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kathrahender · 4 months ago

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Female Characters in Media and how they should write them better (and their relationship with other characters too)

One of the things that upsets me is how women are depicted in media. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike some female characters for being female (like someone could think), I'm not a misogynist person. I dislike them for not being good characters. For being poorly written (in my opinion). If you want to keep reading, prepare yourself, because this would be long (?

First, the "girl with a crush" type of female character.

Some of the female characters are always following their crush wherever he goes, sometimes saying his name a lot of times in the show, and her life is almost centered in living for her crush and nothing else. Like they have no purpose except being around her crush. They (the female characters) care about her crush more than they care about anyone else (even their own family). Sometimes they care about their crush more than her own future. They care more about having (or not having) a future with her crush than they care about having a degree/a job.

And I hate those kind of female characters, because a woman's life shouldn't be determined by a man. They should be independent people centered in being successful in life, not being centered in having or not having a future with the man they like. And if the man they like doesn't feel the same/doesn't pay attention to them, then leave him alone (after all, he's not the only man in the world, is he?) or don't force the situation, just let it flow. If the man is meant to love them back, then he would do it. If he isn't meant to love them, they shouldn't waste time thinking about how their relationship could work. And if they are dating another person, they definitely shouldn't try to separate them (or actually separate them) because then their "love" towards the man they like wouldn't be "love" but obsession or the "if I can't have you, no one can" type of love.

Secondly, the "girl who is just the love interest" type of female character.

This is the type of character who is weak, dependent, and everytime they need saving. They add nothing to the plot except being the love interest. You could remove them and the only thing that would happen is that the hero wouldn't have a love interest. That's all. They are the type of character who do nothing important in the plot. They are in the show just to fullfill the "male character ending with a female character before the show ends" trope. They aren't strong, they aren't "useful", their existence is basically based in having to be saved, crying, or making stupid things to make the audience "laugh" or feel sympathy for her.

And I also hate this type of character. A female character shouldn't be in a show just to make the audience laugh. They shouldn't be in a show just to be the love interest. What you're implying with those type of characters is that a female character can't be nothing else than a non-important sub-plot. They can't be strong, they can't save the day, and they can't be fighters because "Oh my god, they're women, how could they be an important part of the war? 😡😡". And that's bullshit. Women can be strong and should be strong in media. Women should be and deserve to be important in the main plot. Women should save the day and they deserve it. Women deserve to be more than a "always crying" character.

Thirdly, the "female warrior who is more powerful than everyone else" type of female character.

This female character is strong, tough, resilient, brave, and more things. It's basically the reverse of the "girl who is just the love interest" character. She doesn't need saving, she doesn't cry (or at least she has just a few "weakness" moments) and she is important to the plot because without her there wouldn't be a storyline (whether she is the main character, one of the main characters, or the love interest of another character).

Sometimes this trope is handled well. This type of character can be well-written and be an awesome powerful female character, but there are some cases where the writers/showrunners/producers don't do it well (in my opinion). The thing is that in some shows/movies, to make the female character strong, brave, and intelligent, they make the male characters more weak, more "coward", and more dumb. And that's what I hate about the writing of this type of character. Women can be strong, brave and intelligent without making the male characters the opposite. A woman and a man can be the same, and you don't need to make one look bad to make the other look better. They both should be strong. They both should be powerful. They both should be though. They both should be intelligent.

And fourthly, the "female tough character who doesn't show a lot of emotions" type of character

This type of character is similar to the previous one, except that she isn't considered the "most powerful" character in the book/show/movie. She's strong, tough, resilient, brave (probably more things) and she doesn't need saving (most of the times), but she's not the most powerful character of the show. Yes, she is one of the strongest characters, but she isn't the strongest.

The problem I have with this type of character is that sometimes they appear with another trope. The malewife/girlboss trope. And two of those malewife/girlboss pairings seriously upset me because they're seen as "beautiful" "wholesome" and "awesome" when they aren't. The fans of that ship act like it's "healthy", but I have news for you. It's not healthy. It's not healthy to call your partner with mean nicknames. It's not healthy to hit your partner "as a joke". If it was the reverse, if the man was calling the woman with mean nicknames and he was hitting her "as a joke", everyone would throw hands. If "X" male character treated the "Y" female character like that, there would be no one in this world who wouldn't get angry at him.

But if it's the reverse? "Oh, she's not really hurting him" "Oh, she's so funny" "Oh, she's so silly" "Oh, she's so cute". And that's what I hate about this trope. That the female-on-male bullying is not treated seriously. And you can like these ships, okay. But at least don't pretend they are something they aren't. It's kind of toxic/abusive, and you can still like it, as well as you can like... I don't know, Buffy x Spike (?, but don't act like those ships are healthy because they aren't (this is me talking about the canon because some writers can write those ships as healthy).

Now, after all of this. I'm gonna mention some female characters that I think are well-written, as well as some straight ships that are good (again, in my opinion).

First, the female characters.

Pacifica Northwest from Gravity Falls. Lila Rossi from Miraculous Ladybug. Valerie Gray from Danny Phantom. Karai, April O'Neil from TMNT (any version). Katara, Toph, Korra, Asami Sato from Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra. Sabine Wren, Ahsoka Tano, Hera Syndulla from Star Wars Rebels. Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, Eleven/Jane Hopper, Max Mayfield from Stranger Things. Chloe Decker, Ella Lopez, Maze, Linda Martin from Lucifer TV. Allison Argent, Lydia Martin, Malia Hale, Kira Yukimura from Teen Wolf. Alina Starkov, Nina Zenik from Shadow and Bone. Shado, Felicity Smoak, Laurel Lance, Dinah Drake, Sara Lance, Thea Queen, Caitlin Snow, Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers, Lena Luthor, Samantha Arias, Ava Sharpe, Zari Tomaz, Nora Darhk from Arrowverse (The CW). Regina Mills, Emma Swan, Snow White, Ruby, Mulan, Aurora, Ashley Boyd from Once Upon a Time. And more. I don't know what makes these characters so likeable, but I can't help but love them. Compare them with the characters I criticized, and see what I mean with the good/bad female character writing.

Secondly, the straight canon ships (I'm just gonna say my opinion about a few of them and mention the others because if I explained why I accept all of those straights ships and not others, the post would be very very long and I don't want that)

Gray Ghost from Danny Phantom. They had better development and better chemistry than Amethyst Ocean for me, and although Amethyst Ocean is not a bad ship, the way they ended up together at the end of Phantom Planet felt so rushed. With more development? Amethyst Ocean could have been a ship I would have liked.

Kataang from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I will always prefer Zutara/Zukka over this ship, but you can't deny they objectively had development and chemistry. The ship didn't feel rushed or forced, you could actually see they loved each other. And the two of them are powerful, the writers/showrunners didn't make one look bad to make the other look better (in my opinion).

Makorra from Legend of Korra. Their relationship at the beginning of the show was honestly beautiful, and although I like Korrasami, I wouldn't have minded Makorra being the Endgame ship in the show. For me they had good development, chemistry, their romance didn't feel forced or rushed, and their hurt/comfort scenes were so wholesome and heartwarming. And that without saying they also didn't make one of them more weak or more dumb than the other because yes-

Casapril from TMNT 2007. Although in this movie we couldn't see how Casey and April ended up together, what we saw was enough to make me think they were a good ship. I don't know if it was because their relationship seemed healthy or because it seemed like they loved each other so much, but I loved them.

Scallison from Teen Wolf. Okay, Scott McCall had a crush in Allison Argent at the beginning of the show, and some of you could say "Oh, so you accept a character having a crush as long as it's not a girl having it 😡". No. That's not true. Scott McCall had a crush on Allison, yes, but unlike Hinata and Marinette, he didn't stalk Allison, and he talked to her. And unlike Naruto and Adrien, Allison liked Scott almost since the beginning. Then, no, it's not the same situation. Scallison is very different from Naruhina and Adrienette. Scallison actually had development and chemistry, and you could see they both were down for each other since the start of the show.

Gweter from The Amazing Spider-Man. Their relationship is beautiful. The way Gwen got into Flash-Peter's fight and defended Peter, the way they slowly fell for each other, the way the connected so well... Everything between them was wholesome. And again, you could see the chemistry, you could see both characters were well-written without making one look worse than the other. They both were strong (in different ways, but they were), they both were intelligent, and they both were so in love with each other. Their romance wasn't rushed, or forced neither.

Snowing from Once Upon a Time. They're the couple of Once Upon a Time. Their relationship in the Enchanted Forest was beautiful, and although they had to work in their relationship in Earth, you can't deny they're soulmates. Their love is pure, even connecting them across realities, and if there's true love out there, they surely have it. You can ship other ships in this show, sure, but the chemistry between these two is undeniable. As well as their development.

Other straight canon ships I think they're well-written are Stricklake (Trollhunters), Entrapdak (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), Aelita x Jeremy, Ulrich x Yumi (Code Lyoko), Hank x Shay, Lotura (Voltron Legendary Defender), Obitine (Star Wars), Jancy, Lumax, Mileven, Jopper (Stranger Things), Deckerstar (Lucifer TV), Scalia, Scira, Chelissa (Teen Wolf), Darklina, Helnik (Grishaverse), Petermj (MCU), Olicity, Barricity, Westhawne, Snowstorm, Quickwest, Captain Canary (Arrowverse), Danali, Damiko (Karate Kid), Samguel, MoHawk (Cobra Kai). As you can see (and if I'm not blind lmao) none of these ships are based in the tropes I previously said I hate. There are some of these ships that I don't like for personal reasons, but they are good ships and objectively well-written ships. So... yeah.

To end this post, I want to thank you for reading this, and if you support one of the characters/ships I criticized, please, keep it to yourself and block me or block the "Anti Naruhina/Percabeth/Adrienette/Hiccstrid" and "Anti Marinette/Hinata/Astrid/Annabeth" tags. I didn't make this post just to get hate comments.

If you think the same as me about this, thank you for your time! I'm glad you made it to the end of the post ;)

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