Female Characters in Stories

This is something that's been bothering me for awhile, and I thought I'd share because Mibbians are cool like that.

I've been thinking a lot about the way women portray other women, particularly fictional characters. I've always been a strong advocate for strong female characters but was never really bothered by weak ones. As I've gotten older, this has been changing quite dramatically. The event that sparked my public venting happened a few days ago. I was scanning through recently updated stories, when I came across, yet another, sex-slave story.

The storyline went something like this: Character A is kidnapped by Character B, who takes her back to his mansion which he shares with his fearsome gang. B rapes A. After awhile A begins to like it and slowly worms her way into B's heart. The two fall madly in love and B renounces his ways. They live happily ever after.

I can think of at least four or five other stories that I've read on here with, more or less, the exact same plot. I can also think of a lot more that have similar themes. Admittedly, there are a lot of users on here and ideas are bound to get recirculated but personally, I think this is an echo of mainstream culture.

Let's put aside the fact that something as heinous as rape is being portrayed as erotic or sexy. I'm sure no one on here will disagree with me that no one should ever be subjected to it. What's really got me all riled up is this continuing theme of men being dominant over passive women who have no control over their lives. It reinforces damaging gender stereotypes and I find it demeaning. Sure, it could be argued that our brave protagonist is actually resilient and tough, just look how she makes the best of her horrible situation after all. The fact still stands that authors have complete control over their content, and write about what interests them. Unfortunately, history has shown women can be our own worst enemies when it comes to progression and liberation. Queen Victoria was very vocal in her opposition to the Suffragettes.

Women have fought long and hard for the rights that we do have, but I feel that our attitude as a society has a long way to go. This is sexism at it's most subtle and the fact that most people probably don't think this is an issue highlights how deeply rooted and normal it is, still. As children we're told fairytales about beautiful, but ultimately insipid women who's only goal is to find true love and live happily ever after. I could list countless other examples but I won't, because they should be obvious.

I should also say that there are so many amazing female characters on here, women who have control over their bodies and sexuality, and have opinions depth and stand up for themselves. They are awesome and I love getting to know them and sharing their worlds. But there are also just as many that are one-dimensional and/or completely passive ones and I'd like to see that change.

So, dear reader, if you have managed to stick with me this long, thank you for indulging me.
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