I really hate female protagonists, usually when it comes to romance. But I have a reason why I prefer the other gender as the main character.
Yes, I am a female myself, but that doesn't limit me. The sole reason I don't like female protagonists is because of all of the books that I've had to progress through grudgingly because of all of the stereotypes and used tropes:
The protagonist that becomes lost in love and basically can't live or feels missing without their significant other and can no longer seem to function as a human being; Hazel Grace from The Fault in Our Stars (Don't get me wrong, I loved this story. I just noticed this happening towards the end where SPOILER ALERT: Augustus passes away).
The protagonist that feels the need to note the other's attractive features or mysterious actions every other page; Nora Grey from Hush, Hush.
I'm sorry if you found any of these books amazing or nothing like what I explained; these are just a few of my pet peeves in stories. I liked both of these books, but seriously.
Now, why I love male protagonists:
The protagonist that just seems way more focused and don't feel the need to marvel over their significant other at completely random times and instead, at appropriate times (getting too close, in a relaxing place in the midst of a problem, etc.); Percy Jackson from The Percy Jackson Series and The Heroes of Olympus.
The protagonist that never gives up and has overwhelming determination that shocks or even disturbs the audience. He also does not get himself tangled in a random love story in the middle of the plot; Eren Jaeger from Attack on Titan (anime)
It just seems to me that more male protagonists than female know when they have to rely on themselves rather than others and know when they have to focus rather than just note their crushes beauty all of the time.
Sorry if I offended you in any way, I just needed to get this out there.
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I agree with you to a great extent. Popular culture has played a huge role in undermining the independence of women and girls. It is embedded in people's minds that being loved is sufficient for the ascension of a woman's happiness. Why can't a woman be happy when she achieves her goals? Why is love always a necessary ingredient in the recipe of a perfect ending? It's high time that art forms should start showing independent, bold and smart women and a woman whose happiness is not based on the number of times her boyfriend told her that she looks beautiful.
Hi there, cupcakenx!
Good luck!
An interesting topic! You often see discussions about this, but I don't think I've read a proper essay about it before!
However, I didn't feel like the books and characters you mentioned were as comparable as they could have been. The Fault in Our Stars and Hush, Hush are definitely romances whereas Percy Jackson and Attack on Titan, while I haven't read either, sound more like "adventure"/fantasy stories. Therefore it's more expected/logical of Hazel and Nora preoccupy themselves with romantic thoughts rather than slaying dragons or whatever the male characters do.
I think you're somewhat right in stating that female characters/protagonists are perhaps more emotional/sensitive than male ones, but in an argumentative piece like this, you have to be careful not to generalise or make assumptions. You have to present your findings objectively and let the reader see your point and make them agree with you. In my opinion you don't only compare characters from different genres, you also only have a couple of examples for each side, which seems a bit narrow. It would also be great if you could present characters that don't automatically fall under what you're stating, for example, a female character that *is* focused and doesn't marvel at their significant other too often. Then you could show through other means what still makes them different from the male characters to further illustrate your point.
I do realise that this probably isn't meant to be a very academic piece, rather than just a piece of your mind, but hopefully my points can be applied anyway.
Demeter x
Hey there! I definitely understand the point of your essay here; a lot of the female protagonists in popular literature today are just /not up to par/ with the male protagonists. I've read countless novels where the women are lost without their men, or need to rely on men to protect them, and I have a big issue with that.
However, I've read a couple stories that do get over the tropes: "Alanna: The First Adventure" by Tamora Pierce, "Cinder" by Marissa Meyer and "Something Strange and Deadly" by Susan Dennard come to mind immediately.
So the first thing I would say to you is: Yes, we don't have enough fully-fleshed female characters in literature today. And the second thing I would say is: We need to write them, and we need to educate others on how to do so and why they should.
Piece-wise, I think that you have the potential for what could be a good, long essay on female portrayal in the media and how they could be better represented. Do they even really need love interests? Of course not! Let's talk about how women can be good characters /without/ a man.
"I really hate female protagonists, usually when it comes to romance. But I have a reason why I prefer the other gender as the main character." I think that this opening paragraph would be a lot more hooking if you said, "I really hate female protagonists, but I promise that I have a reason." or something more concise. Also, be sure to go into more depth on your opinion. I would love if you analyzed it even more than you did, and ended with a concise not on your feelings instead of an apology.
I also encourage you to think even more about good female representation and how we can remedy the lack of it.
Thanks so much for writing; this really got me thinking.