Real Women Don't Wear Dresses/Literature

Examples of Real Women Don't Wear Dresses in Literature include:

• If you want to recognize this trope in romantic novels and/or novels set in other historical periods, look at the female lead carefully. Many, MANY authors fall in the trap of trying to make a heroine you can relate to... by having her look down on other women for "being so submissive and stupid" or "losing their time sewing and doing stupid feminine things".
• Rachel and Cassie are inversions of this trope in the Animorphs series. Easily the toughest, most blood-thirsty, aggressive warrior of the entire group, but between her and Cassie, Rachel is by far the more womanly. At the beginning of the series (until it stops mattering), Rachel is described as a leggy, well-dressed, beautiful blonde who loves to go shopping and cares a great deal about outward appearances and often insists on improving Cassie's wardrobe and goes shopping for the entire group when clothes are needed on the fly. Cassie on the other hand is the more feminine in nature, broken-hearted for everything that breathes, is the most hesitant to do battle and yet is the one who can't dress.
• A common complaint stemming from The Chronicles of Narnia is how Susan Pevensie becomes "no longer a friend of Narnia" and the only mention of why is a line saying she's only interested in "lipstick, nylons and invitations". Many readers take this as criticism of female sexuality though C. S. Lewis said of Susan "The books don't tell us what happened to Susan. She is left alive in this world at the end, having by then turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there's plenty of time for her to mend and perhaps she will get to Aslan's country in the end... in her own way" which, coupled with things other characters say suggest her fault is trying too hard to grow up and forgetting her childhood. The other female characters Lucy, Jill and Polly aren't said to be any less feminine than Susan either.
  • Played straight however in The Horse and His Boy with the contrast between Aravis and Lasaraleen. Aravis is a bit of a tomboy princess, being interested in weapons and hunting while Lasaraleen is vain and obsessed with parties and her dresses. Aravis is the one who undergoes Character Development while Lasaraleen is likely going to remain spoilt and silly.
• The Dresden Files has a few subversions of this. Local Badass Normal and Action Girl Karrin Murphy is revealed to have a home decorated with lace and doilies (albeit inherited from her grandmother). Harry's apprentice Molly Carpenter is described by Harry himself to potentially be the most frightening wizard of her generation and she's a girly Perky Goth who carries her wizarding gear around in a pink backpack. But the ultimate subversion is probably White Court Vampire Lara Raith. She's described as the ultimate example of beauty and femininity but she will fuck up your shit and the shit of everyone you bring with you and she will do it while wearing a dress and come out looking hotter than when she started.
  • Note, however, that the one time Murphy is shown wearing a dress, she is embarrassed to be seen in it (being a cop, she's worked very hard to be "one of the boys"). She even defends herself by saying she had to wear it, as she was at a family function and her mom had bought it for her.
  • Charity Carpenter. A good catholic housewife who's popped out several kids by the start of the series, and is generally around to tend to the wounded when her husband brings his work home with him...until her daughter is kidnapped by faeries, and she puts on armor, grabs a sword and warhammer, and goes Mama Bear like you wouldn't believe. Also, she makes and keeps her husband's armor. And is his sparring partner.
• In-Universe example in House of Leaves, at one point it summarizes interviews between Karen (who's claiming the events are fictional), and a number of celebrities. One such celebrity is a feminist who chastises Karen's 'character's' nyctophobia, dismissing it with "No self-respecting woman is afraid of the dark".
• Jane Eyre: The title character's more conventionally feminine and pretty classmate Helen dies early on. Whether Helen should be thought of as Too Good for This Sinful Earth or not strong-willed enough to survive depends on the critic.
• Played with in Mistborn- heroine Vin, though she probably qualifies as a tomboy at heart, does have a definite girly side to her, in spite of her abusive half-brother's best attempts to beat it out. A good chunk of her character arc involves her coming to terms with the fact that yes, she can enjoy dancing and waring ballgowns and still be a Badass.
  • Brandon Sanderson likes to play with this trope, he has a number of female characters that can kick ass, and are also generally perfectly comfortable with femininity.
• A Song of Ice and Fire is a mixed bag, but the two Stark girls draw an unflattering contrast between masculine and feminine behavior. Arya is a tomboy whose interest in swordplay helps her overcome many trials, while Sansa, who is better at traditional feminine pursuits, spends half the first book crying helplessly and the other half misreading people completely. Once she's gotten past her initial idealism, though, Sansa becomes much more competent, and her femininity and awareness of social customs is helping her as she keeps house for and trains under the series' resident Magnificent Bastard. The girls' mother Catelyn is also a much better blend of confidence and femininity.
  • Additional aversions include Cersei and Dany (particularly Dany, who wears pants and dresses as she pleases, stereotypes be damned), while there are other completely straight examples such as Ygritte and especially Asha Greyjoy. There's even a possible subversion, depending on your perspective, with Brienne. While she fully fills the quota of "never wears dresses", she doesn't try to invoke this trope.
• Similar to the Animorphs example is the Spy High series, where beautiful, blonde, fashionable Lori is arguably the most ruthless of the team, especially when provoked; whereas the less looks-conscious Cally is The Heart of the Five-Man Band and eventually wins the love of leading man Ben. Bex, the biggest Action Girl of the team, rejects feminine dress and looks completely; with punk clothes, many piercings, and short spiky green hair.
• In Song of the Lioness, Alanna starts out hating the fact that she's a girl and wishing she were a boy, and part of her Character Development is coming to accept her femininity.
  • In the fourth book, while she and Liam are snowed in at an inn, she basically decides "screw it" and puts on a nice dress. Liam is scornful of this "softness," which serves as an indication that their relationship isn't going to work out.
  • Averted with a vengence in the Protector of the Small quartet: Kel wears dresses to dinner in order to remind the other pages that she is a girl and isn't ashamed of it.
  • In one of the short stories, when Fedal complains about women of Tekalimy's Islam Expy religion being forced to wear veils, she gives a speech about how she likes wearing them, since it means she isn't judged on her looks. Another short story follows this girl as she speaks for the female side of her god as a prophet, but continues to wear the veil.
  • Also averted in Tamora's other "Circle" universe. Of the four main characters there are three girls- the Tomboy Daja, the Badass Bookworm Tris and The Chick Sandry. This last one can control thread, which can elicit a What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway? response, especially compared to the other two's abilities to control metal and weather respectively...but not only has Sandry's compassion and peace-making skills saved their hides repeatedly, we discover that thread is an awesome power!

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