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I wrote an outline and a few chapters built on an archetype I called "The Mother". Her newborn was the heir to the throne of a kingdom in ruin after the king died and his son went about starting a murderous coup. The system of inheritance is based on the Kievan Rus' "rota" system. So the title was meant to pass to the king's brother, who died in a war, so instead passed to the brother's son. The mother is the wife of the king's brother, and is forced to go on the run to protrct her life, and her son's. The issue I ran into was that I couldn't find enough to write about with her as the sole perspective, so I thought about doing a Song of Ice and Fire thing and have several main characters that I switched between. . . After the second time I messed up the continuity, I kinda shelved the project until I could remake the outline to account for the additiinal characters, so I didn't write things out of order, chronologically.
Have you considered side quests for the protagonist that might relate to her past, somehow still tie into the larger narrative and thereby allow you to dive deeper into the that single POV character? 🙂
Despite no mater how many times I hear points like this, every time I see the mainstream applications of female protagonists, I get reminded how important repeating these points are. Thank you for the detailed breakdown for how to write female characters.
@@TheTaleTinkerer I like writing female characters, so hearing those points was definitely helpful. It's like an anchor in case I get lost in the sauce of writing plot and other things.
When it comes to the sexualization of characters male or female... I suggest to keep it limited if the story is in third person, universal point of view. I read a book where the author kept on refering to the male mcs abs and his graceful step which eventually got annoying. If the story is told from the point of view of a character then it's more understandable because a character would feel attraction to a man or woman of their interest.
In my story (sci-fi) nyra starts as a stereotype (Girl in distress utterly broken) gets kidnapped/saved and learns to live the alien monsters because she sees a better life with them then with the humans on her planet. She will push herself into the role of a diplomat for the monstrous aliens as their representative. This will force her to develop further skills. In the sideplot there is caverra shy but powerful her family chooses to stand against her morals this causes her to side with the opposition but for that she must learn to speak up for herself and kill. The strength of nyra lies with diplomacy and strategy. Caverra will develop to a skilful mechanist. Since male noxar (the aliens) are incredibly rare so she faces no discrimination there even though both noxar she is around are male. Caverra is an exemption in her society since she is a mech pilot, something usually reserved for men.
@@TheTaleTinkerer there is. Noxar are nice to their kin but not afraid to crush everyone in their path if enraged. One of them slaughtered himself threw a city. Since they are functionally immortal they are constantly searching for purpose. One of them sees nyra as something he can care for keeping himself sane, so he is nurturing to her but if someone were to harm her there would be no save place in all eternity from his wrath. But you can view all factions as morally grey. The actions they take is made from experience and trauma. My book is like 20% (408k characters this far) done. I ll get you a pdf once I m done. For now I can offer a teaser text as well as the prologue. If curious I ll send that in advance.
"The biggest mistake in writing female characters is confusing strength with masculinity." 👏👏👏👏👏 LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK All of your videos are well thought out and insightful, but I really appreciate this one. Of course you're not the first to do so, but it's still refreshing to hear a man speak on this topic with *genuine* understanding. Anyon who believes this isn't still an issue either isn't paying attention or doesn't know as much about women as they think they do.
Thank you for the kind feedback - I'm glad that you think I touched upon this topic in an appropriate way. I was wary about doing it at all due to the gender difference, but I also want to make videos about dwarves etc. and I'm not that either - so I figured, I might well give it a shot and gauge the reception 🙂
@@TheTaleTinkerer Oh yeah! No, this is definitely one of the best takes I've seen on this topic. You not only clearly understand the issues, but you've created actual, actionable steps for people - and gave a great example. All your videos are fantastic. I always stop to watch as soon as I see them come out. Absolutely one of my favorite channels. (I've been writing since I was 8yo, so nearly 4 decades, and I still learn things from you.)
This is good, as long as you aren't falling into the trap of certain characteristics being the default. This is like me saying "I just write characters, and some of them happen to be Black/Asian/LGBTQ." Etc. The background of each person will color their experiences and decisions in a way that will absolutely differ than someone else of a different background in similar circumstances. To ignore this is to ignore a huge part of the authentic human experience. Just as skin color isn't makeup, bodies of different sexes and genders are not something you can just swap out like a set of clothes and expect it to fit. There *will* be differences.
@@zanzaboonda When I created my character cast there was a situation where I was stuck. I had a princess and a guy who caused a lot of trouble to my main character. I merged them to one male character with no royal title. The princess archetype simply didn't worked. That forced me to rewrite a lot, but the character is now a major part of the story and fits perfectly. There are some more characters I changed organically. Sometimes because of the narrative, sometimes because I wanted a character who is fun to be around.
@@limbo3545 Combining the two sounds like a great choice! And I love characters that are just fun to be around. That almost always makes for a good reading experience.
I have a strong female lead that is very beautiful and feminine (for lack of a better term) who cares very much about her looks. That said, she is intelligent and a powerful necromancer (yes, I need to watch your video on that). Who, while not ignorant of her attractiveness, doesn't primarily utilize it. She focuses more on her mind and arcane talents. Plus, she has two brute force body guards (also intelligent in their own right) who assist her. But, their relationship is purely professional (friendship at most).
@TheTaleTinkerer True, usually when "beauty" is implemented, it's usually that the girl uses it to her advantage. Or feels no one take her seriously. In this case, I'm using it as a bit of vanity to her personality. But, leaving it at that. While she's smart and powerful. I try to have magic have limits. So, I try to balance that out with other characters that are heavy hitters. So that I don't fall into the trap of "magic fixes everything."
This is why I'm writing about two brothers instead. But I do want to write about one of my favorite female characters eventually. I have several personalities for my girls: Serious and stoic, fun loving and cool, sweet and loving, and goofy and playful, just to name a few.
Excellent video with valuable advice and discussion. But the video is just so difficult to watch with the Stormwind banner taunting me in the background. Lok'tar ogar!
In my experience, it is not hard to write a well written female protagonist. In my grimdark fantasy novel, the protagonist is an elven princess who is bisexual, who goes from good to evil
All characters, regardless of gender should be well written and complex. This video brought ACOTAR to mind. SjM tried so hard with Feyra but she was such a ball of cliches and girl bossed in ways that didn't make sense. The plot armor and insta love was THICK. She wasn't written well.
Hey! I love the content and think it's helpful. Just one concern, since your channel is growing and you might actually see this, I think the AI is a net negative for you. I'd much rather see stock images and video like you had with the warrior in armor. Seeing it is just off-putting within a creative sphere. Obviously this is you're show, and you do what you want, just thought I'd say it.
It is just personal opinion, but I would say true strength is nearly never comes in the form of phsyical strength.If the author understands this, they are halfway there to write a character which I might enjoy to read about. Secondly, let me quote papa Lanister: "Anyone who need to say, I'm the king, is no true king." A chacter who constantly feels the need to prove themself is anything, but strong. Thirdly, if it comes to female characters the author also has to understand that feminity itself is way more powerful tool than the sharpest sword. Rejecting ones own femininity just to appear powerful is not real strength. Accepting who you are and being yourself what strength is. A tomboy [aka strong female character] is rarely strong and stable emotionally. [However outrageous this may sound in the current social climate]. See Cercei, see Galadriel, see Eowin, see Arwen. All of them had their own feminine charm besides their ambitions. Also, the author shouldn't put modern women in a medieval fantasy world, or if they do, than I expect them to give me a damn-well flashed out backstory which explains every nook and cranny of her odd, out of place behaviour. Also explain me well why she is tolerated? Why she isn't an outcast, shunned upon and hated for being different? I mean, even in this day and age being different causes problems, now consider the much more rigid mediaval society...
Within half an hour, you've created a character who's more interesting than anyone Amazon has created with the billion dollar budget that went into Rings of Power.
Sadly, these types of bland tropes have become the majority of modern fantasy/romantacy. The Genre is growing stale and boring. Too much gate keeping and focus on stupid stereotypes is ruining fantasy: I'm tired of Mary Sue's that are down bad for a warewolf, or a sniveling farmer boy that earns NOTHING on his journey...
@@grondhero Not many anymore. Now, it's mostly strong, independent women lusting over vamps, werewolves, or billionairs. In some magical academy. The few reluctant hero stories that do arise are almost always flat, formulaic, and boring. Regardless. Women in fantasy have become nothing more than self insert smut, while male authors are forced to take up pen names just to be considered for publishing. 🤔
@@TheTaleTinkerer The Sangwheel Chronicals by Marie M. Mullany. For old school: The Novels of Tiger and Del & the chronicals of the Cheysuli are extremely under rated! Anything by Mercades Lackey ofc. Alicia Rades has a decent modern approach on magical academy fantasy that I've come to enjoy. Maybe I'm just aging out of the genre, but it's rare to find quality fantasy/romantacy now days imho. They still exist though!
So basically, just write interesting character who happens to be to be female, not the other way around. Seriously much of this advice can apply to male characters as well.
Sometimes you have to reverse-engineer things, you don't always get to pick. Just "writing genderless" doesn't always work and sometimes you're a man "stuck" creating a female. In such a situation... Well its easy to see how what tale tinkerer is saying here STILL needs to be explained in 2024. We're still getting bad writers that make it all the way to the big screen with no clue how to craft a female character (cf star wars, captain marvel, rings of power, to name only the big ones). Hell, watch some anime and it'll become obvious that this lesson still needs to be taught.
@@swehumorofficial It's a bit more complicated than that. This can work in some instances (like Ripley in Alien), but someone's lived experience in their own body is going to be different from whatever you personally feel is a default starting point. Unless there is total equality of e.g., all genders and races or even species in your fantasy world (unlikely and would arguably/probably be boring), someone being a woman or Black or LGBTQ or an orc or what have you is definitely going to have a different experience and, therefore, outlook on life. If we use contemporary society as an example, it is *much* more dangerous for a woman to walk on a street alone at night than it would be for a man, and nearly any woman will make different decisions and/or be more cautious because of it. Who you are colors everything you experience, believe, and do. Otherwise it's just playing dress up.
@@zanzaboonda I'd prefer not to limit my characters, their experiences and perspectives by something so trivial as their gender, and certainly nothing so utterly inconsequential as this bland world we live in. I always write my characters first, complete their stories, their relationships, their personalities and their dialogues, and then assign them a gender last of all - if I even do that! Coming to think of it, most of my protagonists are genderless, their gender being a completely irrelevant factor to their actions and experiences, unless matters such as identity and sexuality are a major theme of the story. Side note: your perception of contemporary society may be factually mistaken. The National Council for Crime Prevention report that lone men (especially in the 16-25 age range) are more likely to be victims of crime than lone women, regardless of the time of day.
@@swehumorofficial Gender is absolutely NOT trivial - even for genderless characters (depending on the construction of societies in your world). And citing generic statistics is disingenuous and misleading. Yes, men are more likely to be victims of crime, but they are also FAR more likely to be involved in criminal activity, especially violent crime. How much of that is gang activity vs robbery vs rape vs homicide? Etc. Does it include sexual harassment? Women are far more likely to feel unsafe, which will absolutely color their experience as a character. Even heat map studies will show that women are constantly analyzing different areas for threats vs men. Women are also more diligent and cautious and tend to walk in groups or with romantic partner when walking at night. So that limits the lone victim statistics. It sounds like you are just looking for an excuse to be willfully ignorant, TBH.
If you're on your own writing or worldbuilding journey, make sure to sign up for my free weekly newsletter which is packed with practical advice and strategies on key elements, from character development and plot structuring to creating immersive fantasy worlds: thetaletinkerer.com/newsletter
I wrote an outline and a few chapters built on an archetype I called "The Mother". Her newborn was the heir to the throne of a kingdom in ruin after the king died and his son went about starting a murderous coup. The system of inheritance is based on the Kievan Rus' "rota" system. So the title was meant to pass to the king's brother, who died in a war, so instead passed to the brother's son. The mother is the wife of the king's brother, and is forced to go on the run to protrct her life, and her son's.
The issue I ran into was that I couldn't find enough to write about with her as the sole perspective, so I thought about doing a Song of Ice and Fire thing and have several main characters that I switched between. . . After the second time I messed up the continuity, I kinda shelved the project until I could remake the outline to account for the additiinal characters, so I didn't write things out of order, chronologically.
Have you considered side quests for the protagonist that might relate to her past, somehow still tie into the larger narrative and thereby allow you to dive deeper into the that single POV character? 🙂
Despite no mater how many times I hear points like this, every time I see the mainstream applications of female protagonists, I get reminded how important repeating these points are. Thank you for the detailed breakdown for how to write female characters.
Thank you for taking the time to leave that feedback - I'm glad to hear the video was useful for you 🙂
@@TheTaleTinkerer I like writing female characters, so hearing those points was definitely helpful. It's like an anchor in case I get lost in the sauce of writing plot and other things.
When it comes to the sexualization of characters male or female... I suggest to keep it limited if the story is in third person, universal point of view. I read a book where the author kept on refering to the male mcs abs and his graceful step which eventually got annoying. If the story is told from the point of view of a character then it's more understandable because a character would feel attraction to a man or woman of their interest.
In my story (sci-fi) nyra starts as a stereotype (Girl in distress utterly broken) gets kidnapped/saved and learns to live the alien monsters because she sees a better life with them then with the humans on her planet. She will push herself into the role of a diplomat for the monstrous aliens as their representative. This will force her to develop further skills. In the sideplot there is caverra shy but powerful her family chooses to stand against her morals this causes her to side with the opposition but for that she must learn to speak up for herself and kill. The strength of nyra lies with diplomacy and strategy. Caverra will develop to a skilful mechanist.
Since male noxar (the aliens) are incredibly rare so she faces no discrimination there even though both noxar she is around are male.
Caverra is an exemption in her society since she is a mech pilot, something usually reserved for men.
Are the "alien monsters" evil in general though or is there something to like when known better? 🙂
@@TheTaleTinkerer there is. Noxar are nice to their kin but not afraid to crush everyone in their path if enraged. One of them slaughtered himself threw a city. Since they are functionally immortal they are constantly searching for purpose. One of them sees nyra as something he can care for keeping himself sane, so he is nurturing to her but if someone were to harm her there would be no save place in all eternity from his wrath. But you can view all factions as morally grey. The actions they take is made from experience and trauma. My book is like 20% (408k characters this far) done. I ll get you a pdf once I m done. For now I can offer a teaser text as well as the prologue. If curious I ll send that in advance.
@@hadeshades2365 Just keep writing - so much can change before a story is done. Appreciate the insights though, thank you 🙂
"The biggest mistake in writing female characters is confusing strength with masculinity." 👏👏👏👏👏
LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK
All of your videos are well thought out and insightful, but I really appreciate this one. Of course you're not the first to do so, but it's still refreshing to hear a man speak on this topic with *genuine* understanding. Anyon who believes this isn't still an issue either isn't paying attention or doesn't know as much about women as they think they do.
Thank you for the kind feedback - I'm glad that you think I touched upon this topic in an appropriate way.
I was wary about doing it at all due to the gender difference, but I also want to make videos about dwarves etc. and I'm not that either - so I figured, I might well give it a shot and gauge the reception 🙂
@@TheTaleTinkerer Oh yeah! No, this is definitely one of the best takes I've seen on this topic. You not only clearly understand the issues, but you've created actual, actionable steps for people - and gave a great example.
All your videos are fantastic. I always stop to watch as soon as I see them come out. Absolutely one of my favorite channels. (I've been writing since I was 8yo, so nearly 4 decades, and I still learn things from you.)
@@zanzaboonda This means a lot - thank you.
Brienne of Tarth was one of my favorites.
In the books, the tv show or both? 🙂
I just write characters. Some of them are female.
Exactly. This is an old conversation at this point
@@Dwhit2000It's not an old conversation - this is an old problem that is still occurring.
This is good, as long as you aren't falling into the trap of certain characteristics being the default. This is like me saying "I just write characters, and some of them happen to be Black/Asian/LGBTQ." Etc. The background of each person will color their experiences and decisions in a way that will absolutely differ than someone else of a different background in similar circumstances. To ignore this is to ignore a huge part of the authentic human experience. Just as skin color isn't makeup, bodies of different sexes and genders are not something you can just swap out like a set of clothes and expect it to fit. There *will* be differences.
@@zanzaboonda When I created my character cast there was a situation where I was stuck. I had a princess and a guy who caused a lot of trouble to my main character. I merged them to one male character with no royal title. The princess archetype simply didn't worked. That forced me to rewrite a lot, but the character is now a major part of the story and fits perfectly. There are some more characters I changed organically. Sometimes because of the narrative, sometimes because I wanted a character who is fun to be around.
@@limbo3545 Combining the two sounds like a great choice! And I love characters that are just fun to be around. That almost always makes for a good reading experience.
I usually despise AI art but in your videos it is well used for illustrating your points, and is not spammed or taking away someone's job.
Appreciate the considered take on this 🙂
I have a strong female lead that is very beautiful and feminine (for lack of a better term) who cares very much about her looks.
That said, she is intelligent and a powerful necromancer (yes, I need to watch your video on that).
Who, while not ignorant of her attractiveness, doesn't primarily utilize it. She focuses more on her mind and arcane talents.
Plus, she has two brute force body guards (also intelligent in their own right) who assist her. But, their relationship is purely professional (friendship at most).
Being beautiful is not a no-go in general of course, it's just a matter of implementation. What are the bodyguards needed for? 🙂
@TheTaleTinkerer True, usually when "beauty" is implemented, it's usually that the girl uses it to her advantage. Or feels no one take her seriously. In this case, I'm using it as a bit of vanity to her personality. But, leaving it at that.
While she's smart and powerful. I try to have magic have limits. So, I try to balance that out with other characters that are heavy hitters. So that I don't fall into the trap of "magic fixes everything."
Basically don't write rey of star wars or galadriel of the rings of power
These are two characters I personally at least wasn't very fond of, yeah. Unfortunately really, as I wanted to like them.
@@TheTaleTinkerer it amaze me that multi millions projects can't find good writers....
This is why I'm writing about two brothers instead.
But I do want to write about one of my favorite female characters eventually. I have several personalities for my girls: Serious and stoic, fun loving and cool, sweet and loving, and goofy and playful, just to name a few.
When I hear "two brothers" I somehow always first have to think about Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural - no idea why 🙂
Couldn't agree more my protagonist is female and has cerebral palsy like me!
Does she fit into one of the archetypes/roles I shared, such as leader, mentor etc? 🙂
I'd love to read a MC like that, especially one written by someone who has that experience.
Excellent video with valuable advice and discussion. But the video is just so difficult to watch with the Stormwind banner taunting me in the background. Lok'tar ogar!
Sorry about the banner, unfortunately my allegiance won't change anymore - but I'm glad to hear you liked the video 🙂
In my experience, it is not hard to write a well written female protagonist. In my grimdark fantasy novel, the protagonist is an elven princess who is bisexual, who goes from good to evil
What causes that transformation? 🙂
@@TheTaleTinkerer The murder of her father by her evil uncle
All characters, regardless of gender should be well written and complex.
This video brought ACOTAR to mind. SjM tried so hard with Feyra but she was such a ball of cliches and girl bossed in ways that didn't make sense. The plot armor and insta love was THICK. She wasn't written well.
Hey! I love the content and think it's helpful. Just one concern, since your channel is growing and you might actually see this, I think the AI is a net negative for you. I'd much rather see stock images and video like you had with the warrior in armor. Seeing it is just off-putting within a creative sphere. Obviously this is you're show, and you do what you want, just thought I'd say it.
Appreciate the feedback - thank you 🙂
It is just personal opinion, but I would say true strength is nearly never comes in the form of phsyical strength.If the author understands this, they are halfway there to write a character which I might enjoy to read about. Secondly, let me quote papa Lanister: "Anyone who need to say, I'm the king, is no true king." A chacter who constantly feels the need to prove themself is anything, but strong. Thirdly, if it comes to female characters the author also has to understand that feminity itself is way more powerful tool than the sharpest sword. Rejecting ones own femininity just to appear powerful is not real strength. Accepting who you are and being yourself what strength is. A tomboy [aka strong female character] is rarely strong and stable emotionally. [However outrageous this may sound in the current social climate]. See Cercei, see Galadriel, see Eowin, see Arwen. All of them had their own feminine charm besides their ambitions.
Also, the author shouldn't put modern women in a medieval fantasy world, or if they do, than I expect them to give me a damn-well flashed out backstory which explains every nook and cranny of her odd, out of place behaviour. Also explain me well why she is tolerated? Why she isn't an outcast, shunned upon and hated for being different? I mean, even in this day and age being different causes problems, now consider the much more rigid mediaval society...
Within half an hour, you've created a character who's more interesting than anyone Amazon has created with the billion dollar budget that went into Rings of Power.
Thank you for that kind feedback 🙂
Sadly, these types of bland tropes have become the majority of modern fantasy/romantacy.
The Genre is growing stale and boring. Too much gate keeping and focus on stupid stereotypes is ruining fantasy: I'm tired of Mary Sue's that are down bad for a warewolf, or a sniveling farmer boy that earns NOTHING on his journey...
How many stories of farmer boys earning nothing do you read about? 🤔
@@grondhero Not many anymore. Now, it's mostly strong, independent women lusting over vamps, werewolves, or billionairs. In some magical academy.
The few reluctant hero stories that do arise are almost always flat, formulaic, and boring.
Regardless. Women in fantasy have become nothing more than self insert smut, while male authors are forced to take up pen names just to be considered for publishing.
🤔
Any stories you were particular fond of that go against the elements you dislike? :-)
@@TheTaleTinkerer The Sangwheel Chronicals by Marie M. Mullany. For old school: The Novels of Tiger and Del & the chronicals of the Cheysuli are extremely under rated! Anything by Mercades Lackey ofc. Alicia Rades has a decent modern approach on magical academy fantasy that I've come to enjoy.
Maybe I'm just aging out of the genre, but it's rare to find quality fantasy/romantacy now days imho.
They still exist though!
I really dislike the term Mary Sue because being 'overpowered' only seems to be an issue when it's a female character.
So basically, just write interesting character who happens to be to be female, not the other way around. Seriously much of this advice can apply to male characters as well.
This is how you write compelling characters, go outside and listen to people talk.
This feel like trying to make a unique female character rather than normal cool characters who happen to born as female.
Sometimes you have to reverse-engineer things, you don't always get to pick. Just "writing genderless" doesn't always work and sometimes you're a man "stuck" creating a female. In such a situation... Well its easy to see how what tale tinkerer is saying here STILL needs to be explained in 2024. We're still getting bad writers that make it all the way to the big screen with no clue how to craft a female character (cf star wars, captain marvel, rings of power, to name only the big ones). Hell, watch some anime and it'll become obvious that this lesson still needs to be taught.
Wow, a female character who dares to move past "outmoded" societal constructs! Blowing my mind. Such originality!
DISNEY STAR WARS = WRITE NON OF THAT DOWN
Sounds like not she hulk lol
Hmmmm
Is that a good or bad "hmmm"? 🙂
@@TheTaleTinkerer A satisfyed hmmm since the few female characters I have written before this video actually follow your advice oddly enough
@@DietrickHiser I'm glad to hear that, both in terms of video reception and for your own writing 🙂
Step 1: Write a good, complex, intelligent and compelling character.
Step 2: Assign female gender and pronouns.
You're done.
@@swehumorofficial It's a bit more complicated than that. This can work in some instances (like Ripley in Alien), but someone's lived experience in their own body is going to be different from whatever you personally feel is a default starting point. Unless there is total equality of e.g., all genders and races or even species in your fantasy world (unlikely and would arguably/probably be boring), someone being a woman or Black or LGBTQ or an orc or what have you is definitely going to have a different experience and, therefore, outlook on life. If we use contemporary society as an example, it is *much* more dangerous for a woman to walk on a street alone at night than it would be for a man, and nearly any woman will make different decisions and/or be more cautious because of it. Who you are colors everything you experience, believe, and do. Otherwise it's just playing dress up.
@@zanzaboonda I'd prefer not to limit my characters, their experiences and perspectives by something so trivial as their gender, and certainly nothing so utterly inconsequential as this bland world we live in.
I always write my characters first, complete their stories, their relationships, their personalities and their dialogues, and then assign them a gender last of all - if I even do that! Coming to think of it, most of my protagonists are genderless, their gender being a completely irrelevant factor to their actions and experiences, unless matters such as identity and sexuality are a major theme of the story.
Side note: your perception of contemporary society may be factually mistaken. The National Council for Crime Prevention report that lone men (especially in the 16-25 age range) are more likely to be victims of crime than lone women, regardless of the time of day.
@@swehumorofficial Gender is absolutely NOT trivial - even for genderless characters (depending on the construction of societies in your world). And citing generic statistics is disingenuous and misleading. Yes, men are more likely to be victims of crime, but they are also FAR more likely to be involved in criminal activity, especially violent crime. How much of that is gang activity vs robbery vs rape vs homicide? Etc. Does it include sexual harassment? Women are far more likely to feel unsafe, which will absolutely color their experience as a character. Even heat map studies will show that women are constantly analyzing different areas for threats vs men. Women are also more diligent and cautious and tend to walk in groups or with romantic partner when walking at night. So that limits the lone victim statistics. It sounds like you are just looking for an excuse to be willfully ignorant, TBH.