“Female characters should be people. Flawed, glorious, interesting, enthralling people. Let them dye their hair and pierce their ears without going “wah wah wah I’m so bad at being a girl wait hey look suddenly I’ve gotten a makeover and I’m gorgeous.” Let them have female friends. Let them fuck up. Let them have bad days, and swear, and be snotty, and be people. Stop shoving them into these boxes where anything less than perfect adherence to a set of ticky-boxes means failure. They are better than that. We are better than that.
It’s time for everybody’s standards to look the same.”
– Seanan McGuire, Characters, criteria, and causation: where the problem lies.
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Recently heard this reply to a question about female characters from Joss Whedon and loved it:
“Q: So, why do you write these strong female characters?
Whedon: Because you’re still asking me that question.”
Yes, that is brilliant! So true..