[unfiltered] Follow-up to the urban fantasy post

[elialshadowpine]

A couple links I'd like to share since they are relevant to the discussion being had:

The Danger of a Single Story. I don't generally watch videos. This one is worth watching. Because Ms. Adichie nails it. The examples that she gives in her talk are about race, but they are equally relevant to the problem of one character type being common among urban fantasy heroines.

Along those lines, Tiger Beatdown's post on Strong Female Characters, which includes several links to other posts on the issue that are worth reading. The Cliff's Notes version: "Strong female characters" basically include one archetype, that of the warrior woman, where the heroine is rewarded for behaving in a masculine manner, eschewing femininity, and it is almost entirely limited to physical strength.

Lots of food for thought.

Comments

[greatsword]

I'm thinking about this and am not sure there isn't a definitional problem here related to genre. The characters I recognized were mostly from action genres, where the warrior archetype is going to carry the story. I've been reading a lot of YA recently; strong characters there tend (to me) to be the ones that take action to control their own destiny - often not physical action.

I'd be interested in your response to A Stranger at the Wedding, Sorcery and Cecelia, A Matter of Magic or Blind Waves. All of these contain characters that I've been analyzing to try to improve my own; hearing your take on any of them would be cool.