Agency and Writing Female Characters

Agency is “the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power . . .” Agency is something adults have, usually. Some level of authority, capability, assertion, action, or overt influence.

Traditionally, it has been male fictional characters who just naturally have agency. They make decisions that affect the plot and the lives of the other characters. They take independent action and accept the consequences.

The writing world is in the process of normalizing agency in female characters. The traditional stereotype of the one-dimensional woman who provides hot soup, sizzling sex, and unfailing emotional support (or endless nagging) to the male character who does all the active stuff of life is fading away.

A character who owns a business, gives orders, and makes decisions that affect other people’s careers has agency. If that character is male, no one remarks on it. If that character is female, at least one reviewer is going to call her a dyke, or masculine, or a ball-buster. This is the risk both author and characters have to take if they want fully realized adult female characters.

If you wonder whether your female characters are multi-dimensional, fully realized adults, temporarily change the name and pronoun to masculine and see if they seem like fully functioning people. Would a male protagonist, sidekick, or love interest have no role other than to wear sexy clothes, argue about the state of the relationship, and make sure dinner is ready? He might do those things, but he probably also has a job or avocation, has opinions of his own and voices them, prefers certain TV shows and music, follows or hates politics, and so on.

This is not to say that all female characters must be strong, or bosses, or protagonists. Both male and female characters are more real and compelling when they have some degree of agency. This can be as simple as having a job or having a strong opinion, even on a minor issue. It’s not a case of either the men or the women must be in charge. It’s a case of all significant fictional characters needing to be fully developed.

Readers recognize stereotypes and soon become bored with them. Real people have many aspects to their personalities, have skills and use them, and most take an active role in their own lives.

Agency is also important in writing young adult and middle grade stories. Many popular protagonists for young people have agency because they are orphaned or somehow separated from their families. If they always had a parent taking care of them and making decisions for them, they’d be far less active and interesting protagonists.