Ok, I think part of it for me is I don't consume a lot of the media that apparently has this trope.
But another part is when I do see a female love-interest-only character, this:
I just stare at them and wonder how it's possible the only interesting thing they apparently do is act as an emotional prop for their man. Don't they have their own arc? Their own dreams, pitfalls, problems? Some aspect of their life that's not stapled to their man?
doesn't even cross my mind. I just tend to assume that they DO have their own dreams, flaws, life, etc. and we just don't see it because that's not what the story is focusing on.
Of course, I totally get the frustration of constantly having female characters who are depicted as love interests and not main characters when with men it tends to be the other way around. But I think that's a problem with media and not the characters themselves, because every story has to have some secondary characters. I guess I think of social interactions and relationships like a web, with everyone connected to many other people in different ways, and a storyteller can only shine a light on one part of that web when telling one person's story. There are always going to be people important to the protag who we don't learn that much about, but I assume they do have their own lives off screen, and in fact I think it's fun to flesh those characters out more in my head.
no subject
But another part is when I do see a female love-interest-only character, this:
I just stare at them and wonder how it's possible the only interesting thing they apparently do is act as an emotional prop for their man. Don't they have their own arc? Their own dreams, pitfalls, problems? Some aspect of their life that's not stapled to their man?
doesn't even cross my mind. I just tend to assume that they DO have their own dreams, flaws, life, etc. and we just don't see it because that's not what the story is focusing on.
Of course, I totally get the frustration of constantly having female characters who are depicted as love interests and not main characters when with men it tends to be the other way around. But I think that's a problem with media and not the characters themselves, because every story has to have some secondary characters. I guess I think of social interactions and relationships like a web, with everyone connected to many other people in different ways, and a storyteller can only shine a light on one part of that web when telling one person's story. There are always going to be people important to the protag who we don't learn that much about, but I assume they do have their own lives off screen, and in fact I think it's fun to flesh those characters out more in my head.