# Straight men: Can you think of a female protagonist you identified with? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262 "2012-04-28T20:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/1 "2012-04-28T20:01:42Z")
I’m listening to an interview with Meryl Streep (on NPR’s Fresh Air) and she was talking about the occasional achievement of getting straight men to identify with her character (whatever character). She says, and it seems so to me, that women have no problem putting themselves in the shoes of a male hero. However men, straight men at least, do not usually see themselves as a female protagonist. If your answer to the title question is “No” I would still be interested in hearing it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/2 "2012-04-28T20:08:36Z")
Excluding girl-on-girl porn… Sometimes. Not in movies, but I have identified with young female protagonists in several SF novels - _Podkayne of Mars_ and _Emergence_ being the first that come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/3 "2012-04-28T20:10:22Z")
Mildred Pierce, The Jorney of Natty Gann, Imitation of Life, Playing For Time… anything where the story doesn’t get hung up on romance. We can’t identify with wanting prince charming to come along. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/4 "2012-04-28T20:20:00Z")
I loved all the Judy Blume books as a kid, and a lot of them had female protagonists, so far as I remember. I also remember loving _Harriet the Spy._ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/5 "2012-04-28T20:22:43Z")
I should add, I mean that I also identified with the female characters, not that I just liked the books. Hell, I could even find aspects of _Bridget Jones_ I identified with. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/6 "2012-04-28T20:25:36Z")
Straight male checking in. In general, I think her point is well taken. However, I can think of counter-examples. From movies: **Ripley** from [Alien](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/) **Ree** from [Winter’s Bone](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399683/) **Marge** from [Fargo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116282/) **Lisbeth** from [The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132620/) (the Swedish version more so than the American) **Sarah Polley** in [Dawn of the Dead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363547/) **Catherine Mary Stewart** in [Night of the Comet](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087799/) The last woman standing in any standard slasher movie. TV: **Liz Lemon** from 30 Rock **Amy Jellicoe** (Laura Dern) in [Enlightened](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1509004/) But note that the movies I listed are not exactly melodramas. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/7 "2012-04-28T20:26:30Z")
Vin from the _Mistborn_ trilogy. Murcatto from _Best Served Cold_. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/8 "2012-04-28T20:30:23Z")
If videogames count then yes. Chelle from the portal games and Samus Aran from the metroid games come to mind. On the other hand the girl from the Tomb Raider games was mostly eye candy and i couldn’t identify with her at all, hell i even forgot her name and she was played by Angelina Jolie. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/9 "2012-04-28T20:32:57Z")
Well, I recently saw that _ **Hunger Games** _ movie. I identified with Catniss. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/10 "2012-04-28T20:49:14Z")
Absolutely; I actually prefer stories with female protagonists over males. Korra from Legend of Korra would be the most recent one. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/11 "2012-04-28T20:54:03Z")
I have no more difficulty identifying with female protagonists than I do with male ones. Streep is talking out of her ass. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/12 "2012-04-28T21:10:30Z")
I have no problem identifying with female protagonists. Offhand, there’s Buffy, Simone Simon in **Curse of the Cat People** , Jane Eyre, Clare and Janice from **The Book Group** , Caroline in **Green Ward** , Lessa in **The Dragonriders of Pern** , the women and daughter in **The Kids are All Right** , **Coraline** , and many more. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/13 "2012-04-28T21:14:01Z")
Probably Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility as I have a very similar personality. Also, my circumstances in High School were quite similar to Olive Penderghast from Easy A, as well. I’m sure it’s happened on other occasions, it’s never really been an issue for me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/14 "2012-04-28T21:21:43Z")
Ellen Ripley, natch. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/15 "2012-04-28T21:22:22Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I have no more difficulty identifying with female protagonists than I do with male ones. Streep is talking out of her ass. :rolleyes: If it’s a delusion, it’s one that’s shared by many people in the entertainment industry. The expectation is that while women and girls are willing to view a work through the eyes of a male protagonist, men and boys are not willing to do so for female protagonists. And of course, in my opinion it’s one thing to identify with a female protagonist. It’s another to give a man a vagina and pretend you’ve created a female protagonist. Chell? Samus Aran? I haven’t played Portal 2 but in the original, at no point was her gender relevant to the game and Samus spends 99% of any given game encased in gargantuan armor. She may as well be a robot for all it matters. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/16 "2012-04-28T21:28:36Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > It’s another to give a man a vagina and pretend you’ve created a female protagonist. Well you know the old saying, “Give a man a vagina, and he’ll have sex for a day, Teach a man to vagina and…” wait, no, that wasn’t it, was it? I would have to sadly admit it’s rare for me, and that probably says something about myself that I don’t approve of. But it does happen sometimes. Willow Rosenberg, Fred Burkle, Alanna from the Song of the Lioness series, Kivrin from the Doomsday Book, Susan Ivanova, Arya Stark… ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/17 "2012-04-28T21:43:11Z")
I do not usually see myself as any fictional protagonist. I can empathize with them, but I still think of them as other people. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/18 "2012-04-28T22:03:22Z")
If it is a story I believe in with people I believe in I “identify” with the protagonist in the sense that I _feel_ with him or her or it, understands and (at least in a way) sympathizes with the character, whether it is a man, a woman, an animal or a robot. Otherwise I wouldn’t care for the story and probably wouldn’t watch it to the end. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/19 "2012-04-28T22:42:08Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > I would have to sadly admit it’s rare for me, and that probably says something about myself that I don’t approve of. What ? Why would you be sad about that ? You’re male, and you identify more with male heroes, big deal. Nothing wrong with that, perfectly normal actually. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262/20 "2012-04-28T22:58:08Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I haven’t played Portal 2 but in the original, at no point was her gender relevant to the game and Samus spends 99% of any given game encased in gargantuan armor. She may as well be a robot for all it matters. And why should her gender by relevant to the game? Is the gender of Marston in Red Dead Redemption relevant? Other than the role being tradationally expected of a man, the story does not centre around him _being_ a man. The fact is those protagonists are women, and if someone can identify with them, then they fit the bill. You seem to be suggesting that unless their gender is being made a deal out of, then it doesn’t count. I think it’s entirely the point that women can fill the ‘traditional’ role of men in video games and movies just as well as men can, and their gender can be utterly irrelevant. Are you saying a female protagonist isn’t a true female protagonist unless only a woman could play her role? There seems to be a few levels of being able to ‘identify’ with a character here. 1. Escapism. Sometimes I like to think of myself as Han Solo, because he’s pretty cool and sexy and everything, but I don’t really identify with him in any meaningful way. 2. There can be something about a character that really strikes a chord if you. Something about them that you really identify with. 3. You can identify with them on a more basic level, such as appreciating their plight and wanting them to succeed, but not really connect in a deeper way. Now, I don’t see myself as Katniss from the Hunger Games, but I certainly identify with her, looking after her family, willing to sacrifice her life to save her sister. I don’t see myself as Sam Rockwell in Moon, but I identify with wanting to see his family again after being away for a long time. Putting yourself in someone’s shoes doesn’t mean you want to be them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-can-you-think-of-a-female-protagonist-you-identified-with/620262.md?page=2)