When I finished the story, and presented it for critique (not here, BTW), I got some interesting comments from female critiquers that I did not recieve from male critiquers. I thought I was writing it correctly as a woman would view things, but I found that I wasn't. I did not get the same criticism from the male reviewers, who thought it sounded fine. When questioned about it, the male reviewers thought that changing it to reflect the female reviewers comments would shift the problem in the opposite direction, and the story might not show a strong enough atttraction by the female MC to the male character for the story to work for them. This seems to be a difference in gendered perceptions of relationships (in general, of course).

Now finally to my question. Considering that science fiction readership is mostly male, should I make the changes and hope it doesn't allienate the male readership and ruin the story for them, or leave it be, understanding that some female readers may find the story unbelievable because of the portrayal of the MC?

Right now I'm planning on changing a few of the things, but not all, trying to balance the issue so that neither gender feels the story is unbelievable.

I think this is a very important question for science fiction stories where there are usually fewer instances of a love interest. It also occurs to me, that the opposite problem may occur when writing from a male MC's POV where the story includes a love interest. I would appreciate any feelings or comments.

 

Unless you can successfully impart a female character as female, you might stick to your own gender.

It is not correct to write a woman as men expect a woman to think. The reason you and your male friends have misperceptions about a woman's thought processes is that you read too many men who have written women poorly. (Heinlen is among the worst at writing a woman's PoV)

Write women as real women, not as men think they should be. If you cannot, don't write as a woman.

 

I'd try to make it more realistic if I were you.
 

One of my favorite writers, Stephen Pressfield, uses a female MC in his book Last of the Amazons. It is through her narrative that the story is told about a woman who is..well, the last of the Amazons. I liked it as did, obviously, many others. At times Pressfield's writing is flowery and pretentious, but if you haven't read it maybe you should skim a few pages.

Peace,
Scott
 

In the movie "The Quiet Man," the protagonist and antagonist get into a big fist fight. Then after ten minutes of beating each other senseless, they turn out best of friends. My wife just doesn't get it. I constantly remind her, "Honey, do not try and understand this, you will hurt yourself."

Likewise, men will never understand the female inclination to the communal bathroom run.

Let's face it, men and women are just wired differently. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule, but in general if you're a man trying to make a believable female character, find a woman and have her specifically critique your female characters. Ditto for women writing male characters.

It's also one of the most fertile grounds for comedy and drama in existence.
 

I realize that this is my error as the author, and I plan on fixing it, but I'm not sure I'm portraying the female character so incorrectly. It doesn't seem to be a major issue to female readers, just a pet peeve, so to speak, and many of them still liked the story.

I do believe in writing believable characters, but I think that it is often a matter of opinion what is believable. Most of the time, this believability crosses gender lines, but with this one, it seems to be gender specific.
 

Muscles? - Yes, many women find muscles attractive, but this won't be enough.

Their wit? - If the guy makes them smile, yes.

Power? - yes, but more because the men who have power have earned it through proper use of their charms. Very shallow women will find the power instantly attractive. Deeper women will see the charismatic traits that earned the power and find them attractive. So men who gained power through, say, combat or deceit, and lack charms will be surrounded by superficial women.

The way they move? - yes. The motions should seem confident and solid. Jerky sudden motions - like fighting - are unattractive.

Facial handsomeness - same as muscles. It will start the interest, but something else has to carry it.

The way they smell - If a woman gets close enough to smell a guy, there can be a very strong chemistry if she likes the way he smells. This is usually subconscious though, but I have met several women who are aware of it when it happens.

First impression can be everything. If a man does something to lose a woman's interest in the first meeting, its very hard to get it back. It can be done but its an uphill battle.

On the other hand, very strong feelings like hatred and loathing can be flipped in the right circumstances - well, in fiction anyway. This is an accepted and enjoyed device.

If your female character needs to be naive for the story to work, then that's what she needs to be. Plot develops from the tensions between elements in a story and it sounds like this character's naivete is a fairly large element. That said, you might want to ask your female critiquers for suggestions on how to more accurately portray her as a naive female.

If they have a beef with her just being naive, well, that's too bad. You might also want to consider their comments as a sign your story is *working*. They might be seeing the tension you're trying to develop in your story. I think the bigger question is how does this character GROW (for better or worse) as the story progresses. Maybe she learns to believe in fairy tales, maybe she learns fairy tales are how she escapes reality and avoids being responsible. Point being, I don't think it is as much of an issue that she is naive as it is what she does about it, or does with it.
 

Don't get hung up on whether your readers are male or female. Saying "I don't have to make this character seem real because 60% of the readers won't notice" is sloppy writing.

Your job, as a writer, is to capture the most accurate portrait of the character you possibly can, whether that character is a five year old kid, an eighty year old man, or a twenty year old woman. Getting as close as you can, regardless of age/gender/occupation/psychological profile, is important.

Not all women will give you the same feedback. No one woman's opinion/critique is necessarily right. If one woman feels something is amiss in your story, that's one opinion. But if you have more than one woman telling you: "It is out of character for a woman to behave this way," you ought to be willing to take a second look at what you have with an open mind, and revise appropriately.

If you want to write a story from a female POV, then write it from a female POV. This seems so obvious I am almost ashamed to say it
 

It sounds like you've made up your mind to do that anyway. Best of luck.