Question for the male readers

[Guest]

I'm curious how many of you buy books with female lead characters. And how many buy books with female lead characters written by female writers?

For those who do, have any of these books ever stopped you reading on, and why?

For those who don’t, what made you decide not to?

[Zach]

I don't care if it's a male or female main character. So long as they're written well and have believable/relatable traits. Nor do I care for the race, creed, or gender of the author.

If I enjoy the story, or the blurb piques my interest, I'll read it.

[Mark]

I watch more than I read and have no problem with female leads... unless the whole thing just keeps doubling back time and again to the subject of them being female.

Stories with male leads rarely focus on maleness of the lead but with female leads there is a lot of other characters reacting to them being female... them doubting themselves because they are female... their motivation being to show they can do something even though the world thinks they can't because they are female... to me these are all worn out tropes.

Tell a story with a female lead without the fact they are female ever being some big dominating thing looming over the story and you will get male readers/ viewers.

Explore these too: How do I show that my main male character has an instantaneous attraction to another character?

[Rune]

Only time I stopped reading a book because of a female character was because she was my favorite character, so when she died it seemed pointless to continue reading the series.

[Kellie]

I don't care either way. If the story is good and the writing is decent, I buy it.

[Jason]

It's all down to the story not gender. My favourite female author is Ann rice.

[Guy]

Regularly, a well written female protagonist, particularly in action, fantasy or science fiction often provides unique perspectives that are more interesting than historical literary norms.

And there are some real geniuses in these spaces... Sheri S Tepper, Anne McCaffrey, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris...

Why wouldn't I read brilliant writing like that?

Also, check out: How do you all handle upset readers?

[Michael]

It's a question of the writer's style; the character's perspective; the quality of the story; the richness of the prose; and other concerns such as previously stated. I know a recent author who wrote a story about a young woman( the author is also female) that was in many regards a good, well written novel. I've read numerous books by female authors with both male and female protagonists; in my experience, women tend to write about women.

The novels I enjoyed most were the least sexist; one novel, by a woman mind you, had a line in it about how the female lead character couldn't wait to start producing little 'Vor Lords', (ie, couldn't wait to start having children with the male lead protagonist), which I thought was a 'bit over the top'. Sure, childbirth is a natural part of life; sure, some women do look forward to having children; but this just felt sexist to me, somehow. Sexism in novels doesn't work for me, personally.

I gave up on Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson, because early on in the novel there is a r@pe scene that I found repugnant and vile. When I mentioned it at the time to another (male) reader, he tried to justify the act; I rejected his supposition as mere sophistry. But to more directly answer your question, if a writer bores me or the characters aren't fully realized; if the style of writing is obtuse or turgid or filled with endlessly tedious description or unnecessarily overwritten dialogue; or some other quality that bogs down the storytelling, then I'll bail. A good example was a novel called Saturn's Children by Charles Stross.

While the writing was interesting at first, I found the story rather tedious. It examines the lives of female androids who live in a kind of slavery. I thought it a bit pretentious, and that the focus of the novel wasn't really a fit subject for a novel in the 21st century. I stopped reading THAT novel pretty quickly, due to both the tedious nature of these creatures lives; the rampant, systematic brutality and the boring, aimless nature of the society they lived in. On the contrary, a different novel by Charles Stross, called Neptune's Brood is the story of a female lead character that I found not only refreshing; well constructed, sophisticated but also delightful!

That one kept me on the edge of my seat, reading it voraciously, although I did struggle to conceptualize some of the technological descriptions he used in the early phase of the novel. I highly recommend reading Naomi Novik's novel, Uprooted. It is a fantastic novel, with some of THE best, most gorgeous descriptions I've ever read, anywhere.

It's a fantasy novel with a strong female protagonist; and yet the character manages to be both very relatable. Agnieszka is both vulnerable and wise; innocent and brave; frightened and yet courageous. This is one of my all time favorite novels, because Agnieszka is not forced into a mold. She is allowed to be 'just a young woman', not some woke nightmarish dream femme character. Fastest way to get me to drop a book these days is to force politics into the novel.

Don't...be...sexist. That's my advice, for what it's worth. And don't try to trash males in your story back to the stone age. D&D: Honor Among Thieves the movie manages to show strong women who aren't all about trashing men.

The men and women in the story work together; compensate for each other's weaknesses (and in this movie, it's often the WOMEN who are overcompensating, surprisingly, for being overbearing!) ; and focus on achieving their goals, even when they have a tendency to clash over how to accomplish their aims.

[Nick]

I really don't care in the slightest. I've noticed something of this effect for my son though (10 y.o.) It's not universal though - there's a book I wanted him to read (A Kind of Spark - it has an autistic main character and my son has autism).

It's got a really annoyingly girly cover and I thought he might refuse to even open it, but actually it was never an issue and he loved the book.

Don't forget to take a look at: Do you give your beta readers a due date?

[Jakub]

I think the most vocal group that bemoans female protagonista is the same one that just has to write comments on Youtube playthroughs that they hate playing as female charcters and that afding them is "woke".

I have psychological androgyny so I have no problem putting myself in the shoes of female protagonists. Often prefer to. If I dislike a female character it's because it either embodies a grating stereotype like a Mary Sue or because I dislike the book in general as poorly written. Can't find many examples of that, but I did end up ditching Camilla Lackberg's Ice Princessa because of the poorly written thing.

[Gary]

I don't think that the gender of the author or the character affects my decision to purchase a book. I love the famous books by the brontes.

I like fire starter by Stephen King, I sure believe in all the great things said about To Kill a Mockingbird. I have to admit you Jane ,austin is one of my blind spots and I cannot read her.

I love some of the books by Ursula K Legion. I generally dislike and avoid serious romance like the harlequins, And Danielle steele But I like some love stories like men and madame Bovary and Anna Karinina and The Great Gatsby Even though these lasted by male authors.

Would you also like to explore: Do you just let the story tell the readers about it as you go or do you approach it in another manner?

[Tyn]

The Power is one of my favourite books of recent years. The Time Traveller's Wife is one of my favourite all time novels. I thought the Handmaid's Tale was alright, ish. I also really didn't like Vox.

I don't usually go out to read books by men or women specifically, but then again I read a fairly wide range of genres and styles, i just love stories in general.

I did ask friends to recommend some female author books once, but I've also done the same with recommendations for horror and sci fi. I'll read anything from pop fiction to the classics depending on my mood, but I also don't see a problem with people sticking to one genre or a "style" of author if that's what they want.

Sometimes male or female writers very obviously write in different styles, sometimes they don't. I don't know if any of this helps answer your question,