Thank you for this - a perfect expression of a problem I've noticed wherever authors write female MCs. Worst is when you're asked, "When are you going to write a book with a male protagonist," as though girl protags are just a stepping-stone to their male counterparts.

Yeah. Or as if not writing male POV stories automatically carries the question of "why not?"

I'm glad there are both male and female POVs out there, and writers doing both well. But mostly, I don't think about why I'm not writing all those other stories I could be writing--I think about why I am writing the one I am.

I mean, the decision to write any story means deciding not to write others, but this question doesn't seem to get asked for all the other choices I make!

I suspect neither of our protags are stepping stones to anything but themselves. :-)

:) I sure hope so!

What a weird question to ask. I don't think I would have noticed that about any writer's oeuvre unless I was actively looking. o_O

There's still some resistance among the younger set to cross-gender reading, fwiw, although it seems to be less of an issue than I remember it being ten years ago. I still know both women and men who won't read much in the way of other-sex viewpoint characters, though.

I understand the apologetic approach, because I use it in the same way in any other endeavour. But I use it in the "I'm sorry that I am going to have to disappoint you". If, on the other hand, it is not a young boy, or a young boy's mother, asking, I don't apologize when I answer the question because I don't perceive the answer as being disappointing, if that makes sense.

Which is not to say that I disagree in any way with what you've just said.

I do think, too, that if the question is a reader asking "I like to read boy pov books--have you written any?" that that's subtly different--then you have a reader who likes a certain sort of book and wants to know if I've written that type of book.

As opposed to the fact of writing for girls making one wonder about the fact of writing for boys. (Hmm. Not sure I'm being coherent about that. Maybe it's still okay to apologize for being not-quite-coherent when it's late. :-))

Yeah, people were always bugging Sam Clemens. "When are you going to write a book from a girl's point of view?" they'd ask.

...I leave his answer for the reader to supply, but suggest keeping in mind his previous employment on Mississippi River boats.

(Pirate!Hermione is not amused by that question.)

At some point, I'm sure someone will ask me that, and I hope, I hope that I can give a strong answer. I like yours a great deal.

This reminds me of a workshop I went to once, given by a female author who wrote mostly from boys' POV. And while that's fantastic that she's had so much success doing it, when the topic came up, she said something that implied--indirectly--that it was because boys tended to do more interesting things, things that made for better fiction.

Um, yeah, I spent most of the rest of the session drawing up a list of interesting female protagonists, and left it with my evaluation.

I'm also reminded of the comment that reading/literature teachers still hear: "Pick books for classroom reading that boys will like. Girls will read anything, but boys need to see themselves in the stories." I wish I was kidding. I really, really do. Yar.

(That's because Pirate!Hermione has always been the most intelligent character in that universe. :-))

A lot of female writers used to do that I think--assume you need boys to get interesting characters instead of making the girls, you know, more interesting--right on up to Le Guin (Earthsea) and Cooper (The Dark is Rising).

And yeah, I get tired of the "girls will read about boys but boys won't read about girls" truism. I don't know what to do with it, because you can't make anyone read books they don't want to--but it also means deciding that it's okay for girls to read stories more removed from their experiences than the books boys read, simply because they're willing to put up with doing so. It's almost like boys get rewarded for their stubborness, and girls get punished for their tolerance.

And yet, you don't want your class' boys not reading, either. It's a muddle. You'd think the answer would be just having a mix in the classroom.

I do think boys get at least some of the "don't wanna read about girls" from their parents, too, judging by how often I've seen them dismiss any book with a female protagonist as reading for their sons, regardless of the actual story.

"I do think boys get at least some of the "don't wanna read about girls" from their parents, too, judging by how often I've seen them dismiss any book with a female protagonist as reading for their sons, regardless of the actual story."

I think some of them are afraid their sons are going to somehow become "sissified" and suddenly start wearing glittery pink lipstick, stiletto heels, and sighing over boy bands. You know, instead of, say, enjoying a story for itself and possibly even seeing females as people too.

Heck, it might even help older straight boys develop enough empathy that they're not that guy who's terrified of girls/women and never learns the social skills to comfortably date.

Hi there I am a total randomer >.> but still I feel the need to comment.

I totally agree with what you're saying here about getting that attitude from their parents (or whoever picks their books). Reading and writing has always been central to my life and much to my delight when my younger brother was around 8 or 9 years old I realised he was exactly the same. From that point onwards I began to buy him books and let him read whatever he felt like from my own collection.

I don't believe I've ever offered my brother a book in all that time that he has refused to read. He basicly 'eats' any book put into his hands. Among the things that spring to mind is Holly Black's Tithe, Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, Garth Nix's Sabriel and even Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness Quartet.

My brother is neither gay nor in any way 'girly'. (though he is caring and understanding, perhaps more so than most boys his age.) When he was 12 he started to write his own stories, and the first thing I noticed was how developed his female characters where. He's 15 now. ^^

I have to admit though, I prefer male characters O.O!!! (as in writing about them, not reading) I have no idea why this is, they just seem easier to get a handle on, creating females is much harder for me. Weird since I'm a girl and I like wearing sparkles. >.> Someday maybe I'll get past that problem. ^-^'

I think the main thing is though, write what you love, and never apologise for it.

Fallyn x

I think the main thing is though, write what you love, and never apologise for it.

Yes!

I think it's fine to wind up mostly writing male characters without apology, too. I figure between all of us, we get a range of books out there so everyone can find the books they want/need.

(And randomnosity is always welcome. :-) Feel free to drop in and comment any time!)

Edited at 2008-05-01 03:30 pm (UTC)

How about: given that Harry Potter is a boy, I feel quite strongly that that half of the pre-teen population has had their viewpoint adequately explored.

(That said, mabye you're actually apologizing because you realize your defaulting to your own gender identity...? Which can be a problem. Though perhap usually a problem in the other direction.)

That answer works for me. :-)

I think maybe once I was defaulting a little--but somewhere along the way I think I did become actively interested in stories about girls, rather than passively, which means the apologies don't make the sense they might have a couple decades back. (If they ever did. There being gender stuff behind apologizing too much, too!)

I like your girl protags. They're not annoying stereotypes.