jackandahat
2009-03-01 03:11 pm UTC (link)

One thing I wonder with that is how much is stereotype in a bad way, and how much is "real".

I had this writing Angie - she was a geeky barely-teen with a crush. And I kept thinking "Is this cliche?" Yes it was... but only a cliche because it does happen, a lot. And I've had the same plotting out Amy for Farsight - she's a Girly Girl. She wears pink, paints her toenails, reads fashion magazines... but she does it because she likes it, because that's her idea of fun.

So I think as long as she's doing it on her terms - "being girly" because that definition/those actions cover what she wants in life right now - then it's not at all a bad thing. So as long as you can get that across - that she's doing what she wants, which happens to be called girly, as opposed to just falling into it, then it's not a problem.

So yes, I do worry, but I'm not sure we should worry, if that makes sense?

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candy
2009-03-01 03:42 pm UTC (link)

I could just point up and *this* at Jack's answer, but beyond that (consider the pointing up and this-ing as read *g*), the thing is, there are things women/girls like to do that could be considered girly, but on the other hand, there are also things male pups like to do that could be considered manly/boyish. And no one would blink twice at a male British pup who liked to watch or play cricket, you know? Presuming that he wasn't on record as hating cricket. So I do think it's okay to have a girl pup do things more associated with a woman - not to mention it's the old "write what you know" advice, it would probably look stranger in some cases for a woman not to do traditionally feminine things if there was no reason she couldn't enjoy them somewhat.

I particularly agree on the core being that it should be on her terms.

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	jackandahat 2009-03-01 03:49 pm UTC (link)
	I think part of it is that it's more overt that women are "expected" to like certain things (I'm not saying men aren't - I get flack for not liking cars, but it's less obvious, in my experience) so it can come across as more stereotypical - or can be assumed someone is doing it because it fits the stereotype, and not just because it suits them. (Reply to this)(Parent)

rosehiptea
2009-03-01 06:39 pm UTC (link)

I play a character who in canon likes to dress up and go to parties. It's actually one of the few things we know about her life before she ended up in survival horror game fighting monsters.

Fortunately in the game there are females (some original characters) with a huge range of behavior and people don't tend to be judgmental on a character indulging in a little stereotypically girly behavior.

I do try to emphasize the fact that she's a mean fighter when I can though.

And she has a crush (now a relationship) with another character, though the other mun is on hiatus right now. I'll have her squee in somewhat girly ways in private, but people have reassured me she doesn't seem like a twit.

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blue_penguin
2009-03-01 08:54 pm UTC (link)

As long as the behavior is IC for the character, I don't think there's a problem. There are usually ways in which any given female character is "stereotypically girly" and ways in which she isn't. For example, I've got a female character who is obsessed with clothes and loves the color pink -- but she's also very independent and doesn't want anyone, least of all men, doing things for her. Another of my characters is a hacker and loves ninjas, but is very teenage-girl-ish in her interactions with boys (and also believes that men should protect/do things for women). If I made the first one into a delicate flower, or gave the second one more "feminine" interests, that would be a problem -- but ignoring the girly traits they do have would also be a problem.

... and I just realized you could be talking about OCs, in which case none of this applies -- but I still think that as long as a stereotypical girl isn't all a character is, it's okay for her to be girly in some ways.

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