I love me an alpha male! The protector, the man who takes care of his woman, the man that wants to posses his woman fully. Something about the alpha male is completely alluring. I am not alone in this, as the abundance of alpha males in romance novels shows.
This got me thinking...
Are we undermining the years and struggle of the feminist movement by being so drawn to these characters?
I consider myself a feminist. Not in the bra burning, refusing to shave my armpits kind of way, but in the sense that I believe women to be equal to men in all ways. I believe that if a woman wants to be a CEO of a Fortune 500, good for her, she should do it. I also believe that if a woman wants to be a stay-at-home mom, good for her, she should do it.
So then why is it that I love these domineering, demanding alpha male characters? In a way, it's a bit of a contradiction. Though, I am sure my husband would say that as a woman it's in my DNA to be contradictory. :) You have to feel for men. On one hand we all want to be a strong, independent woman who doesn't need a man and on the other, we find these strong, dominating alpha males so sexy.
I would argue that it's subjective to the character. When I read I find myself immersed in the characters to the point that I may find some things acceptable, sexy even, because the heroine does. I view characters as people with their own needs and wants and what works for some people (characters) doesn't for others. And that's okay.
I'm going to throw a 50 Shades analogy at you. If it had been Kate who stumbled into his office, it's doubtful that we, as readers, would have found Christian Grey so sexy and irresistible, because Kate herself wouldn't have. Ana and Kate are different people with different needs and wants, therefore they are attracted to different types of men. Make sense?
Let me know your thoughts... Do you love the alpha male? Why? Or do you prefer a kick ass 'I-don't-need-a-man' heroine?
♥ Chloe
Personally, it just depends on the mood I'm in at the time. It also depends on the heroine opposite the alpha male. Is she completely helpless, pathetic, unable to cope for herself? Or does she hold her own just enough, but still allow him to be the alpha type? Scarlet O'Hara was pretty damn kick ass, but Rhett was also pretty damn alpha. Gone With The Wind would have been a completely different animal if Scarlet was a puddle at Rhett's feet, unable to do anything for herself.
ReplyDeleteTo me it is a little disturbing, this trend of making female characters helpless little creatures dependent on their men to function. It feels like a step back. It's fine to give in occasionally, but these "heroines" who lie in their beds for days, weeks, months on end, unable to move or breathe because the love of their life left them, who can't make a single decision for themselves? I just cannot get on board with that. I'm not saying every female lead character has to be Scarlet O'Hara, either. I'm a big believer in the happy medium.
Wow, okay, so that was a lot of blathering. I didn't even know I was this opinionated on the subject!
First of all I want to say THANK YOU for being the first ever person to comment on my blog. You are fantastic and awesome and a million other things all rolled into one!
DeleteI definitely agree with you. There certainly seems to be a trend of these completely pathetic heroines. Your example of Scarlet O'Hara is the perfect example of finding just the right balance of a heroine letting her man be alpha but still being a functioning capable person outside of the relationship as well.
As a writer I think that much of this trend comes from authors who are trying to show how in love the heroine is with the hero, thus she is completely devastated by the love of their life leaving them and cant get out of bed(to use your example). As writers we need to do a better job of showing this in other ways. Yeah, she's sad but life goes on and that's the reality. Maybe rather than having her lying in bed for days on end she could use the time for a little self-discovery and maybe find some happiness away from the relationship. She can still be sad and miss him and ultimately decide that she prefers a life with him in it, but that doesn't mean she has to be comatose.
I tend to blather too... blathering is welcome! :D
Thanks so much for the comment!
♥ Chloe
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