The feature story I’m working on has a female hero. This is hardly any surprise since I tend to have a woman in the leading role. It is, however, fascinating how hard it is to move away from stereotypic thinking.
My lead has brains. I wanted to move away from the un-social, shy and partly aggressive girl I had in my mind. I found it pretty stereotype. Yet, I ended up in another stereotype: the strong, independent woman. Suddenly I saw Lara Croft. Smart or not, that image of a woman has also become stereotype.
I don’t want her to be overly sexy, but I don’t want her ugly and with glasses. How hard can it be to make her like any everyday woman? There are everyday men on movies. Why aren’t there any fairly decent-looking women in jogging shoes?
And most importantly: Why is it so hard for my brain the create this creature?
2 comments:
Don't forget, these are the stereotypes we have been fed with from the moment we first opened av book! There is no reason for you to be surprised. Keep on fighting!
Thank you, I will. There must be ways to create interesting, normal characters with boobs.
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