Strong Female Characters | The Truth

Everyone. EVERYONE. is going on about strong female characters in fiction.  Dude.  Should we have them?  Shouldn't we have them?  If not - why even read this?  If so - then they should be like THIS and they should be like THAT, and they shouldn't be like THIS (or, at least, only in moderation), and THAT is overdone and unnecessary - STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS GET A LOT OF PRESS.  Mostly people are genuinely in favour of the strong female character, a lot of people struggle with the balance between the strong female characters and in the inevitable male characters (who should also be strong and not milquetoast, please).

I'm not here with the answer to that balance.  Personally, I really love strong female characters (oh hey, hashtag MY NOVEL PLENILUNE), but we're forgetting one teensy-weensy but ever so crucial little tiny detail.

WE'RE ALL STRONG IN SOME WAY

STOP THE PRESSES.  True beans, folks!  Are you surviving?  Are you alive?  Are you pulling through?  Do you wake up each day and keep going?  Do you not murder annoying coworkers?  Do you smile cheerfully at the irrational clients?  Do you wash your laundry?  Do you take your dirty dishes to the sink/dishwasher/actually get them clean again in some way?  I've got news for you.

YOU ARE STRONG

Life. is. rough. okay?  Whether you're living in middle class America where the socio-economic dance is some bizarre footwork, or ethnically tense Europe, or poverty-stricken Third World countries - YOU ARE STRONG.  You are alive.  You get up each day.  You work.  You put your life in some kind of order.  You are strong.  You are amazing.  You could give up.  You could descend into a morass of self-inflicted depression (I have post-partum, folks; I get to talk about depression), you could just live a life that's hollow and dark and terrible because you're too tired and depressed to get up and change your situation and make the best of it.  NO.  YOU ARE STRONG.

So YO all you writing bloggers grappling with the topic of the strong female character and what she looks like?  She's gonna look like she's surviving.  She's gonna look like she's going from day to day with purpose.  She will look tired.  She will look worn.  She will depend on others (delegating is a strength - trust me), but she will get things done.  She will meet her obligations.  She will live.

IF THAT ISN'T GRIT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.

image via pinterest. thanks, pinterest.