a) I'll confess to not liking Ophelia as much as Ripp and Johnny, but I don't think her gender has much to do with that. (But I don't have a problem with her either, and J/R/O would implode if she disappeared.) Rather, I prefer characters whose personalities are obvious rather than subtle (not the same thing as the character themself being an outgoing sort, or being insufficiently nuanced). It's easy to describe Ripp, but with Ophelia I find myself having to fumble around for descriptions. I think this is because it takes a certain lack of subtlety to break through my barrier of passive obliviousness, to be honest, but... yeah.
b) I don't think I'd have a problem with She-Frances. At first I thought "hmmm, yeah, I do find whiny female characters more annoying than whiny male characters", but I don't think that's actually the case, on reflection. My reaction to whiny/emo/brooding/what-have-you characters has more to do with the precise nature of their emo -- some are genuinely tragic, others are just whiny and angsty -- than whether they're male or female.
c) I can generally avoid treating one sex better than the other or thinking of them in such a way, but there are certain character types that are nearly always men/women and that it's very strange to see filled by women/men. (For example: I can sorta picture a female Ripp, but she'd have to be a pretty masculine woman, by definition. A feminine she-Ripp wouldn't be compatible with the character type.)
no subject
a) I'll confess to not liking Ophelia as much as Ripp and Johnny, but I don't think her gender has much to do with that. (But I don't have a problem with her either, and J/R/O would implode if she disappeared.) Rather, I prefer characters whose personalities are obvious rather than subtle (not the same thing as the character themself being an outgoing sort, or being insufficiently nuanced). It's easy to describe Ripp, but with Ophelia I find myself having to fumble around for descriptions. I think this is because it takes a certain lack of subtlety to break through my barrier of passive obliviousness, to be honest, but... yeah.
b) I don't think I'd have a problem with She-Frances. At first I thought "hmmm, yeah, I do find whiny female characters more annoying than whiny male characters", but I don't think that's actually the case, on reflection. My reaction to whiny/emo/brooding/what-have-you characters has more to do with the precise nature of their emo -- some are genuinely tragic, others are just whiny and angsty -- than whether they're male or female.
c) I can generally avoid treating one sex better than the other or thinking of them in such a way, but there are certain character types that are nearly always men/women and that it's very strange to see filled by women/men. (For example: I can sorta picture a female Ripp, but she'd have to be a pretty masculine woman, by definition. A feminine she-Ripp wouldn't be compatible with the character type.)
d) I like pie.