Female protagonists in media

[Nazi Flower Power]

Why do we need female protagonists?

Answer: we don't.

We don't really need male protagonists either.

[Cetacea]

I wasnt too keen on girl Starbuck in the new Battlestar but otherwise I find it irrelevant. Afterall I dont think Aliens would be improved if Ripley were male and of course the reveal that Metroid is a girl is now considered iconic.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Samus Aran is another example if you ignore Other M. In the other games, she's professional. She's not trying to impress a daddy figure she hurt by leaving his command. In the manga, which takes place long before Other M, she experiences PTSD and learns to cope with it without turning into a panicky girl. She wears armor that's actually armor, not a glorified bikini. And she doesn't resort to T&A to get the job done. Because, in the Metroid world, insectoid aliens aren't aroused by female humans.

Yes! Samus Aran is awesome! It's so nice to see a hero who is female, but is not a sex object or an underdog trying to prove herself or anything like that. I haven't read the manga, but I played a few of the Metroid games when I was a kid and always thought they were good.

[The Sotoan Union]

Samus Aran is another example if you ignore Other M. In the other games, she's professional. She's not trying to impress a daddy figure she hurt by leaving his command. In the manga, which takes place long before Other M, she experiences PTSD and learns to cope with it without turning into a panicky girl. She wears armor that's actually armor, not a glorified bikini. And she doesn't resort to T&A to get the job done. Because, in the Metroid world, insectoid aliens aren't aroused by female humans.

Yes! Samus Aran is awesome! It's so nice to see a hero who is female, but is not a sex object or an underdog trying to prove herself or anything like that. I haven't read the manga, but I played a few of the Metroid games when I was a kid and always thought they were good.

Except that now she is often in her zero suit all the time. I liked it better when she was this mysterious soldier that could have just as easily been a robot.

[Meryuma]

Stuff I haven't bothered to check out on top of my head; hunger games, divergent and a number of big tv shows

Fuck that, watch Buffy. If you can't identify with any of the female characters' struggles in that show, there's probably no hope for you.

Olenna Tyrell

Hell yeah! I would totally be a Tyrell. They're all super great.

I actually feel for her in the cases when she's just plainly suffering, too, because... idunno, Sansa just evokes a lot of empathy and sympathy from me. Maybe because for someone who was betrayed by everyone and who lost virtually and effectively everyone close to her she's still pretty damn unbroken.

She's sympathetic, but in the show (can't really speak for the books) she doesn't really do anything (except pass the Bechdel Test a bunch, props on that).

It depends on the writer. Women generally aren't that good at writing books with a male as the main character (see: harry potter & the goblet of fire and the books after), and men generally aren't that good at writing from a female perspective.

In other media, it usually doesn't matter, though.

You did not just bash Harry Potter.

No, they criticized it. There's a difference.

We need more.

We need more kinkier women, especially when they fight.

We have enough female characters who are primarily/in large part there to be sexualized.

Not saying I don't enjoy stories with grim-looking Commissars and their towering peaked caps fighting against Chaos heretics, but I guess for me the whole 'Male protagonist wipes floor with antagonist, proceeds to bed female lead along the way' is just so ridiculously overdone that they bore me.

Personally I would be interested in seeing more works where feminine tropes/archetypes are applied to males as well as the inverse, but that's just me speaking as an androgynous gay dude.

[Forsher]

No, it doesn't make you a sexist. And why did you ask this on NSG anyway, you kinda already knew the response you would have got, you know considering this website is (unfortunately) majority left-winger.

There is also a more appropriate subforum for this.

No, there isn't. The thread is about whether or not preferring male characters makes one sexist. That is not a topic within the purview of A&F.

We don't "need" them in the same way we don't "need" male protagonists.

At least one of my favourite books Zoo City has a female protagonist. If it's well written, it shouldn't matter what the gender is.

It, ultimately, depends on the author and their ability.

That's what I was getting at. We don't need any protagonists. Not if you use "need" at its most literal. But we should certainly have female protagonists. I tend to prefer male protagonist from a personal standpoint, but I'm not opposed to female protagonists nor do I avoid media with female protagonists.

No, I think some sort of protagonist is really required. To assert that we don't need female protagonists is defensible because we can use male ones instead. However, the same reasoning applies just as easily to male ones. To take it even further, one can use protagonists that are neither male nor female (eg some sort of robot) or ones that don't identify as being either. Whatever the case, such an assertion is inane for these reasons.

That said, some narratives would be really difficult to pull off without a female protagonist whether that's because of the setting and genre (think, a school story set in an all girls school) or central themes (such as the relationship between female friends; which I think was the main point of a book review that I happened to read recently). I suppose there could be other factors but, really, as a viewpoint "we don't need female protagonists" is not one worth entertaining longer than it takes to dismiss it.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Yes! Samus Aran is awesome! It's so nice to see a hero who is female, but is not a sex object or an underdog trying to prove herself or anything like that. I haven't read the manga, but I played a few of the Metroid games when I was a kid and always thought they were good.

Except that now she is often in her zero suit all the time. I liked it better when she was this mysterious soldier that could have just as easily been a robot.

It's been a while since I was a gamer, so I have missed some of the newer stuff. I was so addicted to Super Metroid back in the day, though...

[Nazi Flower Power]

Stuff I haven't bothered to check out on top of my head; hunger games, divergent and a number of big tv shows

Fuck that, watch Buffy. If you can't identify with any of the female characters' struggles in that show, there's probably no hope for you.

It went downhill in the later seasons. I don't think adding Dawn was a good idea. The earlier seasons were really good, though.

Personally I would be interested in seeing more works where feminine tropes/archetypes are applied to males as well as the inverse, but that's just me speaking as an androgynous gay dude.

Yes, that would be good.

[Hoyteca]

Another reason I tend to prefer male characters:
Having breasts is too often treated as a personality trait. When was the last time, outside of porn, having a wiener was treated as a personality trait? I don't care how hot a character is. If I want to get aroused, I have the internet. I can look up boobs. Give me an actual reason to care about a character. Too often I've wanted a hero protagonist to just leave the liability-with-breasts behind.

And the "hot female assassin" thing got old quick. I get it. You're hot. You're also a cliche whose redeeming characteristic is purely aesthetic.

[Korouse]

It's your preference - not sexist at all. You're not portraying any kind of male dominance over females.

[Meryuma]

It went downhill in the later seasons. I don't think adding Dawn was a good idea. The earlier seasons were really good, though.

Dawn was kinda redundant in season 6 but the plotline involving her in season 5 was great and she became a lot cooler and more empowered in season 7.

[-The Unified Earth Governments-]

I generally prefer male protagonist, but I do enjoy the occasional female protagonist when they are actually done right.

[Adab]

Well, it's your preference. Just because you prefer a male protagonist doesn't necessarily mean that you discriminate based on gender. As long as you can accept a female protagonist (even if you don't really like it), I won't call you a sexist.

[Gaiserin]

Good character preferable, regardless of the gender.

However, what we don't need are pointless token characters.

[Oceasia]

Do you prefer them solely because they're male, or because you think males tend to be written better?

I think males tend to be written better, to be honest.

[Hurdegaryp]

Oh yeah, what ever happened to that guy?

He got a DEAT for his thread on "Rape should not be a crime."

Oh, that thread were moderator NERVUN was once again the proud defender of the principle that every opinion is equal, no matter how horrible, retarded or vile they are?

But about the original subject: I prefer my protagonists to be well written, so that I can identify with their personal drives. Doesn't really matter if they're male or female or even human at all.

Do you prefer them solely because they're male, or because you think males tend to be written better?

I think males tend to be written better, to be honest.

That's probably because most writers are male and are therefore often not too good when it comes to writing a believable female character.

[Conserative Morality]

Rather a fan, if primarily because we're absolutely over-saturated with the same boring looking white guy in almost goddamn everything.

[Liriena]

Rather a fan, if primarily because we're absolutely over-saturated with the same boring looking white guy in almost goddamn everything.

Yup.

[Hurdegaryp]

Rather a fan, if primarily because we're absolutely over-saturated with the same boring looking white guy in almost goddamn everything.

Yup.

A situation that is actually easily remedied by shifting your focus to Asian pop culture.

[Syndicapolis]

Whether its a book or a movie, I prefer to have a male protagonist. Its not even about connecting with them, I just like it that way. Does this view make me a sexist?

I'm surprised that so many people are taking your view at face value and saying you're a sexist. It really depends on the reasoning behind your preference. If you prefer male protagonists because you think that "woman," and "protagonist," are mutually exclusive, because you think women are naturally subservient characters, or have any other reason that relates to women's supposed inherent inferiority, you're a sexist. If not, then you're not. And you could actually be quite the opposite - I'm a feminist and I avoid action movies with female protagonists due to the unrealistic portrayal, clichés, sexualisation and/or deliberate creation of a so-called "strong female character," that they always contain.

[Conserative Morality]

A situation that is actually easily remedied by shifting your focus to Asian pop culture.

Is it? I don't think it is. Changing out one set of samey formulaic protagonists to another does not fix the underlying problem of samey formulaic protagonists.

[Hurdegaryp]

A situation that is actually easily remedied by shifting your focus to Asian pop culture.

Is it? I don't think it is. Changing out one set of samey formulaic protagonists to another does not fix the underlying problem of samey formulaic protagonists.

I know a few mangas and animes where a female is clearly the main protagonist. Ghost In The Shell and Appleseed are two examples.

[Conserative Morality]

I know a few mangas and animes where a female is clearly the main protagonist. Ghost In The Shell and Appleseed are two examples.

I can name a few western works with a clearly female main protagonist too. The issue is not 'never' the issue is 'overwhelming majority of works that receive a broad release'.

[Laerod]

Do tell why we don't.

Tell me why we do.

Representation. It has a big impact on little kids especially, consuming media overflowing with straight, white, male protagonists, establishing that as the default setting and making everyone else accomodate towards it.