Why is fantasy literature bad at writing women?

[StormMistress]

I’ve read a fair deal of fantasy literature in my time and one recurring problem I’ve noticed is how poorly female characters tend to be written. WOT series is a big one with this.

They’re usually written one dimensional and are there as either for male fan service or as a romantic partner. Rarely are they fleshed out and treated as well developed characters themselves. It does happen (Eowyn in lotr) but it’s definitely not the norm.

Is this because the writers just don’t know how to write women well?

[Sixgunsound]

Wheel of time came out of the gate really really strong. By the fifth or sixth lap, it had not only fallen off but pitched face first into the dirt. I still haven’t finished it yet because I’m not willing to invest my time into a product who’s quality demonstrably deteriorates as time goes on. This is surprising though since there are a number of highly acclaimed female authors who can’t write women in that genre. I attribute this to again market forces. They’re looking at the customer base for sword and sorcery heroics, and I understand that women read this genre far more than they play video games, but the industry is anticipating a male customer. Again, not saying it’s right or wrong, it just is what it is.

[jbasch]

Most fantasy authors are men, primarily poorly socialized men whose knowledge of women comes from other men. Also, most fantasy takes place in strongly patriarchal contexts, where women have very restricted social roles. I think it would be very possible to write an interesting female character in one of those roles, but the problem is that those roles lend themselves to a few 'natural' motivations, which get tiresome after a while (e. g. every fantasy woman is a mother, and her primary motivation is protecting her children... while most mothers are motivated by protecting their children, this can become stale if that's the beginning and end of literally every female character).

[AmeerX]

Extremely late to this but I think even female writers have a problem writing good female characters. Either she is all battle hardened and doesn't give a damn about the men. Or the other extreme is she is basically into becoming a concubine to the protagonist.

I do like kerrigan from StarCraft 1 and 2 but in Warcraft they really ruined the character of Sylvanas Windrunner in the WOW with the redemption arcs. Please let female villains be a real thing. Keep them evil. Don't have mercy on them

[NathanDavis]

why people focus and support the bad written ones... I don't get it, maybe that's what most people want?

there are options there, there has to be good writing out there, for sure.. otherwise we would not exactly what bad writing feels and looks like

we have a choice, best things are worth... so we should just be more selective on what we put our attention

[normalice]

For what its worth they are usually bad at writing men, too. They are all genderless chess pieces marching towards a plot's conclusion. Try fantasy written by women. I'd recommend The Curse of Challion, Sunshine, Minor Gods, or The Scholomance.

[Havthrills]

I think the answer is yes, they don't know how to write women that well. All women are different so it's hard to get one personality for a woman. Men are almost the same.

[Dinosaursandanime65]

Those or are toxic representations. THATS, where I come in (no pun intended). Mind if I start giving a speech about my career?

[Summeroflove]

There is a keyword. That is fantasy. Not real.

[AydenHazor]

Most fantasy writers are men and they tend to write in what they fantasize a woman as being rather than learning about women to write them realistically. This is a problem in many other genres as well

[simptopia]

youve been reading the wrong fantasy then. Brandon Sanderson, Sarah J Maas, Leigh Bardugo are all excellent at writing women especially Brandon and Leigh

[msc545]

Some writers are just poor at character development. I don't think this is a gender thing at all.

[pizzalovershouse]

They don't have an idea of the female thoughts

[dean53AU]

Most fantasy literature is written by mainly by women

[roy_ricky09]

Seems you read the wrong ones.

[StormMistress]

What ones would you recommend?

[roy_ricky09]

Try Stephen king

[roy_ricky09]

Thanks for the question... It gave me an idea to post some good books on my IG ardentbiblio_roy that's for books

[MrTaboo]

Who wrote it? Male or female writer?

[TallAnon]

A lot of them are either men or writing for men.