Male or Female

In books that you read, what gender of character do you usually relate to more?
Male or female?
Or do you relate to both genders?

I relate more to male characters, I am not a big fan of female characters. They annoy me to no end. It a has nothing to do with their gender I just don't like their attitude. Makes me want to go into the book and slap the main character. And once again it has nothing to do with their gender.
Just the way they a presented.

Hmmm, I don't know that I've ever noticed any pull one way or the other.

What is it about these female characters' attitudes that you find so annoying? Are they basically stereotypical female attitudes? Or is it something else all together?

And have these characters and books been written mostly by authors or authoresses? Sometimes I think getting into the head of the other gender without writing stereotypes can be difficult. Not every writer can do it.

HYdraMStar wrote:

What is it about these female characters' attitudes that you find so annoying? Are they basically stereotypical female attitudes? Or is it something else all together?
And have these characters and books been written mostly by authors or authoresses?

I don't like the rebellious type of girl who is fun and flirty in stories, it annoys me to know end when she comes up with these "quick witty responses". I don't like the girl who doesn't follow the rules because she think she is cool. I don't like popular girls to begin with, so stories about popular girls annoy me.
Girls who think they need to dress up as guys, so that way they can be equal a.k.a Joan of Arc stories.
I don't like girl characters in general.
Shockingly all the stories I have read about girls are written by woman. Actually I find a lot of stories now a days with female characters as the main character.

My first children were females, so I tried to write stories for them or from what I could imagine as being their perspective. I find that I put more thought into a female lead, so enjoy telling and reading those stories more. I tend to be more 'comfortable' in a male role, so make more mistakes.

I agree that I don't enjoy the 'cocky' attitude, but that goes for male or female. There are places for a 'cocky' attitude however, so it can be entertaining, but it needs to be defined where characters feel in control and where they don't.

I also do not enjoy stories where a character is not comfortable with their identity (or does not become comfortable with their identity through the story). I do a lot of transformations in my general stories, and push the philosophy that one needs to be accepting of what duties life presents while working to improve what one can improve. I stress highly that there is no shame in being a woman or pride in being a man. Take pleasure in being who and what you are.

Good reasons Leaka. I am so totally up for it. These stereotypes annoy me.

I had three phases in my writing. As a child, I would lean towards female leads. Hell, that'd be the reason I'd write because I'd replace popular male lead stories/cartoon shows with female leads. They would be stereotypical sometimes too.

As a tween, I tended to act as though I preferred female leads, but the truth was that I hung between both. I've never had problem handling either gender, so it worked out well.

As a teenager, (boy, it's been 3 years now) I tend to prefer male leads. I'm trying to overcome that; thus I'm using female characters in RPGs and novels. I think I have a hate for the female gender, and find the male mind a more logical and dynamic one.

Scientifically, it makes sense. Female brains have more connections in their brain, particularly the hypothalamus (hence the fact that females not only have emotional tendencies, also their temperature control is better than men since the hypothalamus is the temperature center). They tend to make overly fantastical and melodramatic stories, and I find myself victim of that in some cases. The characters tend to be so diplomatic and yet, 'distant'. I harness little emotional capacity so female characters are becoming a weird species to me. Though, like I said, I'm trying to grab hold of the rein once more.

Chrome wrote:

Good reasons Leaka. I am so totally up for it. These stereotypes annoy me.

I had three phases in my writing. As a child, I would lean towards female leads. Hell, that'd be the reason I'd write because I'd replace popular male lead stories/cartoon shows with female leads. They would be stereotypical sometimes too.

As a tween, I tended to act as though I preferred female leads, but the truth was that I hung between both. I've never had problem handling either gender, so it worked out well.

As a teenager, (boy, it's been 3 years now) I tend to prefer male leads. I'm trying to overcome that; thus I'm using female characters in RPGs and novels. I think I have a hate for the female gender, and find the male mind a more logical and dynamic one.

Scientifically, it makes sense. Female brains have more connections in their brain, particularly the hypothalamus (hence the fact that females not only have emotional tendencies, also their temperature control is better than men since the hypothalamus is the temperature center). They tend to make overly fantastical and melodramatic stories, and I find myself victim of that in some cases. The characters tend to be so diplomatic and yet, 'distant'. I harness little emotional capacity so female characters are becoming a weird species to me. Though, like I said, I'm trying to grab hold of the rein once more.

I've tried to make female characters, but its hard when you don't have the chemicals of a female.

I've done stories with male and female characters, they're different. Sometimes it's better (for me) to have a male lead than a female lead in certain situations or when I want the story to go one way or another and some other times, it's the other way around.

I don't have a particular like or a particular dislike for either.

I'm fine either way, but I hate it when they're very stereotypical genderized characters. The guy just wants to get laid and the girl can only think of shoes and shopping.

Also, I hate it when either one of them agrees to go along with how others want them to be, just because they are a guy or girl.

Generally speaking, I agree with TerishD. I like characters who, through the course of the story, become content with who and what they are. Of course, in many cases the joy of the story is their journey towards this discovery.

But as to writing, I really have no preference. Of course, being male (and being proud of the fact) I tend to relate much better to my male characters. I try not to make my females stereotypical, leaning rather towards the philosophy that they are still human beings.

Generally, to keep tabs on my female characters, I'll ask a female to review my work and make sure it jives with a general female psyche. lol.

The thing of it is; everybody's different, and to isolate the tendencies of males and females without moving to stereotypes is a challenge. I think I do okay, but the ladies will have to verify that.

I am a firm believer that If the author as good enough they could make people relate to a neutered dog with a gender identity disorder.

Urs wrote:

I am a firm believer that If the author as good enough they could make people relate to a neutered dog with a gender identity disorder.

That's just a very creeping and disturbing thought.