How Should Heroines Look? (PG 13 post)

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Every so often, I see a social media item talking about Disney Princesses and Princes, or maybe Barbie Dolls, and musing on how they would look if they were realistically proportioned. There's also talk about body shaming... making perfectly normal men and women (often young ones) feel as if they somehow don't make the grade. Romance, including erotic romance, has elements of fantasy, and these often extend to the way our characters appear. Some of the romance is fantasy, with main characters being shifters, elves, or characters from the distant past, the far future or a different reality.
And yet, we the writers care for our readers as well as our characters. We want you to fall in love with our characters and delight in their HEA or HFN. We want you to find them beautiful, but they aren't Disney Princesses and they aren't Barbie dolls. So- how do we approach the question of how our characters should look?

For this post, I'm thinking of heroines. Do heroines have to be beautiful? Yes. But before you react to that, consider the caveat. Heroines are beautiful because they have the spirit to conjure beauty from inside. The heroine of Pen and Ink, Lark Westerly's latest story in the Fairy in the Bed series, is forty-two years old. She is of moderate height, and her figure is spare. She is an illustrator; a widow of three years' standing. She's not unhappy, but is used to flying under the radar.

Here she is with her friend Skye, who is happily married to Si and who is making Pen a dress to wear at an upcoming job. Ryl is Skye's other friend whom Pen hardly knows.

Pen looked at the three of them in the mirror. She was in tired underwear while they were fully dressed; Skye in earth tones and Ryl in crimson and black, but that wasn’t the only contrast. She was several years their junior, but they looked ripe and fulfilled. She looked starved. She’d never been plump even during her marriage, but now she was a widow and she looked like one. “I’d better get dressed.” 

Over the next few days, all sorts of things happen to Pen, some good, some bad and all unsettling. Venturing out in the wake of these, she encounters Noel, an old friend of her husband, who unexpectedly invites her for coffee.

“Thanks for saying yes. Most attractive women are unavailable, or not interested in ordinary blokes,” he continued.

Pen gazed at him. “Are you saying I’m an attractive woman, Noel? Not to be ungrateful, but I’ve just got over the flu.”

“You do look a bit thin, but there’s something about you. I can’t think why I never noticed you before.” He put down the spoon and reached for her hand.

Noel is not the man for Pen, but he does notice the beauty of spirit that was always there. 

Later, when Pen has been found by the person destined to love her, she has gained confidence, and is secure in her appeal. She is still of moderate height and still in no way voluptuous but she has come into her own. She's strong enough to tell the large and territorial male who loves her that he has to allow her to make her own decisions and remain her own person. In this final excerpt, Si, her friend Skye's husband, has called to see if all is well.

Pen considered getting up, but then just pulled her shirt down, rolled over and leaned on her elbows. The next few minutes should be fun.

The door opened with considerable vigour and Duffy’s voice said, “Yes?”

“Bloody hell!” Si’s voice said. “Pen’s landed a stealth cat.”

“And you’re a pixie. What’s your point?”

“You don’t like pixies?”

Silence. “I’m thinking,” Duffy said in a menacing voice.

Pen decided it was time to intervene. “Duffy, let Si come in.”

He looked over his shoulder. “Do I have to?”

“Yes.” She got to her feet and tucked herself in.

He shrugged and stepped aside. Si came in. His face lit up with unholy glee when he spotted Pen. He opened his arms.

“No.” Duffy narrowed his eyes to indigo slits.

“Yes,” Pen said gently. If she was going to keep Duffy around, and she was, there were going to have to be some ground rules. She stepped forward into Si’s arms, and hugged him with affection.

Si fell back and blinked at her. “Well, the come-hither is still going strong, but before your very large stealth cat decides to knock me into the middle of next week, I must add it’s now funnelling in one direction, heading straight for him. I hope he has plenty of stamina.”

So, there is Pen, an ordinary woman. She doesn't look like the popular concept of a romantic heroine, but happiness renders her desirable. And she's not alone. Some of Lark's heroines are obviously beautiful. Take Flori, a plus-sized florist who becomes Pen's bridesmaid and who attracts the immediate attention of the two best men. These two, friends of Duffy, just love curves. 

Here's Hamish, one of the best men, explaining his point of view.

“Aye, well. You can't blame us for staring at you, Flori. You’re just what I would have wished for.”

“I’m plus-size.”

“What do you think I am?”

“You thought Pen was beautiful.”

             “So she is, but she's beautiful with happiness. 

So, over to you, the reader. How does your idea romance heroine look? Do you like clear and present beauty, or do you prefer an everywoman rendered beautiful in her hero's eyes? Let us know in the comments.

Fairy in the Bed series at the publisher. Pen and Ink will be out later in 2017.

Lark Westerly's home page

ABOUT THE BLOG

Who are we? The Love Weavers are a bunch of writers. We all write for Extasy Books and/or Devine Destinies and a lot of us write in other places as well. We write in multiple genres for general and adult readership. Many of our books are love stories of some kind or another, and we enjoy looking at love in all its wonderful variety. 

The purpose of this blog is to tell our readers something about our craft, our passion for stories, how we build our worlds, what characters we choose and why, how we use clothing, food, music, weather, colour, themes, symbolism, history, science, and (okay) love to bring these stories to life.

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Some are in between.

These may have a big PG13 at the top. (PG13)

Some of our posts are suitable for adults only.

These will have a big AO at the top. (AO)

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