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Angelus on 26 May 2018
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Azuren said:
Angelus said:

Well that's easy, because the majority of female characters are written simply to revolve around, and enrich the existence of male characters. Obviously there's exceptions, but more often than not that's the case. Their characters are often defined by little more than how they influence some guy, which is ultimately quite shallow. So why wouldn't women want more strong female leads, or just strong female characters in general?

Just because because there doesn't necessarily have to be a reason for why a character is written as/cast as male, female, black, white, etc.... doesn't mean there aren't valid reasons for people wanting to see more of certain representation, or even just better written, more nuanced versions for those they do get.

But you just said it doesn't matter. Are you saying it does, but only when it's women?

If that's what you read, then you are either misinterpreting, or purposefully twisting it. I was quite clear. I'll humor you though, and put it another way.

Let's say 100 different people are writing 100 different books. All those authors can write their characters to be whatever race, gender, and sexual orientation they want. They don't have to justify those choices anyone, it's their vision, they can write what they want. Now lets say 90 of those books all have straight white males as protagonists. That's fine. I mean the quality of the writing obviously will vary, as it always does. Some characters will be great, others not so much, but that's just how it goes. Every story/character isn't a hit. The other 10 books feature some assortment protagonists that are not straight white males. Men and women of various races, genders, and sexuality. Whatever. These 10 books also feature various degrees of good/bad writing. 

Now, could you maybe see how someone might read all these books and say "wow, I read quite a lot of great stories about straight white guys. Good stuff. Wish there were a few more good ones about 'X' though." It's not that a woman, black man, or whoever would read these books and think "man, I really wish those great stories about the straight white guy didn't exist!" Of course not. If it's a great story, it's a great story. At the same time, they can still want to see more great stories of whatever it is that they identify best with, because again, of course. Who doesn't want to see more great stories of people they can most easily relate to?

Last edited by Angelus - on 26 May 2018