* Frelga crashes her way into the thread.*
RPing? Somebody mentioned RPing?
You know, I've decided I don't mind the improbable RP characters that much. Just because I approach RPing as a form of storytelling doesn't mean everybody is; for others it's a way to play out their girlish/boyish fantasies. I could go on at some length about giving a character a balance of strength and weaknesses, but that's another thread. (Shall we start one? Where?)
What does bother me is when those improbably strong and perfect females (and males, but we are used to that) show up in published fiction. All those medieval-style societies where everybody is oh-so-equal and men don't bat an eye at battling side-by-side with a woman. I'm not convinced that it would work. If you change one thing, you change everything.
For myself, I tried to come up with a story placed in a society where men and women are truly equal, and results were peculiar. In one, both sexes are equally limited in their choices, which is probably realistic enough. The other took a somewhat Heinlenesque turn, with little trace of contemporary nuclear family. And the third has Amazons.
For a writer who does a great job, IMO, of writing strong, yet realistic females I would point to Cynthia Voigt. Her stories are geared to young women, and her characters are often rooted in and limited by the feminine roles, yet they are determined, resourceful, compassionate and indomitable. I'm thinking Gwyn in
Jackaroo and Elske in
Elske.
Maybe that should be a new thread: Strong female characters in fiction and RP?
Now I need to look up Tigana, so I can participate in the actual discussion.