And that’s exactly it! The quirks of the white male protagonist are almost never a lifelong physical attribute that will affect them and mark them for the rest of their life like being a woman or POC will.

I’m increasingly aware that I tend to identify in stories and films with anyone who is not of the dominant white male persuasion, and you’ve nailed why: fundamentally most stories, even those that start with the outcast, end up with the protagonist being accepted into society through his triumph and despite his, um, quirks, whereas I - as a female - will never have that option in the same way. So any character who is at least one step out of that “mainstream” feels more like, well, me.

However I do think it’s much more often done very badly and uses stereotypes instead of characterization, the first example that springs to mind is Matthew Cook’s recent novel Blood Magic from Juno, which drove me so insane I almost didn’t finish it.

In the end I approach fiction written by men with a female protag very cautiously because I often find that they are not interested in portraying a person so much as their idea of what a woman should be and that always rests on stereotypes and their own male privilege.

I want to thank you for writing this post because I’ve often felt isolated in my propensity for female centric fiction. Or rather my complete distaste for stories that either present women as stereotypes or ignore them altogether. I’m glad someone else feels the same way I do. Even though my friends now know of my proclivities they still acknowledge them with a smirk, as though I’m weird for being this way. I wish more people rejected the white straight male norm, then maybe there wouldn’t be so much shitty F/SF out there.

It’s interesting that you liken gender with race because one of the only books I’ve ever liked that has a complete lack of female characters is Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat. Maybe I liked it anyway because it deals with racial prejudice.

So I guess what it comes down to is what I’ve long suspected: White cisgendered males don’t get it because they’ve never faced any adversity and if one has never suffered then one probably won’t acknowledge the suffering of others and one will end up being an ignorant ass with an entitlement complex. (but I’m not bitter or anything). There are exceptions of course but even the “good” ones… Recently I was shocked when my brother, whom I’ve always considered to be relatively enlightened, said that rape wasn’t a significant problem because it happens so infrequently. !!!!!

*sigh* Anyway, sorry for the long rant and thanks again.

P.S. What is your take on fiction that has female protags but is written by men?