elialshadowpine | [unfiltered] Women in Urban Fantasy and Mistreatment Thereof

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[unfiltered] Women in Urban Fantasy and Mistreatment Thereof

I love urban fantasy. I have for years. I started out with Mercedes Lackey's Diana Tregarde series, then discovered Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books, and longed for more. For a long while, it just didn't exist. Annnnnd then it boomed.

Unfortunately, there's a pattern in urban fantasy that I have a huge problem with and has been turning me off the genre more and more. And that's the treatment of women in urban fantasy. You would think this wouldn't be an issue. After all, most urban fantasy these days features a tough, competent, kickass heroine. What could go wrong? Well, a lot of things.

Most prevalent is the overwhelming tendency to completely defang women. Hear me out. Most modern urban fantasy has a heavy romantic subplot and borrows heavily from romance tropes. Being a writer myself, I follow a lot of writing circles, and I can't tell you how many times I have heard someone say, "I have this awesome heroine, but she's so capable, she does everything! And I need to make the hero sexy! And nobody will find the hero sexy if the heroine can do better than him!"

Ignoring the obvious solution of having the hero and heroine have completely different and complementary strengths, far too many writers go for the TSTL solution. If I had a penny for every time I saw a heroine do something completely out of character... *sigh*

Like, oh, storming off for no good reason and doing something utterly stupid that nobody competent in their field would do. Usually because, well, the hero suggested it, and thus he must be wrong. And if there was a good reason for the heroine to disagree, great! But that's often not it at all. It's a matter of cutting off her nose to spite her face. It's a plot device to put the heroine in a position where the hero has to come to the rescue and save her from her own stupidity -- and frankly, this is just insulting. And it's common. Ridiculously common. And it's lazy writing.

It's one thing if, hey, the heroine runs into odds that she can't beat, or an enemy that's stronger than her, or gets outwitted by someone equally as capable. But that's not what's happening. These are situations the author is forcing the heroine into by making her act out of character for the purpose of giving the hero a moment to shine. Why not put the characters in situations where both their skills are needed? But, that wouldn't allow the heroine to be the damsel in distress, now would it?

One of the other major issues in urban fantasy in regards to women is how the heroines relate to other women. In a genre that is so focused on strong female characters, it is pretty shocking how few heroines actually have relationships with other women. Often, other women are not friends and allies, but the enemy. Often, the heroine looks down on other women. And you see the same trope over and over again -- the leather-clad dark and tortured gun-toting heroine whose strength is all physical or perhaps supernatural.

This is really just the whole "girl in the boy's club" thing rearing its head. Femininity is derided while masculinity is put on a pedestal. Rarely do we see women who enjoy feminine things, and when we do, it's usually a slight touch rather than an integral part of the character. Even Anita Blake, with her stuffed penguin collection, dismisses and derides other women. It's been a long time since I read the books, admittedly, and I haven't read the recent ones, but of the early series, all the characters that I recall her being close to were male.

(Mind, the problem is not that masculine-leaning heroines exist. The problem is that they are the sole archetype that we see commonly in urban fantasy heroines.[1])

Very few urban fantasies actually pass the Bechdel test (two women, who talk to each other, about something other than a man). For a genre that is supposedly woman-focused, that's just sad. Where are all the relationships between women? Most of us have friends who are women, mothers, sisters, aunts, etc. Where are they?

So what's the solution here? It comes down to writers being aware of the social implications their fiction will have. Because words have meanings, and stories have power. If they didn't have power, Piers Anthony's Mode books wouldn't have helped me when I was a suicidal teen, and Mercedes Lackey's books wouldn't have helped me come to terms with my bisexuality.

When even supposedly strong heroines are undermined at every turn and cannot succeed without the aid of a man, the underlying message is that of Well, if $awesomecharacter can't do it, why should I believe I can? Women are already at a disadvantage in society, with all the negative messages lobbed at us. We should be able to read fiction that empowers us, not reinforces that we are nothing without a man.

I am not saying that heroines should be all-powerful, because that would be boring. But if you're writing about a top-notch FBI agent, you don't have her forget basic gun safety. You don't have her barging into trouble without thinking about it. You don't have her so distracted by the hero's good looks that she misses the villain's move and gets trapped (and yes, I have read this). It sends a very negative message.

So how do you get around it when you need the heroine to screw up somewhere? Well, make it a believable screw-up, not something that a rookie would do (unless your character is a rookie, but most of the heroines I've seen in urban fantasy are purported to be some of the best at what they do). Or, hey, maybe she doesn't have all the information, makes a decision on what she knows, and then finds out that she was missing a vital piece of the puzzle.

But you know what I'd love to see more of? I'd love to see more heroines who get themselves out of that pickle, rather than heroines who have to be rescued by the hero. But, how do I manage an alpha hero and heroine and their power struggle without having one or the other knuckle under? Not everything has to be a power struggle, although they can be fun to write. The best alpha heroes I've read have been adept in their own field but respected the heroine in hers and listened to her opinions. But what if they're both experts in the same field? Well, hey, they're probably going to argue -- but the automatic reaction shouldn't be for the heroine to be the one who's wrong. Mix it up a little. Or hey! Maybe they're both wrong.

There's a lot of focus on alpha heroes in urban fantasy and a need to make them sexy. You know what? The sexiest heroes I've read aren't the ones who are always rescuing the artificially created dumbass heroine -- they're the ones who respect the heroine, her abilities, her strengths, and love her for who she is. The ones who aren't threatened by a strong woman. The ones who know when it's appropriate to take a backseat. The ones who know when it's time to stand their ground, and when it's time to say, "Hey, you know more about this than I do", or "I don't agree, but let's compromise." It's not an all or nothing situation.

I'd love to see more women who have relationships with other women, too. I'd also like to see a greater breadth of heroines -- heroines of color, heroines with disabilities, queer heroines, etc! Or hey, maybe not the heroine but a lady friend who is one of the above, or someone deeply involved in the story. I'd love to see more focus on this, because the lone uber!heroine surrounded by a sausage-fest is getting old.

This is something that writers have the power to change. Let's change it.

[1] I know there are exceptions to this. Please do not focus on them. This is a widespread issue, and the fact that there are exceptions does not negate that the overwhelming majority of urban fantasy heroines fits only one archetype.

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Yeah, I tend to hunt out those exceptions, tbh, and give them my money. I very much agree with you - I cannot stand the Laura K Hamilton books to be honest

I agree with you. Thanks for pointing this out. What's scary is that the best example I can think of is a heroine who isn't from urban fantasy - Silence of the Lambs, that relationship with Ardelia Mapp was wonderful, she was the one sticking her neck out, her coworkers varied but none of them were there at the denouement. Her mistakes were natural ones and she wasn't the one who let Lecter out.

Or a very old urban fantasy - Charles de Lint's novels set in Canada had a cast about evenly divided male-female and all the characters were memorable, they knew each other, the female characters had friendships with other women and the world seemed more natural. Mostly it was the subculture of bohemian artists and musicians being portrayed as a whole.

I'll keep this in mind when I write my Mage Cats series. The humans have friends. Or heck, their cats have friends so they meet friends. I'll try to put those friendships more on stage.

I have plans to change this! If I get published. ... Or at least help change it. If we both get published we could help start an unofficial club :P

I couldn't agree more. This is why I read so little urban fantasy now. I keep up with a few authors I previously discovered but I don't seek out new authors in the subgenre anymore unless I've read reviews and the books have been vetted by people whose opinions I trust. I don't write much urban fantasy, but when I do I definitely try to keep this in mind.

I'm not raising this as an exception (because it absolutely is, and the larger point should stand) but as a "you might find this series appealing," if that's OK.

Kim Harrison's Hollows series features an urban fantasy female protagonist who admittedly does make some dumb decisions, but not because she wants/needs to be saved by a guy; more importantly, the first dozen books or so emphasize a remarkable dance of seduction between her purportedly heterosexual self and her bisexual vampire roommate. (I won't spoil whether the UST ever becomes realized, but its mere existence was gratifying for me.) That roommate is also portrayed as incredibly, terrifyingly dangerous, which was satisfying to me in a different way; we so rarely get female characters who are presented as legitimately "will kill you and eat you like an unrepentant monster if things get out of hand."

Oh god, LKH. Do not even get me started. I read her until either Obsidian Butterfly or Micah -- I think it was Micah -- and decided, "Yeah, I'm done." I didn't mind her faerie series because it seemed designed to be porn, but then Anita started banging everything like a one-woman drum kit and yeah. Done. (And the rampant Mary Sue-ism! Holy crap!)

I'm thinking over the urban fantasy series I have been reading, and I definitely recognize the trend to which you're pointing. I love Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega books, but she has a real paucity of recurring female characters other than her two mains. Seanan McGuire's October Daye books are probably the least problematic ones I follow: Toby is badass and getting badassier, and she's got at least three female friends I can think of off the top of my head. Not a lot of diversity, though.

Do you have any recommendations for ones that don't utterly suck? What are some of the good steampunks you've been reading? (I hear Meljean Brook's steampunks are amazing.)

Thank you for this.

Something I've been noticing about my own writing: All my female characters pass the Bedchel test, and while most of them aere Caucasian, they are not heteronormative (in one novella, my main characters are same-sex lovers who are both bisexual). It wasn't deliberate.

My females are strong, independent, fragile but steel inside, deeply flawed, intellectual, disabled in certain ways (because I am), and in their own "club" so to speak. I don't even realize I do that. My male characters are just as fleshed out, and some of them are bisexual. I do occasionally have gender roles, but I do my best to equalize and even things out. My heroes and heroines treat each other like people, not genders.

I quit reading the Anita Blake books ages ago when it became clear that it was basically just sexist porn with Anita whining about being a girl in a boys' club, hating other women who were unlike her. I'm still a member of the LKH Lashouts community, just to learn how NOT to write my characters. If there is one author I actuall hate, it's Hamilton, and if there's one genre character I hate, it's Anita. She used to be pretty cool. Sigh.

Right now, I am completely in love with everything Seanan McGuire writes (so far, she has two urban fantasy series, October Daye and InCryptid, and the Newsflesh Trilogy as Mira Grant) and she's planning more and more stuff. The covers of her Toby Daye books are what would be coded as "traditionally masculine" (the heroine doesn't have tattoos or exposed flesh or sexy poses), unlike, say, the Mercy Thompson books (which I love to an extent).

You know, I have no clue where I was going with this...

Oh hey this tab is still open YAY.

I've toyed with ideas in my head that would probably fall under this genre, and reading this has made me a bit more aware of a really troublesome issue in pretty much all fiction where the lead is a woman, regardless of genre. So uh, you may have just saved my future writings from a really embarrassing thing.

Though the idea of "the male lead absolutely HAS to rescue the female lead" is one that just irritates the shit out of me in general.

I do not have a more intelligent response for this other than YAY and THANK YOU.

I have a low tolerance for TSTL in any genre and for characters of any gender, but it does seem pretty rampant in UF. I've only dabbled in the fringes of the genre, found nothing to suit my tastes and moved on.

But my distaste towards UF and paranormal romance isn't just the cardboard TSTL women, but the lack of diversity in the leading males. As I admitted earlier I've not read much UF or PR because I found nothing to entice me deeper, but from what I've seen, the ALPHA MALE co-lead or love interest is a must. Whether he must be more powerful than the woman lead or rescue her or not, the love interest, it seems, must be Alpha.

I really enjoyed Patricia Brigg's Mercedes Thompson character and the writing, but dayumn there was an obnoxious amount of testosterone in this, and many other paranormal books. Leading heroine aside, the cast is entirely meat-headed Alphas, jocking with each other, vying for attention, being so damn butch and dripping with machismo that I could almost smell dirty jockstraps while reading.

Sheez, authors. Are there no demure boys in your world who get some hetero love? Are there no sensitive artists among the chest-beating warriors? In this series and the Parasol Protectorate, there were some non-Alpha males to be found, but they were always A) Single or B) gay, or both. They are never happily coupled in a heterosexual relationship, perpetuating the myth of the hetero beta male.

I just don't enjoy reading alpha males, particularly in a romantic context. So like a lesbian reader forever on the hunt for a relationship that looks like hers, I'll give UF and paranormal romance a pass until I see some men who aren't alpha macho stereotypes.

Chiming late..
but I think the final draft finished of the novel i did finally write, ( nonny, you met the characters ages ago!) I did nail the balance between characters.

The women aren't helpless sods, they take charge of their own situation, and in more than a few spots, they're the alpha of the guys around them. Of course it varies by scene, but they stand out as strong, competent, non-"save me obi wan!" sorts.

The guys aren't all "rawr alpha save the lass".

There's balance, and I'm pretty darn happy with it. There's shifting relationships, and character growth and sex isn't a "tool" to win prizes but more of a 'human experience", take note, Ms Blake!

But I've largely stayed away from urban fantasy since it's just so hit and miss and when my reading time is at a near non existence, well..yeah.

I could do better on the non-caucasian front but I'm frankly terrified I'll biff it up.

Followed you over from

naamah_darling, where I loved what you had to say and tried several times to come up with a good response but nothing sounded right.

One of the tricks I've seen to get the heroine to screw up is to have her do things that would be the right thing in any other situation, especially if it's a strongly in-character thing for her to do. Bonus points if the situation is confusing and tricky such that nobody really knows the right way to do it, or when there are multiple issues in play where following one's priorities to success with one issue could wind up blowing another one. It helps if the same tendency that leads her to be wrong sometimes also leads her to be right sometimes.

One of my favorites, the Cast series by Michelle Sagara, does this quite a lot with its heroine, Kaylin. At one point her boss is imprisoned for murder and tells her to leave him to it, but because she cares for him* (and quite justifiably hates his replacement), she digs for the evidence that he was set up, and winds up putting one of his wives and their daughters in the danger that he'd tried to keep them safe from by letting it seem that he'd committed murder. And then she fights with the same determination, intelligence, and drive to fix it.

*not romantically, but a close friendship with a strong hint of parent/grown child relationship, which is in character for someone who has come in at age thirteen and made a home and family of her workplace and coworkers. (This is, incidentally, the opposite of the vampire-banging drum kit lady mentioned above---she has two potential love interests which are much more to her, in various directions, long before anything of the sort is mentioned; it takes seven books (perhaps as many months in-story) before she and the guy she trusts have a talk about it and the guy she doesn't trust hints at it in book three and book six (after disdaining rape as beneath him in book one when she was outright afraid of him). And it works, it suits the character---she's not getting laid right now and that's fine.)

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