# Books and protagonist genders.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222 "2007-10-18T20:57:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/21 "2007-10-19T19:17:12Z")
I suppose I prefer reading a male-gender book, but many of the books that I have read recently were more geared towards women and had female protagonists. It isn’t a deal breaker. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/22 "2007-10-19T19:50:18Z")
Male or female protagonist doesn’t bother me, but I do notice that I prefer books written by male authors. This has mostly to do with the fact that many of the female authors I’ve read don’t write very good male characters and, as a male, it annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/23 "2007-10-20T01:34:24Z")
I’m female and do not have a preference for a male or female protagonist. As long as the writer opens the main character up to me and makes him or her believable, I’m in. When I was a child, though, I would only read books with female protagonists. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/24 "2007-10-20T03:00:20Z")
I have no particular preference. Occasionally I’ll find myself wondering if the author had a more difficult time developing a character of the opposite sex, especially in a series, but I don’t really think about it. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/25 "2007-10-20T04:45:40Z")
I don’t have a preference, though come to think of it I don’t go for really “feminine” books like romance or chick lit, nor do I enjoy testosterone-laden guy books with lots of violence and gore. I am middlewoman! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/26 "2007-10-20T04:58:02Z")
I have a mild preference for books with a female protagonist, but I can certainly enjoy either. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Nya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@Fish\_Nya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Nya)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/27 "2007-10-20T05:24:08Z")
I seem to mostly read female protagonist stories. At least when I read sci-fi or fantasy the lead is usually female. Same with any YA book. For non-genre fictions I’ll read anything. When Harry Potter first came out I was at an age where I refused to read it for two years or so because it was about a boy. When I write, it is almost always from a male POV. I actually think this is because I like male names better than female names. I’ve also noticed that I like my TV shows to have male leads. I always like the men more. I’m not quite sure why this is. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/28 "2007-10-20T13:40:03Z")
[QUOTE=dangermom] I don’t have a preference, though come to think of it I don’t go for really “feminine” books like romance or chick lit, nor do I enjoy testosterone-laden guy books with lots of violence and gore. I am middlewoman! [/QUOTE] Move over on that couch, o middlewoman! It seems that most books that appealed to me when I was a youngun had a male lead, and since I’m delving into modern-urban fantasy right now, most of the books that are appealing have a female lead (except the Dresden Files). I basically read from two genres: Fantasy and mystery. Epic fantasy (my favorite) still seems to be dominated by male leads. Mystery series seem to be dominated by female leads right now. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/29 "2007-10-21T00:05:40Z")
Female, no preference. My list of favorites is almost exactly 50/50. I do however have a hard time with writers who choose to write about a protagonist with the opposite gender - men who write female protagonists and women who write male protagonists. Somehow it almost always rings false to me. The only writer who I feel is able to do this well is Terry Pratchett; his female protagonists are some of the best out there, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222/30 "2007-10-21T13:28:19Z")
Female, no preference as to gender. But a strong preference for strong, capable protagonists, a great dislike of whiners. So that means I often avoid the kind of chick lit that whines about men. But there are whiney male protags in fiction – the Thomas Covenant series by Donaldson is the classic example of the man who whined too much. I like getting into the heads of the characters, though, so I’m happy to read works where a majority of the book is about the thoughts and feelings of the characters, if it is well-written and not self-indulgent, and in the context of a good plot. When I was a child, I preferred books with male leads, because the books aimed at girls way back when had disgustingly “girly” girls, and I liked action and adventure. Nancy Drew was annoying, I think because she had a boyfriend but didn’t do anything interesting with him – even at 8 years old I was hoping for a some sort of a sex scene, some warmth and heat between them. So, since that wasn’t going to happen, I wanted to read about males I could admire and fantasize about. I also preferred books and tv shows with adult characters, and identified with the adults, not the kids. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-and-protagonist-genders/423222.md?page=1)