, and it'll be sort of expected, but girls being close while being around guy characters is a unique and lovely thing.
Girls who don't have jobs that are better suited to boys, but rather have jobs that are similar but are suited to them so that they can really shine. Don't crucify me here. There are plenty of jobs that are actually gender neutral, but if a girl really would struggle in a job because she isn't suited for it, consider creating a similar job that will actually work for her.
Girls whose goodness and purity at the beginning of a story don't turn into the 'flaw' they need to overcome and grow out of. Goodness is not something to overcome, it's something to lean into.
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Anyway, there ends my list for today. Are there any other posts in this vein that you would like to see sometime soon? What are you doing in December? Let's talk in the comments, I love to hear from you. <3
What a good list! Especially since some of those characteristics apply to me! I've also definitely worked a couple of these into my WIPs (like the gentle girls, girls with solid friendships with guy characters, &c) and I love them there!
ReplyDeleteGreat list.
ReplyDeleteMy stories have the following from your list:
Redheads - one main character in a modern fantasy series and another in a supernatural novel.
The women always wear skirts for meetings and family dinners.
"Tough Girl characters who have solid friendships with the guy characters" - Done
"Girls who don't have jobs that are better suited to boys.." One main character earned a degree in anthropology. I hope that counts.
My novel casts are about evenly split between men and women.
Still need a character that wears glasses and who isn't a supermodel.
YES, every one of these! Especially everything that touches on girls caring, on not being "tough" jerks, not trying to grow out of goodness, not insisting on doing things that are made for men to do; not trying to, in essence, be guys. Or at least, their perception of guys. (And girls wearing skirts!) (And the glasses one, YES. 😂 For any character, not just girls. Like...seriously, people. If you need glasses, WEAR them.)
ReplyDeleteGirls can be strong without being jerks, but almost all I ever see for "strong females" are jerks.
Thank you for this list. It is a good list.
Grr, I don't know why Blogger keeps publishing my comments as unknown. This was happening with another blog too. Let's see here.
ReplyDeleteNope, not gonna change. Hm. It won't let me check the "notify me" button either; says an error occurred while contacting the server.
So there's my comment, but if you happen to reply and I don't get it, that's why! 😂 And this is @precisionproofreads from Instagram.