Why Your Story SUCKS | Writer's rants & discussions

Reversing gender roles and "strong" female characters

Let's dive into another category of "I'm not like other girls". Reversing the gender of characters.

Turning the bad boy into a bad girl and making the guy a soft puppy of a simp with his tail between his legs all the time and/or a nerdy virgin who's never spoken to a girl and who for some reason the bad girl wants to date, or being a sexy badass among other things along those lines has increased in popularity for God knows why but it's probably people wanting to contribute to feminism in some way.

Because if you look under the Project Woman Up hashtag on here or whatever the heck it's called, you will find these books. I guess dressing in all black, being an arrogant asshole to people, being a lesbian, refusing to wear dresses or heels, or are super sexy, is empowering somehow.

If you couldn't already tell, I don't see the point in gender-reversed books that don't change anything, you kept the same generic, flat, personalities but switched the pronouns from he to her, congrats you're so different and totally breaking gender norms!!! Here's a cookie!

No there's nothing wrong with switching the roles technically, but acting as if you're doing something groundbreaking for gender equality isn't just patting yourself on the back you're beating your fucking spine and don't realize how your idea often has backwards effects.

Why is it backwards?

Strong female characters are often written the same as stereotyped men. They can't be feminine and like girly things because feminity means weakness apparently, they are rude, usually wear leather jackets or smoke, and are just edgy chad bad boys. A lot of books/shows/movies think they have to be lesbians too cause obviously a powerful woman can't still like those disgusting men despite having the exact same personality traits as them and dressing like them!!

So let me ask a few questions for those of you who write strong women this way.

If you, author of a "strong female", don't look like a stereotypical butch lesbian and aren't an asshole to everyone, then that must mean you're not a strong woman based on how you perceive them to be, right? Are you saying every woman who isn't that, is weak? Wouldn't that also mean that being feminine equals weakness? Which would be a bit misogynistic wouldn't it?

Or strong females are written as sexy and seductive. This "powerful" woman dresses in barely anything, is the complete opposite of the masculine type, uses her body to get her way, and must have men simping for her and begging on their knees for mercy. Strong women must be sexy and flaunt their bodies 24/7, not to appeal to men or anything but to prove how strong they are and look hot while being badass even though how you look has nothing to do with strength!! These characters are basically the hot shirtless guy with sweaty abs who has women throwing themselves at him left and right but with a vagina instead.

What does showing your body off/how you dress have to do with how strong you are? Why can women only use their bodies to get what they want? Is that not objectifying women and saying they can only ever be something sexual? Why do you have to make men bow down to you like some dominatrix to be powerful? Are you saying women have to show themselves and have simps in order to be powerful and if they don't they're weak? By that logic, since the majority of women don't act this way, wouldn't they be weak then? Which again, would be kinda sexist no?

This is why I said reversing gender roles often has backwards effects, making your character a female chad isn't empowering in my humble, female opinion. It implies that women must be like men, appeal to men in some way, or dislike men in order to be strong.

Why do women suck so much at writing women? Even outside of strong female characters, "regular" female characters on wattpad are just as bad if not worse. Don't get me wrong, a lot of men suck at writing women too but there is no excuse for women to suck at writing their own gender as bad as they do.

Liking dresses and heels or not showing off your body doesn't mean you're not powerful. What makes a person powerful is standing up for themselves, not taking bullshit, and carrying themselves with respect. Which you don't need to be an asshole, a lesbian, or hate men to do; and which also has nothing to do with how you look or dress.

Your strong females can be masculine or sexy, there's nothing wrong with that inherently, but when that becomes the standard, then there is something wrong. Strength doesn't have a standard in real life. And if you are making them these things, add balance, y'know, just like real women. And for fuck's sake don't give them cliche male personalities, give your men better personalities while you're at it too.

On a final note,

If you're a strong woman, you don't have to shout it from the rooftops all day. I wish books would stop doing that shit. Show don't tell motherfucker, stop telling us how strong your female character is and show it. And also don't preach how strong your character is, make them preach how babygorl don't need no mans, then make them fall for the asshole love interest and take abuse from them a chapter later.