Hey every one,

Aleena and I were talking today and she asked me a question that got both of us thinking; Why do so many writers go out of their way to describe how beautiful a female main character is?

We both concluded that that isn't a healthy way to describe the beauty of a female character, but the tough thing is; How does one successfully describe their character as pretty without going out of their way and making it seem like we're telling girls that they should be beautiful on the outside and that no one cares about the inside.

Why are all female main characters beautiful?...

Do you get what we're trying to say?

I get what you're saying, but I've never done it.

I go out of my way to describe the beauty of my female characters.

* waits for gasps of shock and faints *

* ahem * Of course, that sentence could mean a vast number of things, depending on how you interpret the beauty of your characters. One could ponder the physical aspects of the character and describe them in great detail, but from both a reader's and a writer's perspective, I don't usually see characters as very beautiful when I do that.

If I want to describe a beautiful character, I'll usually describe what her eyes looked like. What her body posture was. The sound of her voice. Her smile. Etc. All of those things are, in their own way, physical attributes, but not the first things typically thought of when you want to describe a beautiful character. Nevertheless, my all-around (inside and out) beautiful characters, are described in such a way.

Now, if I wanted to describe a character that was...pleasing to the eyes, to put it politely, but yet had an impure and ungodly heart, I would probably have to mention her physical attributes a bit more. But not go into detail. I might say something like, "She was eye-catching" or "Many paused to study her looks, but quickly learned that they hid a dark heart". If that makes sense.

That said... I have never seen anybody with an impure heart that was beautiful. Ever. (And no, it's not because I'm a sheltered homeschooler ) I think there are certain Christians which do not see people who are evil as beautiful, regardless of how "eye-catching" their outer-appearance is. If that makes sense. So, if you're writing from the POV of an MC who is Christian...perhaps he wouldn't even take note of the supposed beauty of such a girl and you would not need to focus on such things.

So I think that's the end of my mini-rant... I'm not, personally, entirely fond of when physical things are used to describe a beautiful character, because I think that the author could be so much more creative and they just got bored and decided it would be easier to describe how the character looked than finding an otherwise interesting way of describing how they look without describing how they look.

*nods* Thank you for your input, Bethy.

I understood what your were saying and found it very helpful.

I'm not sure what exactly Aleena meant by "going out of your way" but I get that it could be interpreted in many different ways.

I really agree with what you said, thank you so much!

What I meant was:
It seems like you can never watch a movie or read a book any more about anything
but a beautiful heroine...
WHY?
This is the question I want to answer.
Praying for you,
Aleena

There! That's the question now!

I actually go out of my way to make my characters physically quite ordinary. I believe what influenced me was a dislike of Elsie Dinsmore (which had settled very deep once I finished all 28 books) and a love of the Little House series that describe the lives of Laura Ingalls Wilder's great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, herself and her daughter. None of the latter women were beautiful. But they were beautiful... you could see their hearts.

I don't relish books that obviously think their characters are quite good-looking and go into it. Physical description I don't mind... just idealic description.



I like your mini-rant, Bethany. Agreed with all of it. Only I'd like to add that often there's something that substitues admiration of the physical appearance of both 'good' and evil acquaintances. Its a deep... caring, if you will, for the heart of that person. Once you know somewhat the unique pains and loves that person carries, somehow while the heart may be ugly with sin, its beautiful because Christ died for it.



Because the world has become obsessed with the physical?

Thank you Lady E.



Same. *mournfully* I fight it... and hopefully it works....

I had a character tell me after I wrote my fourth book that all my characters and plots seemed to be the same. Every so often thereafter I start to notice whenever I use the same trait too often, and this was one of them.

In my Princess of the Stars series (which needs a better title and really needs to be finished) I went out of my way to include an ugly heroine just to prove that she could still be a very lovable and awesome character.

I noticed I did that with my guy characters too... that's easier to explain. Characters are reflections of their authors, and so the hero of our female character is very likely to be at least in part what we imagine our own hero to be. This extends from character traits to physical appearance. It's also very easy to fall into the habit of having all your MC's look the same... someone said once of Ted Dekker that all of his heroines were beautiful and all his MC's had green eyes. I started paying attention, and discovered that was true.

Although, I think that's an unrelated subject...

How ... odd. I'd say that most of the fiction I read where a female main character's physical appearance is described enough that I (admittedly notoriously obtuse about a lot of such things ...) notice, it's that she's plain, or too old to be classically beautiful, or ... usually because the author is consciously rejecting the beautiful-heroine trope. (Except for Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series, where she's got a reason---a cobha, to use the HW term---why every heroine would be beautiful.) So there may have been a time when pretty much every heroine was beautiful, but based on my reading I feel like we're in a period where pretty much every heroine is deliberately not beautiful, i.e. of backlash to that older trope.

That is a very good point, and I agree. But that is seeing the last, little hint of beauty the person has. At a glance, when you've just met the person (which would be when you are probably describing them in a book) you probably wouldn't see that, depending on how bad their heart may be, of course. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't.

*chuckles * I totally understand what you are saying, Alina. And I am totally with you on the Elsie Dinsmore books, Cassandra! I was so sick of hearing how Beautiful and Good she was. I do not empathize with perfect characters well. They are unrelatable. *gets off the soap box before that topic dominates my post and I derail things *

I kind of take a different approach to my characters, though, then what seems to be the general consensus here. Honestly, there are lots of beautiful women in the world. There are also lots of very masculine, attractive men. Now don’t squirm everyone, hear me out.

There is nothing wrong with being beautiful. God created beauty. In fact, I have lots of beliefs about women being beautiful, but they are a little off topic.

I don't think there is a need to say that women are not pretty, or to say they are plain. I come out and say that my female characters are pretty, when they are so. I also don’t have an issue with saying some of my male characters are appealing to the human eye. However, their physical traits are not my focus.

I know some girls who may not be the prettiest girl on the block, but they still look beautiful. Why? Because they believe they are beautiful. I can spot a girl from a mile away who believes she is pretty. There is this light that shines out of her eyes. Her skin glows. Her smile says she believes she is a beautiful creation God has made. This is different than girls who think they are God's gift to men, by the way. That sends off a completely other message I find repulsing. These girls believe they are beautiful. Also, a girl who has found peace with herself, and believes she is beautiful, has also found the peace of knowing she is worth something. She is sacred. I have never found a girl who believes she is beautiful in the way I am talking about, who wouldn’t still believe she was beautiful if she was stripped of every physical attribute the world finds appealing.

In portraying the physical attributes of characters, I play a lot off of how other people react to my characters. Instead of telling you Airianna is a pretty 12 year old, I use circumstances and other people’s reactions to portray that. I find this is more effective, and my reader doesn’t feel like I’m forcing her beauty upon them.

I once read a story (The Lost Clue) where the girl was not said to have any really distinguishing features. It was said early on in the story, and not focused on. Instead, the story focuses on her character. I want to tell you, everyone I know, when they get to the end of that book, think that woman is beautiful.

I am not ashamed that my women are beautiful. God is not ashamed that he created women to be beautiful. After all, who created the beauty that is around us? Who had his temple inlaid with gold, with jewels, with the finest woods? It was God. He loves beauty. He loves for us to appreciate the things He has made.

I think the beauty is not the problem. The problem is when we have an unhealthy focus on that beauty. For example, how many of us (raises her hand) have read books where you just keep getting told over and over again how beautiful the girl is. *gags * I literally get sick of hearing her charms, her appeal, her beauty, the way her voice is as smooth as caramel. When the focus shifts to her physical attributes, as opposed to her character, that's when I think things become unhealthy. And unfortunately, there are lots of books with this in them.

I imagine this is what you mean, Alina, by going out of your way. I have seen it, and it is rather repulsive to me. I do not think it is bad to describe her voice, to mention the color of her hair multiple times. I think the problem is the focus. Because the worth of the woman is being portrayed as her beauty, not that that beauty is the byproduct of her soul.

I agree with Airi's main points. I've read 12 of the 28 Elsie Dinsmore books. I liked them generally when I read them the first time, but after reading 1 and 4 again, I realized how... perfect she is, how beautiful she is without even trying. Elsie is always "good", "beautiful", submissive to her father even when it appears he does not love her, "pretty"... you get the idea.

Most of the time I describe my female characters as being pretty. Usually they have that simple prettiness that just comes from being herself.





Elly

*chuckles * I'm glad I'm not the only person who got tired of Elsie. She was held up as such an example among some of the groups I am in.

I believe that every woman can be beautiful. And a joyful smile transforms an otherwise plain face. (Once I knew a girl who described herself as "plain", when ten minutes earlier I had been watching her face and thinking how pretty she was. )
When an author uses the same traits for her (or his) heroines throughout several books, I think that can become unhealthy, because she/he could start implying that those traits are more beautiful than others.

To clarify:
When an author describes a heroine as beautiful, and he always gives her thick, wavy, golden hair, clear blue eyes, and fair, rosy skin, then he is implying that those traits are more beautiful than, say, brown hair and brown eyes with dark, freckled skin.

My MC girl is pretty, but her beauty turns heads because she is exotic in appearance: people are not used to folks who look like her.

I totally agree there. If a set of characteristics are always used, it implies that that is the antitheses of beauty.

This is why I make sure my characters don't resemble one another. They all have different hair colors, eyes colors, freckles or no freckles.

This is also why I have refused to have a female character that has blond hair and blue eyes. It is such an overused symbol in our society; I didn't want to perpetuate it more. Plus, I’m fond of dark hair and dark eyes. *shrugs *

Although I know some lovely girls with blond hair and blue eyes.

*grin* Same. Although I'm afraid I'm not a very good example, having curly blond hair and blue eyes myself...

I love your monster post, Airi! And I agree with it. Especially the bit about God having given us the gift of beauty. *looks back at former post* Woops. I believe clarification is necessary:

That should have been mc's.

I do have gorgeous characters... but its normally the protagonist that's rather plain. I actually don't think very much about whether the individual characters are 'handsome' or 'beautiful'. I just draw them and describe them and write them. Because as Beth said, most of its in the mind of the observer. No one is going to think that the strong, athletic, bronzed male character is handsome unless he's got a character to match.

@Airianna: Thank you so much, Airi! You have completely covered my question and miraculously you understood what I meant by "going out of your way"

I found you post very helpful and I agree with you. Thanks!

*grins * Oh I’m so pleased and tickled, Alina.



I totally agree!! I remember reading a book one time with a friend, and she made some comment about the bad guy’s physical appearance being unattractive.
Me: “No he isn’t. The book says he’s quite charming, if he were to smile.”
Friend: “I don’t remember that. I just think he’s ugly.”

Power of the mind.

My MC man is rather unremarkable. His clothing is ragged, his face is weather beaten and unshaven, his hair is thin and dull blond. His eyes are a colorless blue. He is even a little too old to have any "beauty of youth".
But, I am pretty sure everybody is going to think he's handsome. It's happened to me, and my sister---we both think he's so awesome that we don't care how he looks.

*nods at everyone*

Great topic, and great points!
I love your monster post, Airi, and totally agree with it!
Hehee!
I'm going to make an observation that everyone may think is very obvious, but we have to make sure we're talking about the same thing - that is, whether we are discussing why we have goodlooking characters, or whether we are discussing why we describe our goodlooking characters. A very minor point, but still...
Much to my chagrin, I have a pretty MC. I can't help her being pretty - I really can't. She isn't stunning, gorgeous or anything in that way, but she's rather cute for a twelve year old. I tried to change it, but I couldn't; that's just the way she is in my mind. (::Suddenly realizes she has never actually described that character:: how negligent of me.)

*winks at her E * Well, you know how very, very, very fond I am of you.

I actually like the idea of a bad guy being appealing. I portray Dunndar as a ladies’ man, especially in book 2. I think it adds a different dimension to them and breaks the "evil/dark" stereotype.

And you are going to mar my beautiful Iri, so I have nothing to say on that subject! *sniffs dramatically *

What good thoughts here, ladies! I'd be interested to see what our guys around here have to say on the topic.

In my own writing...yes, I'll admit, my protagonists tend to be pretty, and all the important guys and gals are all decently good-looking. Unfortunately, too, the main heroine of my story bears an uncanny resemblance to yours truly, which means I'm leery to do anything drastic to her appearance. My average characters don't all look alike, though. I try to be as diverse as I can, within limits of ethnicity and location.

One thing that gets on my nerves in reading a book is when the author describes the hero in such glowing terms that we all know he'll undeniably end up with the female protagonist. Ugh. I much prefer it when the appearance is blemish, leaving some doubts as to whether the two will eventually become a couple or not.

*echoes*


*gags* Yes, quite.

I've already given my thoughts on this topic (here's what should be a direct link to the reply) ...

The main reason I thought about this is, my female MC has waist-length brown hair and purpleish/blueish eyes... obviously people glance twice at her. I really appreciative all your help. And I will think about what you said Airi, beauty is what you make of it.
Praying for you,
Aleena

I do have one female character I plan on writing beautiful, but I'm not sure how I am going to approach writing her character since her story is in the semi-distant future (at least, perhaps even more distant).

I have a male character that I will be/am making physically attractive, but since this thread is specifically for the fairer sex I think that would off topic...

I don't think it is really off topic, Mark. Male characters get put through the same thing. Look at Twilight. It's all about the physical. The men are more objectified than the women.

Aah, I think a lot of people feel that way about Elsie.

Lovely post, Airi.

I don't have much to say on this topic really. I think you can get stunning beautiful women in real life in looks, but they might not behave very nicely at all, and then you see someone and you think how beautiful they are and they might look plain, but it is their inner beauty that you see. It could happen both ways, it's alway good to have a mixture.

*nods* Makes sense.

Originally, when I was working out the basics of who my MC from The Last Pegasi was, I subconsciously imagined him perfect in every aspect of his life. He was handsome, strong, smart, gracious, kind, longsuffering, overall... perfect. As I started his fractal I discovered (with some help from Andrew) how perfect he was and realized that I needed to change that.

Since then, I've changed Beorn into a bitter and hateful person with anger issues. However, I still am going to make him strong, smart, and handsome. My reasoning to not only keeping him physically attractive but also going out of my way to mention his physique when I write his poem, is that (theoretically) it will create a good balance with the issues in his personality. That's what I'm aiming for anyways.

I like giving character flaws. Especially as characters grow and undergo more stress, as is common in Fantasy pieces.

*nods* And it opened up a lot of improvements in the story.

*nods* I know what you mean... My MC has some temperament/anger issues... which I find hard to portray because I would prefer her to be sweet, kind, and gentle...