let’s talk bookish | underrepped female characters

Hello again, friends! I hope all is well for you, and if it’s not then I hope brighter days head your way soon! I’m baaaaaaaaaaaack!

I decided to take a little break for August after one of my cats passed away but I’m back on my bookish bullshit now! And, of course, I decided to make my Grand Return with a bookish discussion post for Let’s Talk Bookish. This post is actually one that I intended to post this past March and missed the deadline for. But now that the gals hosting Let’s Talk Bookish gave us a week to do a freebie, I figured it was the perfect time to share my old post. So let’s get straight to it, friends!

overused female character archetypes

One female character type that’s become incredibly popular in fantasy and romantasy but which I have gripes with is the “strong female character.” Now, just hold on and put the pitchforks down, okay?! I have a good reason!! The reason I dislike this character type is because it often portrays a female character as being “strong” solely because she has the characteristics of a stereotypical Western man. And, on the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that—when it’s not every or even most female characters. But here’s the thing: it only reinforces patriarchal standards for both women and men, and it’s also subtly racist. Let me explain…

First of all, why is it that only physical strength, ferocious bravery, boldness, and/or stoicism are considered “strong”? It is because that is how the West defines “strength” and “masculinity.” But this means that anything aside from those qualities are not only considered “feminine” but also are considered “weak.” But why should that be? Why aren’t kindness, compassion, intelligence, generosity, hospitality, friendliness, etc. considered strength too? When we say a female character is “strong” simply because she lives up to the Western standards of strength for men, we’re subtly reinforcing patriarchal standards. We’re also subtly reinforcing racist standards for men and women and nonbinary people, which brings me to my next point.

Prior to colonization, cultures all had various different, unique, nuanced ideas of what it means to be “masculine,” and “feminine,” and/or anything that falls in between or outside of that spectrum, as well as various different, unique, nuanced ideas of what it means to be “strong.” But when we portray only one set of cultures’ (i.e. Western cultures’) standards of masculinity and strength as the “gold standard,” we lock men who don’t fit that standard out of being considered masculine and/or strong. This once again reinforces patriarchal standards, but also sneakily enforces racism.

types of female characters i want to see more of

• “Soft” Women (Especially BIPOC Women) Women who are “soft” or “traditionally feminine” can have adventures too! I will die on the hill that more adventures should include female (or any gender, really) characters in pretty dresses storming a castle, lol! But seriously. More women who are gentle going on adventures, please. More women who are compassionate going on adventures, please. More women who are friendly going on adventures, please. More women who are communally and relationship oriented going on adventures, please. FFS, MORE SOFT WOMEN GOING ON ADVENTURES, PLEASE!!!
• Disabled Women Disability representation in general is an area where the literary community falls down a lot. It’s not only underrepresented, it’s something that I’ve seen an overwhelming number of people in the online bookish community dismiss when concerns are brought up. Thus, I’d love to see more noticeably disabled women (including physically disabled women, chronically ill women, neurodivergent women, and/or women with mental health disorders) in books. I’d especially love to see this in my favorite genre of fantasy, because the prevailing attitude in fantasy seems to be that you have to be physically and emotionally “strong” to be a hero/main character, which is just a load of hogwash if you ask me!
• Women Over 30 Women who are 30+ have so much to offer the world—why shouldn’t they get to be the heroes of their own stories too? I always thought it was so weird that, especially in the genres of fantasy and sci fi, women ages 30+ are so underrepresented. I mean, I would imagine as you get older you feel more confident in your sense of self and your capabilities, so you’d be more likely to take on a big adventure and come out the other side alive, lol!
• Extroverted Women During most of my teens and early to mid-twenties, people in my generation (end of Millennials/Zillennials/early Gen Z) used to love joking that they hated going out and hated spending time with people and loved their alone time and so on and so forth. As an exuberant extrovert, I never related. Unfortunately, I saw that kind of extremely introverted attitude reflected in a lot of characters from books released during that decade (i.e. the 2010s) where main characters were portrayed as shy and tended to hate on extroverted women, who were stereotyped as “vapid” and “shallow” and “mean girls.” I never got this because introversion and extroversion have nothing to do with intelligence or kindness, it just has to do with whether being alone or being around others energizes/drains you. I’d love to see more extroverted women in fiction because, contrary to the popular stereotype, we’re not mean girls—as a matter of fact, we usually love to make friends!
• Women Who Befriend Other Women Jumping off of that last point about befriending people, I’d love to see more women who are besties with/supportive of other women! I think nowadays we see this more than we used to as the “I’m not like other girls” trope has faded from popularity, but I still would love to see it even more! This world is so harsh to girls and women—we shouldn’t be harsh to each other, we should be lifting each other up!

inspiring female characters

nina zenik (six of crows by leigh bardugo)

I’ve loved Nina Zenik since I first read about her, in part because I see so much of myself in her. I love that she’s outgoing, charming, flirtatious, friendly, kind, and feminine, but she’s also intelligent and strong and brave. Nina shows that women don’t need to give up any part of themselves to be the hero of a story!

evelyn hugo (the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid)

This might be a controversial one because Evelyn Hugo is a very flawed character—but I feel like that’s part of what makes her so wonderful. Evelyn is ambitious in a way that some might see as ruthless, but she also refuses to give up the people she really loves in exchange for anything. Instead, she finds ways to make it work so she can keep and protect those she loves while still living the life she wants on her terms.

evelyn (our infinite fates by laura stevens)*

Evelyn is a new character I’ve fallen in love with, as she’s from one of my 2025 reads. I love how soft she’s allowed to be, despite all the hurt and pain she’s endured. Instead of becoming hardened and shutting people out, she throws herself into loving them again and again and again—even knowing it will hurt. I think that’s a great example of nontraditional strength, and I loved seeing Evelyn show that quality off.

*Evelyn is technically a soul who could be described as nonbinary, but for much of Our Infinite Fates they’re in a female-presenting body and identify as a girl. I don’t want to erase their identity, though, so it should be noted that they don’t have a gender preference in regards to the body they end up in.

stevie bell (the truly devious series by maureen johnson)

Ah yes, Stevie Bell, my favorite girl detective with an anxiety disorder! Stevie is another character who I relate to quite a bit because, like Stevie, I too have an anxiety disorder and I too cope with my anxiety-inducing life through humor and irony. There’s also something so great about seeing an anxiety-riddled teen girl solve murder mysteries and face off with the culprits. It reminds me that even with a mental health disorder like anxiety, I am capable of doing what I’m passionate about and making a difference in the world.

alessa (this vicious grace by emily thiede)

Alessa is one of the first girlies with ADHD that I’ve come across in a high fantasy/romantasy novel, and for that I love her so much! Alessa displays so many ADHD girly traits that I share (hypersocial, rejection sensitivity dysphoria, etc.) and she made me feel so seen, especially as it’s still rare to see depictions (in both fiction and nonfiction) of girls and women with ADHD! Being in her head had me nodding and saying “that’s exactly what it’s like” throughout the whole book!

anne shirley (anne of green gables by l.m. montgomery)

Another majorly relatable character for me is Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables! Are you sensing a theme in regards to my personality type? Lol! Anne, like me as a child, is wildly imaginative and empathetic and dreamy and adventurous. She sees life so optimistically, even in the darkest and/or most dreary of situations. All these traits made her a character who I instantly connected to from the moment I first read about her!

jo march (little women by louisa may alcott)

Jo, the adventurous March sister who bucked convention and carved her own path to become a writer! Of course she’s on this list and of course I relate to her as well! Jo is another character who proves that as a woman you don’t need to give up your grand ambitions in order to live a “happy” life, and I love that about her and her story.

What character types for female characters do you think are overused? Do you have any favorite types of female characters? What types of female characters do you want to see more of? Who are some of your favorite female book characters?

Learn more the author of this post:

Lila @ Hardcover Haven

Lila is a 30 year old anthropology student and lover of literature who's been book blogging for an eternity. Her hobbies include reading, singing, writing, arts and crafts, and snuggling her two cats, Snoopy and Clementine.