Writing Female Warriors - Things to Remember - Part 2

Jan 9

Fashion vs Function

I see a lot of posts highlighting examples of male writers getting descriptions of female characters wrong. Of male writers falling back on tired sexist tropes that place women as props in the male MC’s storyline. But in a world where it’s quite possible to read works only written by men… and I must stress here the importance of diversifying if you haven’t already… it can be difficult to know how NOT to do those things.

*A visual representation of how not to do it.*

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.

In Part 2 - Visuals: Function vs Aesthetics, we’ll be exploring the common pitfalls and what you can do to avoid them.

Let’s Get Started

We all know what armour is for. It’s necessary for physical protection in combat. However, while male warriors are often practically dressed, their female counterparts are, for the most part, not afforded the same consideration.

So take a look at your female warrior. Is she dressed practically? Is her male counterpart similarly clad? Are there elements of her garb that would place her in danger on a battlefield?

If your male character is in full chainmail over a shirt, topped with a leather jerkin, and your female warrior is wearing a leather bra, hot pants and heels… you’re going to want to revisit her wardrobe.

Even if she originates from a geographical region where light, fitted clothing is the norm, any human with the desire to survive is going to adapt their clothing to suit their situation at the first opportunity.

High Heels

No woman faced with a battlefield or life in the wilds would choose to wear heels. Why would she? It’s self-sabotage. Choosing footwear that puts her in danger of twisting an ankle or getting caught in clothing or undergrowth, or sinking in mud, could mean the difference between life and death. Why would anyone put themselves at risk like that when flat boots are available?

Don’t be Michael Bay, who had Rosie Huntington-Whitely running around a rubble-ridden city in stilettos throughout Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It’s just silly.

If your female character is in heels, for whatever reason, have her loot some flat boots at the first opportunity. I mean, it’s only her life, right?

Exposed Skin

This could be a matter of climate. Gladiators in Rome didn’t fight in plate armour because they would have died from heat exhaustion. Be practical. But also… be practical.

If your female warrior is scrambling around in undergrowth or rocky ruins, bare legs will get scuffed and bruised and cuts and scrapes will expose her to infections. Ask yourself if light breeches wouldn’t serve her better.

If your female warrior is an archer, please, please make sure she’s wearing leather, or at least a leather chest guard. When archery is done well, the string flies close. Nipples don’t only get caught, they come off. This can be an issue for men too, especially if they have prominent pectorals, so it’s worth bearing in mind with all of your archers. Nothing makes me wince like a female character in a thin shirt letting loose the equivalent of a sprung cheese wire. Have mercy.

From a writerly point of view, if she’s wearing anything that will tempt you to include descriptions of her heaving bosom, cover her up. That tip is entirely for the sake of your writing and the respect of your female readership and it comes from the best possible place.

Loose Hair on the Battlefield

Loose hair does not behave itself. If you’ve described her tresses blowing in the breeze as she delivers the killing blow, bear in mind that as soon as she turns around those same tresses will whip her in the face, obscure her vision and force her to use a hand, that could otherwise be holding a shield or weapon, to get it out of the way. If she’s wearing gloves or bracers or cuffs, they might get caught, forcing her to retreat to untangle herself, or rip a chunk of hair out mid-fight. Yum.

Headbands and helmets exist, as do braids. Use them.

Black Widow is a notoriously bad example of a sexualised female warrior. Her signature look in the Marvel movies is a black catsuit with loose hair. But in the Black Widow movie, directed by Cate Shortland, the braid-game is strong and in the posters her hair is tied back to a greater or lesser degree.

In Birds of Prey, Harley Quin (Margot Robbie) offers a hair tie to a woman mid-fight. It’s one of the most plausible and wonderful things I’ve witnessed in a fight scene to date.

When you think about the handicap loose hair can be, it’s easy to see why it’s such a universally hated trope. So don’t fall for it. Make tying her hair back part of her daily routine, so that she can let it down again in more intimate moments.

Cuts and Bruises

Warriors collect scars, yet descriptions of female warriors rarely include physical blemishes. For some reason kickass women manage to scramble through the wilderness, fighting and hunting for survival, and still have perfectly smooth skin at the end of it.

Female warriors are rarely described as attractive while sporting a facial scar. In fact after earning a facial scar, female warriors tend to retreat from the story completely, like Gunnhild in the History Channel’s Vikings. This is endlessly frustrating because it reinforces the idea that once beauty is marred by action, she loses value in the world.

Scars tell stories. They speak of past losses and victories and sacrifices. If she has none, what does that say about her journey so far? Not much. So give her a scar or two, or three. Write her past chapters on her skin. It will only make her more interesting, appealing and plausible to your readers.

Muscles

Have you ever heard of the term “waif-fu”? It’s used to describe a female warrior who is slender and waifish, with no visible muscles, who is nevertheless incredibly strong. See Gamorrah in Guardians of the Galaxy as a great example.

Now, there are combat styles where a slight frame is an advantage, like Taekwondo or fencing, because the opponent need only “touch” to score a point. But for the most part if someone’s hefting a longsword every day they’re going to develop some biceps.

There are regular arguments made against the need to depict female warriors with plausible muscle mass, see:

It’s fantasy
The men are unrealistic too
She’s not even human so it doesn't count

But, if your male warriors are buffed-up to the eyeballs with biceps for days and a ten-pack, while your female characters are slender as reeds and look like a good gust of wind could blow them away, think about why you’ve made this decision.

It’s rare to see women like Cara Dune (The Mandalorian), Bobbie Draper (The Expanse), Gideon (Gideon the Ninth), and Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones). Yet these are the characters who are most plausible in the role of female warrior. You look at Frankie Adams (Bobbie Draper) and believe she could have trained for years as a Martian marine. You watch the fight between Brienne and The Hound and know that her victory is plausible.

When writing your female warrior, ask yourself if her physicality matches her life story.

Conclusion

Your choices, when it comes to physical descriptions, can make the difference between your world/character being plausible, and not. Loose hair and high heels might seem like minor points, but women everywhere know just how ridiculous those tropes are. If your aim is to attract female readers with your strong female warrior, providing empowered representation in a male-dominated genre… it’s important that your female readers believe in her.

Give her boots and a hair tie and let her get to work.

Special thanks to Caroline Mersey for your thoughts and contributions - I’d never seen that fight scene in Birds of Prey and my life is now better for it!