As mentioned in our class, stories with male protagonists can deal with a variety of different themes, while stories with female protagonists often have only one story: romance. They overcome difficulties and eventually marry the prince, which, in the context of the patriarchal society of the past, makes me wonder if the author’s purpose is to make them “subordinate” to men.
I recall reading novels I’ve read, most of which feature male protagonists. The one exception is that I have read almost all of the works of Eileen Chang, a very talented Chinese woman writer whose works mainly feature women as protagonists. However, the endings of these female protagonists are often tragic, seemingly unrelated to the glamorous words “heroism,” “finding yourself,” and “defeating the enemy” that often appear in novels with male protagonists. I think this is probably because Eileen Chang was a writer who was good at reflecting reality, and the women of that era were miserable.
And my question is, as more and more attention is paid to feminism, are there many stories with women as the main characters in the real sense? If so, how are these stories fundamentally different from those with male protagonists, i.e., if we replace the protagonist of a classic story with a woman, does the story still stand? What are the things that an author, especially a male author, needs to be aware of when he creates such stories? Is it easy for him to fall into the male gaze, stereotypes, or even sexism?
I resonate a lot with your post, especially the last sentence covering the forced subordination of women through writing. I like how you pointed out the vast difference in pathways available to women versus men, and that they typically only have one which is romance.
I’d love if you expanded more on your readings and experience with Eileen Chang, as I have no knowledge on her writing and find myself very interested. I think it provides a great counter example for your argument, as well as provide a different perspective on writings of women that we have seen so far.
As for your question, I have another to add. I wonder if Wooster would benefit from having a class focused on writings with female protagonists, if we do not already have one? This class potentially could dive deeper into your question, as I feel it is one that requires a lot of thought. Something interesting that partially answers your question however is the recent trend of focusing on women written by men, as it brings a lot of light to sometimes comical or even offensive views (whether they are conscious or not) that some writers have of women.
This is a super interesting concept, and I think it should be talked about more in literature and media. It makes me think about this phenomenon called the “bechdel test”. It’s usually used in film but the main idea is if two women have a conversation about anything other than a man, it passes the test. bechdeltest.com said that around 40% of films don’t pass the test. Some famous movies that don’t pass include:
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Ratatouille
The Avengers
The Grand Budapest Hotel
I really appreciate this post. Female protagonists are something that is quite interesting to me, as these days I mostly read novels with female leads. Crimson Karma, Truthfully They Only Remembered Her, The Emperor And The Female Knight, and quite a few others. They’re all wonderfully written, with strong female leads. The plots all typically involve romance in some way or another, but to what degree is that a problem?
Most novels with male protagonists also have a degree of romance in them, or romantic undertones. If a novel gives the heroine to the normally male arcs–“heroism,” “finding yourself,” and “defeating the enemy”–then should the also normal arc of “finding love” which is commonplace in novels with male protagonists not be allowed as well? Well, in short, it’s something worth thinking about.
To answer your question, I’ve seen a growing number of very well written novels with great female protagonists–Worm by John C. McCrae is my personal favorite–and I think than many male authors, are growing in their understanding of how to write good female leads without subjecting them to the male gaze.
As I read this post, I also thought of the “Bechdel test” that Rae mentioned. It is hard for me to think of many books/movies that would pass this test, which is truly disheartening. A lot of the fairy tales we read in this class are such good examples of the terrible ways that male authors can portray female characters, by basing their notions of femininity on stereotypes.
As an avid fan of literature with female protagonists and an avid fan of romance novels, I have several thoughts. I have also often wondered about the patriarchal roots of that genre. In most cases, I don’t think that an author’s main purpose in writing romance is to make women subordinate to men. Romance is a genre that throughout history and still in contemporary society has been primarily authored, and consumed by women. Also, historically for women, marriage and the concept of “love” did not hold the same connotations that it does now, instead a lot of romance novels that were written in the 18th and 19th centuries focus on marriage more as an economic proposition. Even in one of the most well-known romances of all time, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, both young women use their marriages in order to climb the social ladder and create secure futures. And although “love” played a role, it was a different type of love than what we would consider today. Thus, I propose that in some cases instead of being a part of a patriarchal institution, romance writing has actually broken patriarchal bonds at times and allowed women to have a place in both writing and reading, literature.
I love this post because I think it takes a jab at a larger issue – why are we finding deficits where female protagonists just… don’t exist? If they do, there’s something majorly wrong with their presence. I feel like a lot of times, female characters are made to be weak and for the saving, which diminishes the idea of an independent character for me. I’d really appreciate seeing more interesting films with female characters included recently.