Enough Male Fiction

Yes, fiction is stuffed full of male characters already. Yes, publishing is a male-dominated industry in all aspects. And yes, I happen to like a lot of the male characters out there.

But why is it that ½ of all male characters in fiction are seemingly interchangeable? Mr. Tall, Dark, Handsome,White, and Broody appears in almost every book in the YA, Science Fiction, and Fantasy shelves in Barnes and Noble. So here’s my list of 20 things I want to see in male characters.

1. Male Characters who are weak:Specifically physically weak, and not because of a disease/disorder. Plenty of male protags will admit to being emotionally weak (as is expected of the“real” man) but very few male characters are physically weak.

2. Male characters who do not have an Olympian physique:Give me chubby boys, boys with crooked noses, and hairy boys. They don’t all have to have a glistening six-pack!

3. Male characters who are POC:Bonus points if they are the love interests.

4. Male characters with disabilities:Especially physical disabilities, like epilepsy or asthma.

5. Male characters who are not supernatural:This one applies specifically to paranormal romance. Stop having the guy be a vampire/werewolf/fallen angel. Let them be the human in the relationship for once.

6. Male characters who have real emotion:I feel like the majority of male characters have three emotions: broody, amused, and angry.

7. Male characters who cry:Destroy the idea that crying isn’t masculine.

8. Male characters who are not anti-heroes:At least, don’t make that their defining trait. A lot of male characters are solely defined by their gray morality and nothing else.

9. Male characters whose humor does not come from snark:Enough with the sarcastic male lead.

10. Male characters who are not loners:I cannot stress how much I am sick of the dark broody loner. Real people don’t sulk in the shadows. Real people have friends, co-workers, and friendly acquaintances.

11. Male characters who have traditionally feminine jobs:Give me male secretaries, bakers, nurses, and teachers.

12. Male characters who are not abusive toward their significant others: Looking at you, male YA leads.

13. Male characters who are kind:Neville Longbottom and Peeta Mellark are pretty good examples of kind male characters. Let them be nice to everyone just because they can.

14. Male characters who do not have connections to the“bad guy”:An addition to the anti-hero one above. Stop making the male character the child of, ex-apprentice of, and archenemy of the antagonist. Just let him be a good character who wants to fix the world because it’s right.

15. Male characters without tragic backstories:Angst is wonderful, and I am completely guilty of giving my characters tragic backstories, but noteverymale character needs to have a dead mother and an evil father.

16. Male characters who have families they love:I want to see male characters who love their mothers or are totalpapa wolfs.

17. Male characters who support women and are feminist:I’m tired of seeing the old general who hates the female protagonist because she’s a woman. I’m tired of seeing male characters who only accept the woman after she’s proven herself.

18. Male characters who are not traditionally masculine:I know I’ve mentioned jobs and emotions before, but I also want to see male characters who wear skirts and makeup and enjoy traditionally feminine things.