Although it should be obvious that this is an opinion piece, written in my opinion-piece blog, I will once again reiterate that this is entirely based upon my own personal sentiments and discoveries, not on some form of concrete science or fact.
For starters, I should say I tend to read fairly widely, among different genres and types of authors. Also, I have read more than a few books suggested to me by my sister, so I would consider myself somewhat versed on this subject. I actually got this idea while reading through a story by Gail Carson Levine, and was marveling at how different the writing and characters were from something that would be written by a male author. I thought back on the Patricia Wrede stories I read, and even the other Penana works (seeing as Penana seems to have very few male authors on it). So, I decided to record my findings here in this little post.
I should also make a quick mention of how Manga is actually a great litmus test for this, as they break down their audiences into two forms of manga; Shounen for boys and Shoujo for girls (there’s also Seinen and Josei for adults, but that’s not relevant). Although there are plenty of female mangakas like Hiromu Arakawa and Koyoharu Gotouge that write Shounen (and vice versa, of course), the divide in target audience makes it easy to pick out the differences.
Part I: The Hero’s Journey
This was the part that struck me the most, seeing as this literary device is both something I use often, and something I love to see in what I read. It turns out, it’s predominantly masculine. What I noticed when comparing female protagonists to male protagonists (as well as male protagonists in female-written novels to female protagonists in male-written novels, henceforth referred to as female-centric and male-centric for simplicity) is this;
Male protagonists start out as garbage. They may be weak, bratty, full of themselves, and causing trouble for everyone around them like Garion (The Belgariad) or Luke (Star Wars), or they might be a horrible person in other ways, like being a hardened killer like Jason Borne, trying to recover his memories. Regardless, their “hero’s journey” takes them from this lowly state and puts them on a path to greatness, usually with countless setbacks, failings, and opportunities to get their face shoved in the mud, their hands cut off, their friends to die, etc. But at the end of it, finally they reach the pinnacle they dreamed of and vanquish their enemy, saving the day. Or, like Jason Borne, they’ll overcome their dark past thanks to their friends, and turn over a new leaf. Fin.
On the other hand, female protagonists require no journey. They’re already where they need to be. Whether they’re a beautiful, accomplished huntress like Katniss (The Hunger Games), or a princess who’s simply better than all the other girls, strong, independent, and free-thinking like Cimorene (Dealing with Dragons), Ella (Ella Enchanted), or really most Disney Princesses, they don’t need much of a journey. Instead, there’s something holding them back from their true potential; it could be family, society, tradition, or what have you, but once they overcome this setback, they show themselves as the person they always were.
Take a look at Luke vs. Ray in Star Wars; both are essentially the “chosen ones” of their own tales. Luke starts out as a nobody. He’s just a whiney kid who wants to spend time with his friends. Nobody has any ideas of his inner greatness, least of all himself. Through the mentoring of wise masters, numerous sacrifices, losing his hand, getting captured, and countless other setbacks, he finally defeats Vader, only to then get slapped down by Palpatine, and have to get rescued by his father. On the other hand, Ray always felt out of place, like she was destined for something bigger. She destroys every obstacle in her path, learns force tricks in seconds that took Luke months of intense training to master, beats every foe that challenges her, even after being rejected by the “wise master”, and once she’s accepted herself for who she is, she defeats Palpatine who even Luke couldn’t beat and saves the day.
This is an interesting fact, and I’m not really sure what sparks it. Why are female characters generally impressive from the get go, and “not like other girls”, whereas male protagonists have to struggle and eat dirt before they can achieve some form of greatness? Maybe my sis was right, and Nausicaä really is the best female protagonist, because she actually has a hero’s journey. I’m curious what you, my readers, think.
Part II: The Others
Another thing I found quite interesting while reading female-centric books was how the other characters were presented. In Ella Enchanted, Dealing with Dragons, The Hunger Games, and other such stories, the protagonist is usually a loner, with one or two friends or close relatives. Aside from them, everyone else tends to be, well, just plain evil. Dirtbag evil, and usually less intelligent than the protagonist. Although she may meet friends along the way, anyone not allied with her tends to be morally grey at absolute best, and a pure ball of hateable evil at worst.
On the other hand, “enemies to friends” is one of the most common and popular male-centric tropes. In male centric-works, even the villains tend to have humanity. Vader, evil as he is, redeems himself. Vegeta kills an entire planet, and ends up as one of the most beloved characters in the franchise. Minor and major villains in the Belgariad series become secondary protagonists in the sequel series, the Mallorean. Typically, villains have to be smarter, stronger, and even better-looking than the protagonist. How else would they be a worthy challenge, something the hero has to earn greatness by overcoming? In general, characters in male-centric stories tend to be good by default, with villains being marked as “good people who took the wrong path”.
Ironically, female-centric stories are probably the more realistic of the two, at least in assuming that the average person is evil. At least, that’s what the cynic in me says. If I’m being honest though, I read fiction to get away from that, so I’d probably rather the wishful thinking of male-centric writing.
Part III: The Reckoning.
What happens when the protagonist finally faces their foe? Well, if it’s the absolute last boss, it tends to be the same for both; defeat them and save the day. But what if it’s a minor villain, one of the bumps on the road to the true antagonist? That’s where things divide between male and female-centric stories.
In female-centric stories, I’ve found that even minor villains tend to get what’s due them, sometimes pettily, sometimes brutally. However, there does tend to be a theme of “justice be done”; there’s usually very little in the way of redemptions or second-chances. In fact, a common theme among even female-centric movies is that the protagonist gets slighted by her rival, and spends the story scheming to socially ruin her enemy, paying the slight back tenfold.
On the other hand, as already established in Part II, enemies to friends is a common trope in male-centric stories. That aside however, I’ve found male-centric stories to have a far more varied way of dealing with minor villains. Sometimes they simply escape, and technically win in their own way. Sometimes they get humiliated, and slink into the shadows. Sometimes they even get a glorious end of their own, letting you respect them, even if you hated them. Personally speaking, I like this path more.
Part IV: In Closing
There are definitely a lot more areas I could’ve touched on, but I think these three points symbolize the greatest divides between male and female-oriented writing. There are actually a lot of points that BOTH get wrong in different ways, such as portrayals of the opposite sex; I’ve never read it, but numerous reviewers and people I’ve talked to have said that Harry Potter’s male characters can come off as rather unnatural at times, and nothing less-so than Harry and Ron’s relationship as young male friends. And I won’t even start on how male love interests are portrayed in female-centric romances. Yikes. On the other hand, multiple Shounen manga series like Naturo and One Piece have received no shortage of criticism on shallowly written female characters, and I would assume male-centric romances would receive similar critique from female readers. I left these issues out as they’re common problems both sides share, as opposed to genuinely different takes and styles.
What are your thoughts, though? I reiterate that these takes are all averages, and exceptions naturally will occur, such as the Nausicaä manga, which manages to take a well-written female protagonist and give her a hero’s journey without it feeling contrived. I am curious though whether you’ve noticed any similar disparities in styles between the two target audiences. Let me know in the comment section if you have
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