Post by Attero Dominatus on Jul 26, 2009 16:32:42 GMT -5
Ramboettes are everywhere in popular culture. They usually have a bad attitude and can single-handedly take on a platoon of battle-hardened Spetznatz soldiers and win the day. They can also kick a man's ass in hand to hand combat in spite of the man being bigger and stronger than she is, and generally do not like to be helped or rescued.
Basic biology says otherwise. Men do have more upper body strength and it is they who usually only them who are allowed into the combat arms of a military.
The growing prevalence of insurgency warfare is increasingly forcing women into combat (example: terrorists ambush supply convoy and female truck driver has to help fight them off until reinforcements arrive), which alone could be used to make a heroine plausible. Or maybe the resistance needs everyone they can get to help fight off the jack booted thugs of a totalitarian government.
However, not every setting will be rife with guerrilla warfare. So, how do you have a strong, beautiful heroine save the day without appearing to be kowtowing to the PC crowd?
The first thing to do is provide some justification for her to be there in the first place. A guerrilla conflict is a good setting as mentioned above. Or she can be a spy, or maybe her child was abducted and the police do nothing.
The second thing to do is think about whether she needs to shoot her way through a problem or not. If your heroine is a spy, she can seduce her way through a problem, either by trading sex for secrets like Mata Hari was reputed to do or to blackmail her target by threatening to release pictures of videos of the affair. Alternatively, women are just as capable of bribing and extorting people as men are.
The third thing to do is to acknowledge there are differences between men and women. Make the men stronger than her and have her think of creative ways of fighting them instead of using brute force.
A fourth thing is to have her be fully aware of the dangers to women who fight. If she is captured, she will most likely be raped and might even become pregnant.
Last but most, do not make her hate men or the help they offer. In a life or death situation, she will appreciate any help she can get. If you want her to do the most heroic thing in the story, then the man can lay down covering fire while she defuses the nuke to save the city or something.
Basic biology says otherwise. Men do have more upper body strength and it is they who usually only them who are allowed into the combat arms of a military.
The growing prevalence of insurgency warfare is increasingly forcing women into combat (example: terrorists ambush supply convoy and female truck driver has to help fight them off until reinforcements arrive), which alone could be used to make a heroine plausible. Or maybe the resistance needs everyone they can get to help fight off the jack booted thugs of a totalitarian government.
However, not every setting will be rife with guerrilla warfare. So, how do you have a strong, beautiful heroine save the day without appearing to be kowtowing to the PC crowd?
The first thing to do is provide some justification for her to be there in the first place. A guerrilla conflict is a good setting as mentioned above. Or she can be a spy, or maybe her child was abducted and the police do nothing.
The second thing to do is think about whether she needs to shoot her way through a problem or not. If your heroine is a spy, she can seduce her way through a problem, either by trading sex for secrets like Mata Hari was reputed to do or to blackmail her target by threatening to release pictures of videos of the affair. Alternatively, women are just as capable of bribing and extorting people as men are.
The third thing to do is to acknowledge there are differences between men and women. Make the men stronger than her and have her think of creative ways of fighting them instead of using brute force.
A fourth thing is to have her be fully aware of the dangers to women who fight. If she is captured, she will most likely be raped and might even become pregnant.
Last but most, do not make her hate men or the help they offer. In a life or death situation, she will appreciate any help she can get. If you want her to do the most heroic thing in the story, then the man can lay down covering fire while she defuses the nuke to save the city or something.
