this is why i want to be a writer. i want to create female characters that have these kinds of personality traits just Because. they’re human. positivity does not make us Mary Sues, it makes us human. being loving and feminine does not make us depictions of sexism, it makes us human. all these things are perfectly normal for real life humans to be, so why can’t that be the same for fictional characters? after all, isn’t fiction just a mirror of life?
You can’t win as a woman in fiction. Be too positive, you become a Mary Sue, have flaws and those flaws are why almost nobody likes you. Be moderate, you have wet-cabbage personality, be exuberant, you are an unrealistic example. Have strong morals, and you’re badly developed, be morally corrupt and you’re hated with such vigour fans will send hate mail to the actress who plays the character. Be kind and soft and in love, you’re a representation of sexism, be cruel, harsh and cold and you’re just a bitch. Be a complex, realistic, ambiguous character, and either your flaws or your positive traits will be ignored or blown out of proportion and into oblivion. There is no winning for female characters.