{"id":2824,"date":"2016-11-29T03:32:48","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T03:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cheahkaiwai.wordpress.com\/?p=2824"},"modified":"2016-11-29T03:32:48","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T03:32:48","slug":"drop-the-strong-and-independent-female-label","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/?p=2824","title":{"rendered":"Drop the ‘Strong and Independent Female’ Label"},"content":{"rendered":"

Progressives, social justice warriors and feminists love gushing over strong, independent females in fiction. It’s an affirmation of their beliefs and ideas, a reflection of their worldview in popular culture. Critics constantly highlight the presence of such strong, independent females everywhere they appear: books, games, films, everywhere. What is truly remarkable about this phenomenon is that the phrase ‘strong, independent female character’ means nothing at all.<\/p>\n

Let’s break it down. We have ‘strong’, ‘independent’ and ‘female character’. The last is self-explanatory. The former two, in the context of fiction, make little sense.<\/p>\n

Let’s look at ‘strong’. When pertaining to people, the Merriam-Webster dictionary says<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

1<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 having or marked by great physical power<\/p>\n

2<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 having moral or intellectual power<\/p>\n

3<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 having great resources (as of wealth or talent)<\/p>\n

…<\/em><\/p>\n

6<\/em>:<\/span>forceful<\/a>, cogent<\/a><strong<\/em> evidence><\/em><strong<\/em> talk><\/em><\/p>\n

…<\/em><\/p>\n

10<\/em>:<\/span>ardent<\/a>, zealous<\/a><a strong<\/em> supporter><\/em><\/p>\n

11<\/em>a<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not easily injured or disturbed :<\/span>solid<\/a><\/p>\n

11b<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not easily subdued or taken <a strong<\/em> fort><\/em><\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

13<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not easily upset or nauseated <a strong<\/em> stomach><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While ‘strong’ makes for a convenient shorthand, the word carries so many connotations that as a descriptor it is vague to the point of meaninglessness.<\/p>\n

A female character may have an IQ in the 99th percentile, but if she can’t even lift a 20kg barbell, can she be called ‘strong’? A female character may be an Amazonian, but if she runs away at the first sign of conflict, can she be called ‘strong’? If a female character is a billionaire with a talented staff of hundreds, yet squanders her wealth and time chasing frivolities, can she be called ‘strong’?<\/p>\n

The word ‘strong’ requires context for a complete understanding of the character. Why not simply use more specific words?<\/p>\n

What about ‘independent’? Merriam-Webster says<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

:<\/span>\u00a0 not dependent: as<\/p>\n

a<\/em>(1)<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not subject to control by others :<\/span>self-governing<\/a><\/p>\n

(2)<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not affiliated with a larger controlling unit <an independent<\/em> bookstore><\/em><\/p>\n

b<\/em>(1)<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not requiring or relying on something else :<\/span>\u00a0 not contingent <an independent<\/em> conclusion><\/em><\/p>\n

(2)<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not looking to others for one’s opinions or for guidance in conduct (3)<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not bound by or committed to a political party<\/p>\n

c<\/em>(1)<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 not requiring or relying on others (as for care or livelihood) <independent<\/em> of her parents><\/em>(2)<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 being enough to free one from the necessity of working for a living <a person of independent<\/em> means><\/em><\/p>\n

d<\/em>:<\/span>\u00a0 showing a desire for freedom <an independent<\/em> manner><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The character doesn’t need other people to make decisions for her. She is capable of making her own choices and driving the plot through her actions. By being self-reliant, she stands out from the other characters, and her will sometimes clashes with theirs, creating the drama that feeds fiction.<\/p>\n

In other words, she is a major character.<\/p>\n

‘Strong and independent’ basically means ‘plausible major character’. There’s no point in celebrating main characters just because they happen to be female; all it means is that you’re only concerned about appearances. The label of ‘strong and independent’ will not make female characters stand out. The term has been used so many times, semantic satiation has set in, rendering the label little more than fluff.<\/p>\n

In the realm of fiction, words are currency. If you are a writer, marketer, reviewer or otherwise involved in the industry describing a female character, seek superior words to more accurately reflect the character and make her stand out from the crowd.<\/p>\n

Is she a sharpshooter and a martial arts expert? That makes her a human weapon<\/em>. Is she capable of defending her dignity and achieving her goals in the face of widespread prejudice? That makes her assertive<\/em>. Does she have an IQ of 180 and regularly invents world-shaking inventions? She is a genius<\/em>. Has she survived major trauma and bounced back? She is resilient<\/em>. Can she turn her enemies against each other? Then she is manipulative<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In other words, describe her as though she were a man.<\/p>\n

Male characters aren’t described as ‘strong and independent’; they are described by skills, history and worldview, making them stand apart from each other. When freed of fluffy shorthand labels, they all become unique.<\/p>\n

By contrast, female characters who labelled ‘strong’ and ‘independent’ are reduced to three words: strong, independent and female, signifying nothing of import. Their identities are erased, and they are all damned by faint praise.<\/p>\n

This post isn’t about sexual differences or sexual politics. It is simply about crafting a brand for major characters through the use of powerful descriptors.<\/p>\n

Don’t settle for the ‘strong and independent’ label for females and<\/em> males. Seek more accurate and impactful words, and make the characters shine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Strong, independent female’ is a meaningless label. Use more powerful descriptors to create a memorable identity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,32],"tags":[104,235],"class_list":["post-2824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-writers-craft","category-uncategorized","tag-culture-war","tag-philosophy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}