Have I not explicitly discussed this in a previous post?
Checks previous posts…
…Well, I’ll be danged!
Might have to make this a “2-parter”, or something to revisit again later.
In short, there is simply too much to talk about here. Too much to discuss. Too much to criticize. Too much to think about. Too much unproductive anxiety.
So, that being said, I’m a little surprised that this topic hasn’t yet spilled out of me into word form. It is often something I contemplate. Certainly it is something I am constantly scanning for information about.
For now, let’s try and keep it simple with this one.
I am a male and the protagonist of my story is an 18 year old female.
I know, right? Uh oh!
The reason I want to work this one over is because I know this is one of those scenarios that can be perceivably uncomfortable when it’s actually innocent, and vice-versa (the vice-versa is so much worse). Writing a female protagonist as a male is a little bit like owning a firearm: don’t be weird about it or you’ll seriously creep people out.
I have first-hand witnessed authors/screenwriters attempting to write female protagonists. Certainly I have read some books, but I have also been in a few screenwriting classes that have been… eye-opening. I have some hard opinions. One word comes to mind: projection.
I feel that I mostly understand the root of this, being that the author is probably trying to write a character that would be likeable to them. If that character is the protagonist, they’re going to get a lot of “screen-time”, meaning the author may likely default to writing a character which is fun and easy to write on as many self-serving levels as possible. It’s no mistake that inexperienced authors of any gender often write characters which are explicitly idealized versions of themselves, simply because its fun, easy and self-serving to do so. Though, I’m one to argue that all characters in a story are pieces of the author in some way, but subtlety in these manifestations is usually more digestible to read (way less cringe-factor).
It’s easy to misalign your character development with the necessary narrative goals when your protagonist is technically the gender you’re “attracted to”. Mostly because “attraction” is a deceptively wide spectrum with X,Y, and Z axes. I think the problem only truly manifests when the author’s “attraction” to their character becomes a priority, instead of just a condition. This is further strengthened by frequent inclusion of non-platonic sounding descriptors.
“Mr. Pullman, please stop describing the 13 year old’s lips.”
I’ve taken a lot of variables into account and I’ve decided to stick with this: I’m just going to go for it with the best intentions.
Here are some decisions I’ve made accompanied by some ugly-worded supporting thoughts:
Augustine is going to be a girl.
That’s just what I’ve decided. I believe that a female perspective is a more interesting portrayal for her character framework, which is that of someone who, internally, is logically evaluating their perception of human life and applying what makes sense to them. This is adjacent to the external circumstance of frequently being underestimated.
Augustine is going to be an 18 year old girl.
I believe, from the outside looking in, that the intrinsic life events of maturing girls are emotionally and socially more complicated than that of maturing boys. That’s just what I feel to be the truth. This choice in narrative perspective, to me, feels like a rewarding challenge with a lot more to offer than what I have personally experienced and/or observed as a male. I’m just going to do my best here.
So, wish me luck I guess?
I want to write more about this later. I think it’s an interesting topic that I know (from reading articles on Medium.com) that people have a lot to say about men writing female characters. There’s a lot to criticize, there’s a lot of ways it can come off as lack of awareness or empathy. Mostly, I want to be respectful and realistic with my protagonist because I care about them and they deserve it.
I hope to return to this topic with a fresher perspective in time. Hopefully when I release this comic I’ll get some informative or affirmative feedback.
It will be fine!
I think.
❤ Casey