Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.
SEPTEMBER 3: DO YOU PREFER MALE OR FEMALE PROTAGONISTS? (MAHITA @ AMATEUR TEEN WRITER)
Prompts: When it comes to books, do you prefer male or female protagonists and why? Do you not have a preference? Have you ever not read a book because the protagonist was male/female? Do you think it’s important for children to read protagonists of the opposite gender from them? Do you feel like certain genres have more of a certain gender of protagonist than the other?
Welcome to September, everyone, and a whole new list of LTB topics! Today’s topic is one that I’m happy to discuss, even if I don’t feel like there’s a real reason why I have a preference. But I guess that’s the point of the discussion. Without further ado, let’s go ahead!
Overall, I definitely have a huge preference. and I vastly prefer reading from the perspective of female protagonists. I didn’t realize I had a preference at first. But the more and more books I read, I found that I definitely preferred one over the other. Now that I think about it though, is it more of the characters that I genuinely feel more connection with? Or is it something about the way male characters are written (in general) that makes me not as interested?
I have never not read a book just because the protagonist was male. I do admit that if I read a synopsis and it features a strong female lead that I will be most intrigued. As I’ve said in a previous LTB post, those plots (and characters) just seem to appeal to me, and I definitely gravitate towards them. I’m not really one for the toxic masculinity trope or even undertones, that’s probably why I stay away from them. I do generally think it’s better in YA though, I haven’t had as much of an issue with that.
I think it is important for children to read protagonists of both genders, just to get broader perspectives. Sometimes you can learn things just from reading from the other’s perspective in a book, and realize how the world can be viewed differently from different lenses. That being said though, it’s not exactly a problem if children just happened to be picking all male or all female protagonist books, I’m sure they’ll run into the other type eventually.
Honestly in my genres of choice (mysteries and thrillers), I’d say protagonists are generally female. Probably because that lends itself to the suspense and “defenselessness” that is more inherently expected. Or perhaps I’m completely biased because I tend to pick books with female protagonists? If anyone else knows, please let me know below. That’s my own reasoning for why I think that’s so, but maybe I’m totally off!
How about you all? Do you prefer male or female protagonists? Honestly I feel like everyone just seems to have their own preference (or no preference), I’m interested to see what people’s reasoning for it is. Let me know in the comments below!
