You know, I really dig all these meta posts you make -- they're always so well thought out and reasoned. :)
This whole subject is something I've thought about on and off over the years, especially in regards to some book series I read which I loved but in which the women were written not so much as three dimensional characters as strange entities that didn't react in any way a rational person would, but who were "cute" and "adorable" all the same.
I finally came to the conclusion that it seemed there were very few men that could get inside a woman character's head and write her in a way I could believe she was real. The whole infatuation angle wasn't one I considered, but... yes. It fits.
Luckily there are a few men out there who have proven that they can write woman characters who are as real and complex as male characters. Joss is certainly one of them. Also JMS -- one of the things about Babylon 5 that so fascinated me was that there was no weak characters -- the women were as strong and as flawed and as well developed as the men.
It's still a very rare thing though; hopefully it'll become less rare with time.
no subject
This whole subject is something I've thought about on and off over the years, especially in regards to some book series I read which I loved but in which the women were written not so much as three dimensional characters as strange entities that didn't react in any way a rational person would, but who were "cute" and "adorable" all the same.
I finally came to the conclusion that it seemed there were very few men that could get inside a woman character's head and write her in a way I could believe she was real. The whole infatuation angle wasn't one I considered, but... yes. It fits.
Luckily there are a few men out there who have proven that they can write woman characters who are as real and complex as male characters. Joss is certainly one of them. Also JMS -- one of the things about Babylon 5 that so fascinated me was that there was no weak characters -- the women were as strong and as flawed and as well developed as the men.
It's still a very rare thing though; hopefully it'll become less rare with time.