Quote from: Not-so Fat Admin on February 19, 2013, 11:15:51 AM
Well, probably a princess who's actually not a tomboy engaging in swordplay (or that general theme). Nothing wrong with that kind of thing. It was cool the first few times, but it's really getting old now. AND it perpetuates the 'masculine is cool, feminine is not good enough' thing. When all we have are heroines who basically are men disguised as hot chicks - the message isn't feminism. (And if we must have a heroine like that, how come she can never be like women most likely to be like that - butch. Why does she always have to be 'hot'.)
And this is another reason for trans misogyny. Traditional femininity is perceived as unacceptable, not even good enough for a movie.
The problem is not women doing swordplay. A woman doing something actiony does not make her a' man disguised as a hot chick'. I don't think this is how you meant it, but the implications that she must act a certain way to 'be' a woman are distasteful. This sort of sentiment is common in our culture.
But how she is written might contribute to the negative feeling you and many experience. Female characters more often than not lose the quality of actually being characters and become written as the 'prefect girl' for whatever male protagonist is there, and sometimes the audience.(note: there are different versions of 'perfect girl', but they all share a pandering 'isn't this chick hot? guys want to be with her, girls want to be her' quality that is grating.) They're written more like a prop than a character. So yes, the message isn't feminism by a long shot.
If I see a well written action female I don't have a problem.
If I see a well written 'traditionally feminine' female I don't have a problem
If they aren't well written? Well I ain't going to enjoy that.
A good example of a non pandering action character, from what I can remember, is Liz from the Hellboy movies. She doesn't feel like she was made specifically for the protagonist with a few shallow traits thrown in in a half hearted attempt to make a character. She also gets saved in the end, but not because she's female and she has to be saved.
The problem is never character traits, but why and how writers implement them. Personally I come from the angle that I write characters, not genders.
And here here, let's have some butch girls out there. And effeminate men!
QuoteYou can't watch a movie without all this 'see, she's a woman but see how strong she is! god forbid we actually let the man play the hero'.
Men are almost always the protagonist and in the end 'save the day'. Women are the helpers... and always end up macking him.
I will agree completely that we need male characters that aren't 100% masculine macho macho. Overlap in masculine and feminine qualities make the most believable character traits. Let the guys show emotion and feelings that aren't related to completely devastating events like a parent's death.
