On choices in writing lady characters…

���I have yet to read a novel in which female characters have menstrual cycles.���

�� –�� from Tumblr, because badass girls taking down a vague yet menacing government agency or riding dragons to glory still get their periods.

If this topic bothers you, don’t read – but it’s a fact of life that women menstruate (unless you’ve had a IUD for 10+ years and are living the dream).�� Thus, unless an author creates a world where women’s biology exists in some other fundamental way, this will be the case.�� Now, have I ever included this element of my character’s lives in a book (published or not)?�� No.�� I have not.�� As voracious a reader as I am, I can’t think of any book I’ve come across where someone is having ‘that time of the month.’�� Sure, there have been miscarriages, but never – ‘wow, I have to worry about bleeding everywhere.’�� Or, ‘oh shit, I have no control over my hormones.’

In my two most recent books, I could make mention of menstruation, but the topic never really occurred to me.�� I mean, is it something people really want to read about?�� Does it make my characters more ‘real’ that they could suffer through cramps?�� Or would a reader just think, ‘what does this add to the story?’�� Given that one of my characters is among the more powerful people in the world, I don’t want her to be seen as weak because of something all women live with.�� Giving her PMS and then taking out her grumpiness on France just seems irresponsible.

What say you, reader?�� More realistic female fiction, or just belongs in real life?