The Secret Flaw in Male Writers’ Portrayal of Women That No One Talks About
Have you ever closed a book halfway through, feeling like the female lead was less a person and more a collection of clichés stitched together by someone who’s probably never met an actual woman outside a shampoo commercial? Yeah, me too — more times than I care to admit. It’s maddening how many characters out there seem like projections, not people: flawless geniuses with a token “flaw” tacked on as an afterthought, designed to check a box rather than enrich a story. I’ve read enough of these paper-thin portrayals to feel like I’ve aged twice over, and it begs a question: why does “female” often get treated like its own genre, separate from just being a human with layers? Join me as I unpack this persistent literary quirk — one that has haunted readers and writers alike — and explore what it really means to write women like people, not props. LEARN MORE