Yes, fiction is stuffed full of male characters already. Yes, publishing is a male dominated industry in all aspects. And yes, I happen to like a lot of the male characters out there.
But why is it that half of male characters in fiction are seemingly interchangeable? Mr Tall, Dark, Handsome, White and Broody appears in almost every book in a YA, Science Fiction, and Fantasy shelves in bookstores. So here's a list of 20 things I want to see in male characters:
1 - Male characters who are weak - specifically physically weak, and not because of a disease or disorder. Plenty of male protagonists will admit to being emotionally weak (as is expected of the 'real' man) but very few characters are physically weak.
2 - Male characters who don't have an olympian physique - give me chubby boys, boys with crooked noses and hairy boys. They don't all have to have a glistening six-pack.
3 - Male characters who are LGBT+ - specifically bi, ace, pan and trans male characters.
4 - Male characters who are PoC - bonus points if they are the love interests.
5 - Male characters with disabilities - especially physical disabilities, like asthma or epilepsy.
6 - Male characters who are not supernatural - this one applies specifically to paranormal romance. Stop having the guy be the vampire/werewolf/fallen angel. Let them be the human in the relationship for once.
7 - Male characters who have real emotion - I feel like a majority of male characters have three emotions: broody, amused and angry.
8 - Male characters who cry - destroy the idea that crying isn't masculine.
9 - Male characters who are not anti-heroes - at least, don't make that their defining trait. A lot of male characters are solely defined by their grey morality nothing else.
10 - Male characters whose humour doesn't come from snark - enough with the sarcastic male lead.
11 - Male characters who are not loners - I cannot stress how much I am sick of the dark broody loner. Real people don't sulk in the shadows. Real people have friends, coworkers and friendly acquaintances.
12 - Male characters who have traditionally feminine jobs - give me male secretaries, bakers, nurses and teachers.
13 - Male characters who are not abusive to their significant other - looking at you YA male leads.
14 - Male characters who are kind - Neville Longbottom and Peeta Mellark are pretty good examples of kind male characters. Let them be nice to everyone just because they can.
15 - Male characters who do not have connections to the 'bad guy' - an addition t the anti-hero one above. Stop making the male character the child of, ex-apprentice of, and archenemy of the antagonist. Just let him be a good character who wants to fix the world because it's right.
16 - Male characters without tragic backstories - angst is wonderful, and I am completely guilty of giving my characters tragic backstories but not every male character needs to have a dead mother and an evil father.
17 - Male characters who have families they love - I want to see male characters love their mothers and are total papa wolves.
18 - Male characters who support women and are feminists - I'm tired of seeing the old general who hates female protagonists because she's a woman. I'm tired of seeing male characters who only accept the woman after she's proven herself.
19 - Male characters who are not traditionally masculine - I know I've mentioned jobs and emotions before, but I also want to see male characters who wear skirts and makeup and enjoy traditional feminine things.
20 - Male characters who don't fill out male protagonist bingo. Enough said.
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