NUNS, SISTERHOODS & VOWS

Following Part 3 - Ice Queens, Mothers… and Korra, this article will explore organisations and collectives of female warriors. Does your badass female character belong to an order of warrior nuns? A coven of sorceresses? A nation of Amazonian goddesses? A sworn female-only guard to a royal house? Excellent. Strength through sisterhood. This is fertile ground for some epically powerful heroines.  However, there are some problematic aspects of the segregated female clique that deserve due consideration…

ICE QUEENS, MOTHERS… AND KORRA

If your female warrior isn’t a main character but performs a core function in the plot and inspires your male characters… you’ll need to make sure she’s still a fully rounded person in her own right. Despite what you might think it can be difficult to tell the difference between making a female character into an integral plot device, and turning her into a prop. If you’ve given your female warrior a sword and powerful attributes… and then used her as nothing but background inspiration for your male protagonists, she might as well be a statue.

FASHION vs. FUNCTION

Following on from Part 1 - Fierce Introductions, we’re going to take a look at how your warrior woman appears; the visual element. Clothes matter, especially to someone on a mission or with a job to do. Yet, when we search for pictures of female warriors, or see female warriors depicted in fantasy and sci-fi spaces, they’re usually impractically dressed and over-sexualised.

This is a choice…

FIERCE INTRODUCTIONS

So you’re writing a book that features a kickass woman. A woman who can hold her own in a violent world. A woman who could dispatch a seven foot Titan without breaking a sweat. That’s feminist, right? As soon as you’ve given her sword you’re there, right? As soon as you’ve integrated her into your band of heroes, you’ve done your bit for female representation… right..?

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

The world is ending. Again. So what role do your female characters play in a crisis and how can you avoid one of the most common male-written pitfalls out there? Once you read this, you will see it over and over again in movies and serialised dramas. It’s so prevalent it’s almost standard… and it’s about as far from reality as it’s possible to be.

I’m talking about the moment in the story when the woman looks at the man and asks… 

“What are we going to do?!”