I changed the earlier question a bit. What type of male characters would you like to see more of in fiction?
1) Bisexual males. Putting this type of character at the top of my list comes from my own bias of being bisexual, but whatever. Itâs impossible to find bisexual male characters, especially in speculative fiction. Theyâre mostly limited to romance novels. Iâm not too big a fan of romance novels though, especially m/m romance. Most of it is written by women, but the problem isnât that itâs written by women. The problem is that it becomes the female fantasy of what they imagine/want m/m romance to be, which ends up being unrealistic and a constant cycle of Super Hunk Male Love Interest and Shy Reluctant Male Love Interest as the main characters.
I just want some bisexual male characters in speculative fiction. And I really donât want them to be a villain because bisexual characters, no matter their gender, tend to be cunning trickster villains. Please stop with that. Portraying the majority of bisexual characters as deceitful, cunning, tricky, and untrustworthy villains perpetuates stereotypes and misconceptions.
2) Male characters with insecurities relating to something other than a skill. Every time I come across male characters who are able to admit theyâre insecure about something, their concerns are always about not being good enough with a sword or not being able to throw a football far enough.
Let your male characters be worried about their hair, their weight, their voice, their body hair, their scars, their ability to talk to people, their intelligence, their future, how others perceive them, their friends, their pets, or whether their friends still like them.
3) First person POV male protagonists who arenât 90% angst. Iâve read too many Holden Caulfields and too many self-insert male characters who are used as a way for the male author to complain about his youth and some girl.
4) Intelligent male characters who donât fall into the only two intelligent male characters that seem to exist in fiction:
Jerk geniuses.
Eccentric skinny boys with glasses who get overly excited and who are rarely taken seriously (if theyâre a major character they often end up as a villain while minor characters stay the same to give comedic effect). Theyâre most likely into typical nerd stuff (d&d, comic books, star trek, etc.).
5) Male characters who are more like the male characters from Freaks and Geeks. Honestly, of all the books Iâve read and of all the shows and movies Iâve seen, books, movies, and shows that take place in the seventies or eighties seem to have the most realistic male characters no matter when those stories were actually written. Theyâre well rounded, they change, they have flaws, theyâre different from one another, and they donât all look like supermodels. They tend to capture teenage relationships better than more recent YA does.
6)Â Male characters, particularly in pre-industrial fantasy, who want to get married, and for reasons unrelated to politics or to the pretty princess they saw that one time for five minutes. Most of the male characters (in fantasy) I come across who end up in a marriage are indifferent about it, do it because they want to produce an heir, do it because their parents arranged it, or elope with someone theyâve only known for a couple of months or even a couple of weeks.
Bring in some male characters who look forward to marriage and love, even before they get in a relationship and even when they theyâre not crushing on anyone.
7) I feel like, especially in sci-fi, that when that typical new team member is introduced (often in a series), theyâre always hated at first by both the reader and the other characters because that happens whenever someone new comes in to take a new position or to replace someone else. I also feel like most of these characters are female, which isnât fair given that female characters are already under more scrutiny just for being female. Introduce some male characters in this role. Make them infiltrate a familiar place to your readers and characters. Let them take some of the roles that are automatically annoying.
8) Non heterosexual men who are comfortable with their sexuality. Iâm so sick of stories where one man is super comfortable and the other is shy and unsure of his sexuality or if he wants to have a sexual experience yet. The comfortable character always coerces the uncomfortable character into sex or the author uses sex as a way to make the uncomfortable characterâs problems go away. One minute heâs crying and the next heâs kissing the other guy and suddenly everything is okay.
9) Non heterosexual men who vary in appearance. Weâre not all just a bunch of twinks or oiled up hairless hunks. You may say, âI know you donât all look like that!â but I have met a surprising number of people who donât know that. Not everyone in the world is up to date with the gay community. There are tons of people who have a hard time imagining a gay/bi/pan man as being anything other than a young, thin, attractive white male with a good fashion sense.
10) Related to the one above, I want to see gay men who donât fit gay stereotypes and who arenât used for comic relief. Writers love to introduce a character who is overweight, who is old (40+ years), who is masculine, who is hairy, etc., only to have them come out at the perfect moment for some comedy. It comes off as that person is gay? Haha, so funny!Â
