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From: mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Authors' Protagonists
Message-ID: <5200@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 4-May-85 21:52:02 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.5200
Posted: Sat May  4 21:52:02 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 8-May-85 03:40:49 EDT
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 18

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Here's a question that, I hope, won't start a fight.  I'm a fantasy story
fan, and I've noticed a problem with such stories:  each author seems to
write about characters of one sex, to the exclusion of the other.  So, for
example, J.R.R. Tolkien's works has NO believable females, while E. Lynn's
Watchtower series has no believable males.  And Andre Norton, though she
writes about the lives of women, the characters who do anything are men.
Even M.Z. Bradley's female characters are out for "a little adventure"
before they find a man.  (from what I've read)

Are there any authors who don't fall into this trap?  Who write about
believable protagonists (not just antagonists) who are of either sex?
I ask this in this group because it seems to be the place where most
of the people who would know "hang their shells."
-fini-
				-Eric
Shade and sweet water...        mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP