#if it were true you'd expect the straight male side of fandom to be primarily focused on female characters. it is not

[thirddoctor]

Something I've observed in the responses to my posts about fandom and female characters is a lot of people have basically said the main appeal of a character is whether or not you find them hot (hence male characters being prioritised), and that kinda baffles me. I mean, it's a perfectly valid reason to like a character, but is it really the criterion everyone is using?

I feel like the characters we're drawn to usually fall into a few different categories. There are the hot ones, sure, but also the ones we identify with - part of the power of representation is feeling seen, feeling like other people have shared our experiences - and there are the wish-fulfillment characters we want to be like and can live vicariously through. Then there are the ones who may not be like us at all but who are fascinating to watch. Trying to see things from a completely different perspective and understanding why someone might make choices you wouldn't - even horrible choices - is really compelling and important imo.

Obviously those categories can overlap too, but I just think "people only like characters they think are hot" is very reductive and not actually accurate to the way most people engage with fiction. Find better excuses lol