Feminism in Fiction I

I went to a number of panels at Conflux that dealt with the portrayal of women in fiction.

This includes Anime/Manga, novels, movies and television series. One of the best questions asked was who would win a fight: Ace, from Dr Who, Starbuck, from Battlestar Galactica or Rose Porter, also from Dr Who. The winner, hands down, was Ace. Why? Because she took on a Dalek with a baseball bat and won.

Lt. Col. Sam Carter from Stargate SG came in for quite a bit of discussion; she is alternately reviled and admired. She’s a strong woman character who not only has brains, but courage, loyalty and human frailties. It is the affection she has for Jack that causes her to be the object of disgust by some fans of the series.

Aeryn Sun, from Farscape, too, is subject to eye-rolling because of her relationship with Crichton.

There are only two women in popular series who escape this: River from Firefly and, of course, Xena. Although Xena was portrayed as bi-sexual.

Most of the discussions wound around the characters, not the why. People kept coming up with more characters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Willow, from the same series, Uhura from Star Trek, Captain Janeway… and so on.

I’m going to give you my thoughts on this:

All of these women are strong, powerful, intelligent, loyal, courageous and determined to win. They are also subject to the emotional pull of a man (or a woman) and that, in some fans eyes, diminishes them.

Sam, Aeryn, and River are emotionally close to men; that doesn’t mean they cannot stand on their own though. Hell, River kicked the snot out the Reevers; Aeryn was a Peacekeeper and Sam is still a soldier.

Starbuck drinks, smokes cigars and sleeps with loose men! She’s the best pilot, can take a beating and keep on tickin’. Does this make her any less feminine? I don’t think so: she can match it with men and that, more than anything else, is what the unreconstructed sexists cannot forgive.

Take a close look at the books you love that have a woman protagonist. You’ll find the majority are (at least the ones I read), kick ass women who don’t take any shit from anyone. Even the romances. It’s interesting to note that not many authors will actually have a woman protagonist save her man – it is still the other way around.

Gender issues are still a long way from being equal – even the strongest female protagonist has a man by her side (one might even say they are ready to step in if the woman gets into any trouble).

There is nothing wrong with being emotionally involved with a man; it does not diminish a woman whether it is in fiction or reality. The key is not to fail at that last hurdle; when you are writing your kick ass heroine, remember that she is powerful, and has been strong for three hundred-plus pages.

Don’t have her fail – fail in that she has to be rescued, either physically or emotionally. If that happens, then you’ve failed in your duty as a writer to fulfil the promise at the beginning of the book.