I just realized most of my characters are female.

I think what he means is — and if I misread him, I might as well say it myself — does that count stories where women simply wouldn't show up? Say, ones taking place in a male-only prison or pre-integrated military. Then it's a bit silly to have a woman show up just for the sake of avoiding a male-only cast.

edited 12th Mar '12 7:26:18 PM by KillerClowns

Actually, that's not what I meant. I assumed njrxll would not object to such a situation.

Rather I'm asking you to define "unnecessarily male" more clearly, because...well, what's unnecessary? I couldn't write a story about my life now without having significant female characters, but that would not always have been the case. I'm sure there are people who could say they don't have much contact with the opposite gender well into their twenties or later and aren't military. (And probably make for interesting psychological studies if nothing else.)

My main point was that viewing characters as male by default is something that should be avoided. "Unnecessarily" was really just meant as a qualifier for the kinds of things Killer Clowns mentioned.

In other words, it's basically meant as a guide for writers in the process of creating their story, not a guideline to judge already-written works by.

I'm going to second what jewelleddragon said. There's absolutely no reason for readers to think that a largely female cast makes a novel "for girls", and the sooner we can break down that stupid prejudice, the better.

edited 13th Mar '12 3:56:36 AM by DoktorvonEurotrash

People who read fantasy are used to see girls that don't act stereotypical on their bookshelves.

To the point where people are complaining that there are too many Tom Boy character's in Fantasy, and not enough girlish females. This isn't my view just one I've heard.

edited 13th Mar '12 10:34:43 PM by Vyctorian

I'm a white guy with blond hair and blue eyes, yet most of the protagonists and RP characters I create are black women, and they're usually warriors. My issue probably combines my autistic propensity towards obsessions, my personal taste in women, and my preference for action-packed stories with lots of fighting. That said, I have written a few stories with male leads.

Yes, there will people who think of that but honestly, will such people have opinions that actually matter if they're based on something as shallow as "GGGGRRRRRRR TOO MUCH XX CHROMOSOMES NOT ENOUGH PUNCHING BEARS AND GROWING BEARDS"?

edited 2nd Apr '12 8:03:34 PM by StillbirthMachine

Are you saying women can't punch bears?

Punching bear is too brutish and not effective enough. Women prefer to kick them in the unmentionables.

I hear you there I don't have the same issue, but my last novel had a black female lead. Well it had a white co-lead but it was a lion so I'm not sure that counts.