Femininity is a rare commodity for a book character.
As I re-engage with the reading world, I am surprised anew at the sheer lack of femininity in many supposed "female" characters. Many blog writers have already written about the over-presence of "kick-butt" female characters, so I believe a restatement of that is pointless. What I want to address, however, is the erasing of the "truly feminine" and how it affects portrayals of women in literature and art.
In older novels, we see no shortage of likeable, good feminine characters. I think this has to do with the fact that femininity was respected and practiced among general society. But as feminism took mothers out of the home, very suddenly the feminine role model disappeared. The feminine journey of success - which is usually tied intrinsically to the family or to sanctity - was altered forever. Feminine attributes, such as we find in role models like the Blessed Virgin, simply were forgotten. In a sense, second and third wave feminism have contributed greatly not just to the absent mother syndrome but also to the explosion of choleric, kick-butt females that are more masculine than anything.
That being said, there has been some pushback from the Christian market. Recently, I came across a book called Chivalrous by Dina L. Sleiman in my local discount store. I had read Sleiman's work before and had been curious about this one...and the price was right.
Through the first third of the book, I wanted to shake both the author and the protagonist. Lady Gwendolyn wants to become a knight in order to escape being forced by an abusive father into a marriage to a toxic male brute. This was a classic case of feminist thinking in a medieval setting - unfortunately a common fantasy trope. I was quite annoyed at the lack of femininity, not just from an emotional standpoint but also of historical accuracy.
However, Sleiman did something unexpected. She made it clear that Gwen was, in fact, ignorant of what the feminine role was. What she had was bad example from her parents, as well as a lack of spiritual education. In Gwen's case, Sleiman drew out an arc of (partially) discovering the feminine role through Scripture and a book of sermons. While I hesitate to recommend this book as pleasure reading material (especially to my Catholic friends, as it has some rather dubious spiritual messages in it), this "ignorance of femininity" is a fascinating concept and one that bears more exploring
It is also a concept that I relate to. As a convert into traditional Catholicism, I had legitimately no clue as to act in a feminine manner. I was a tomboy then (which was rather inevitable, considering I had four brothers). Years of study later, I claim to be no expert. Yet, I am a person that is better led by example. Hence, seeing the dump of feminist-like lead female characters, really drives me nuts sometimes.
Therefore, my goal is to create truly feminine characters - starting with my protagonist in my upcoming debut novel, The White Rose. As I look to revise Janina's arc I have been looking at the Hero's Journey method of character plotting. And in my research, I came across this video by a YouTuber called Professor Geek, which talks about femininity and story-telling in the context of a cartoon character named She-Ra.
The comments about emphasizing the gender distinctions and the recognition of the feminine hero's journey as "taming the masculine" are two points that I would emphasize highly. But the Professor's last comments about the societal effects of femininst branded media really shook me at the core.
I want to stress that to us Christian and especially Catholic writers, the need to explore femininity and apply it to our characters is paramount. Piggy-backing from my last post about Archbishop Vigano's words on the subject, we have a duty to write feminine characters into our stories, as a means of preserving the feminine role in society.
That will mean studying femininity. That will mean studying Proverbs 31. That will mean looking up saints like St. Zita, St. Louise Martin, St. Therese Lisieux among countless others. That will mean imitating Mother Mary and her virtues.
It's important that we get this right. Because if we do, then chivalrous male characters are sure to follow.
And now, tell me your thoughts! What do you think about feminine portrayals in literature? What are some good examples of feminine characters? Tell me in the comments below!
Scribbingly yours,
Catherine
