Is Your Heroine A Hero with Boobs?

Hi Wranglers! I'm recycling a story. In Vegas right now and battling jet lag. But I loved this post. Especially since there are so many kick ass heroines out there.
So on with the post! I love a kick ass heroine. Always have, always will. But if your hero and heroine are interchangeable, except for body parts, I get turned off. Example #1: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Totally rocks. She kicks some vampire ass, catches the bad guys, but still has time to act like a woman with steamy love interest, Angel. If memory serves, she even had a thing for Spike for a little stint. Example #2: Sarah Connor: After the first Terminator movie, she turned into a man with boobs. First scene: In her jail cell doing pull ups. Ripped arms. After her son risks his life to save her, she does nothing but feel him up to see if he's injured and tells him it was dumb for him to risk his life because he is too important to the future. If she had been more concerned about him as a mother, she would have come off as likeable. But his well being was treated as an after thought. No motherly love, no...nothing. She spent the rest of the movie as a hard ass sucking on cigarettes. A man could have played that part and I don't think I would have known the difference. I've had the same experience with some books I've read, and they were supposed to be romance novels. They shall remain nameless. The heroine was trying so hard to prove she was just as good as a man, I couldn't tell the difference between her and the hero. Until it came down to sex. Of course she was soft as silk and he was hard as granite. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but besides having a vagina, I'd like for there to be something feminine about the heroine. Blog question: Where do you draw the line? Have you ever found yourself at a point where your heroine lost her femininity because she was supposed to be kick ass? Where does that leave your hero? I would love to hear your responses. Have you ever been disappointed by a kick ass heroine because she was the female version of Arnold Schwarzenegger? How do you keep that out of your writing?

Comments

  1. Wow, what a good post. And a good question. I'm a girly girl, so I like it when the heroine's girly enough her strength surprises. Dixie Carter's character in the old "Designing Women" TV series was my template for perfect.

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    1. I loved that show. And Julia was my favorite character. The other women called her "The Terminator."

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  2. I love a kick-ass heroine, Shawn..but there is a line. I don't write adventure/suspense stories so I have no clue how to write a kick-ass-but-not-testosterone-laden heroine. But in reading, I think a lot of it comes from the POV - heroines can be kick-ass and still be scared, heroines can be nurturing and caring and not soft. It's all in the balance. But how to do that in writing...that's another issue!

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  3. You tell me...do my heroines cross the line? I'm not sure they're kick ass, either. Maybe Andy in Rescued. I dunno. Good topic, though.

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  4. I love tough chicks- and that's what I write :). I don't know about sarah Connor being a good example though- I took that character change to show us how totally messed up she is at that point, and how obsessed she is with saving the world. She does show tenderness in leaving her son behind though.

    But very interesting post, I think for some many tough chicks are TOO tough- for others it's a matter of logic- is it reasonable (and clear) why this person is acting that way?

    Nice post!

    Marie Andreas

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  5. I like the tough girl. The girl who can fix fence all day and rope cows and do what needs to be done. But there's also something very alluring about a that girl turning from the Wrangler wearing gal to the sexy, flirty one in the black dress with her hair down.

    It's a fine line, a beautiful line. I enjoy the continuum of it.

    I really enjoyed the post!

    All the Best,
    Rionna

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  6. Personally, I like the hardass heroines like that. If you think Sarah Connor's a hard-ass, it's because of where she comes from, everything she's learned (see Terminator before you judge her, where she was a weak crumbling little girl) tells her the only way to survive is to take off her frilly panties, pull on the combat boots and kick some butt. Do I like frippery heroines? Hell no. They bore me. Give me the tough girl. The one not afraid to join the army. They brook no sh** and they survive--without needing to crumble into a slobbery mess just because a guy waggles his butt. The girls I like know they don't need a man to save their hides--and more power to 'em. ;)It's about time we got over this "only can be one way" view of heroines. Why can't they kick butt, be tough, alpha, and take care of their men? That's what women's lib was all about, right?

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