What makes a strong female character?

[catherineldf]

So responses to my last post got me to thinking about the question above. My personal preference is for fighters since it's something I can relate to. Go figure. :-)
But I'm not a big hack-n-slash reader so I like my fighters nuanced and my fights broadly defined.
And I prefer stories with women as central, rather than bit, players. Which isn't to say that I don't do read quite a bit of fiction with central male characters, just that if I'm reading or writing, I tend to write or read more about women.
Personal favs for reading material (not an exhaustive list):
Jaime in P.C. Hodgell's "Godstalk" books. These are amazing. Jaime is a fully realized character with the proverbial many skills. Her weaknesses make sense and she's fascinating to read about.
Irene Adler in Carole Nelson Douglas' ongoing mystery series about the character after her initial encounter with Sherlock Holmes in "A Scandal in Bohemia." Complicated Victorian mind candy. See also Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody mysteries.
Trouble in Melissa Scott's "Trouble and Her Friends." One very cool queer cyberpunk novel.
Kyra (and a few others) in Barbara Hambly's "Stranger at the Wedding." Not too many magic user novels that deal with the sexual abuse of teenagers and do it well.
Tomoe Gozen in the series from Jessica Amanda Salmonsen.
Rachel Pollack. Anything really.
Megan and Shakira in S.M. Stirling and Shirley Meier, et al's "The Cage" books. Interesting S&S series about two women warriors in a queer poly relationship. Lots of worthwhile reading.
Ellen Galford's "Moll Cutpurse" and "The Fires of Bride" - excellent lesbian novels - "Moll" is a historical and 'Fires' is a fantasy.

What else is good?

Comments

[evilroygato.livejournal.com]

Octavia Butler's characters, esp. the protagonist in Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, and the character in Wild Seed (I can't remember their names at the moment)...and Shori in Fledgeling.

More recently I've been enjoying the character Lyra in Phillip Pullman's Golden Compass series--especially as a juxtaposition to the somewhat tiresome Harry Potter.

And when I'm feeling really trashy, I like to read about Tara Chace the spy in Greg Rucka's Queen and Country novels and comix.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Good choices! I'm also a big fan of Nalo Hopkinson's women. If you haven't read her work, you might want to check it out. :-)

oh yeah, totally

[evilroygato.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reminding me; I did just recently read Nalo's "Brown Girl In The Ring" and "The New Moon's Arms" both of which had awesome women protagonists and were great books to boot. Nalo is super cool.

Re: oh yeah, totally

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

She is indeed. If you ever get the chance to go hear her read, it's well worth the drive. :-)

What makes a strong female character?

[jean-roberta.livejournal.com]

I dunno if anyone still reads what the les-fem crowd was reading in the 1970s, but I think Marion Zimmer Bradley stands the test of time, esp. her "Mists of Avalon" series (focusing on the women of the King Arthur stories).

Sally Gearhart's "The Wanderground" had a cult following in its time. It's a series of stories set in fantasy women's land where modern technology doesn't work (I can hear all the techy geeks gritting their teeth), but intuition & ESP sure do. Not as touchy-feely as it sounds - the women & their animal companions have to make hard decisions.

The women of Elizabeth A. Lynn really impressed me when a local dyke loaned me a set of novels, set in a vaguely medieval world. (She also writes the future, but does tend to repeat herself.)

Diana Lee's lesbian vampire novel, "A Taste for Blood" (Haworth Press) manages to say a few things that haven't been said before, and the author shows off her knowledge of Scottish history, esp. regarding Mary Queen of Scots. (If anyone wants to see my review, just ask.)

Re a strong, creative woman character in the wrong social context, read Toni Morrison's disturbing, realistic novel "Sula."

Before any of us were born, Virginia Woolf dealt with questions of gender by writing "Orlando" - character who lives forever, changing gender in different eras. Anyone who has read much about Virginia's sometime lover, Vita Sackville-West (Victoria Glendinning's bio is my favorite) will recognize "Orlando" as a thinly-disguised in-joke about Vita, a bisexual rake who tended to believe in essentialist gender roles, from which she was apparently immune. :)
Read the book AND watch the movie starring Tilda Swinton.

Re: What makes a strong female character?

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I knew I could count on you to bring up some of the foremothers. Though admitedly I can't get through "Mists" to save myself and was much more of a Darkover fan (Free Amazons Rule!) back when I read a lot of MZB.

[elizabethth.livejournal.com]

Laurie Marks' Elemental Logic books.

Elizabeth Moon's Heris Serrano trilogy. Good space opera/military SF with a nice variety of strong female characters.

Mirabile by Janet Kagan. Strong, smart colonists.

Lois McMaster Bujold: Shards of Honor and Barrayar. Cordelia Naismith is tough without being belligerent, and quick-witted.

Tanya Huff's Valor books: straight-up military SF with a kickass female Staff Sergeant.

Jane Lindskold's Firekeeper books. Do not be put off by the sappy cover art. Firekeeper is a human girl raised by (really smart) wolves. She's strong - and the wolf's-eye view of politics and court intrigue is lots of fun. Other strong female characters, too.

Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg.

The Shirley McClintock mysteries by Sherri Tepper (writing as B.J. Oliphant).

Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak mysteries. Lives in the Alaskan bush, shoots her own meat, repairs her own homestead, whups her own bad guys.

The Roselynde Chronicles by Roberta Gellis. Historical romance from the good old days (lots of history with a little sex, instead of the other way around).

And no doubt a bunch of other stuff I can't think of right now.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check out some of these - they sound like fun reads. I thought about adding Cordelia then left her off because she's only a main character in one book. But it's a hell of a ride. :-)

[elizabethth.livejournal.com]

If you haven't read the Elemental Logic books, hop to it! They changed the way I look at the world, and at myself.

I just re-read the Cordelia books, so she was fresh in my mind. I wish I liked Miles half as well.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

I need to read the EL books - I've got the first 2 but haven't plunged in yet. Sometime soon though.