As a kind of related aside:
Is the term “heroine” part of the problem? Because it seems to carry a lot of baggage with it, as in: “the character that the hero saves at the end.” And in a book where there’s both a hero and a heroine, and usually the hero is named first (no one says “heroine and hero”) does that demand the qualifier to assure the reader that “although the hero is first, the heroine is strong and stands up as a character, too?”
Of course, ‘male lead’ and ‘female lead’ just don’t have the same ring. Sigh.
I think so, because I don’t like calling the couple hero and heroine, but I know that sometimes I get tired of male/female protagonist and go back do hero and heroine.
I think calling them the h/h places expectations on them that they don’t/can’t, even shouldn’t try to live up to.
delurking…
I’m with May. I hate referring to the protagonists as hero and heroine because it seems to imply that they *must* be heroic. Plus, a lot of romance readers seem to have this thing about needing to like the protagonists, which I don’t understand. There are different reasons for disliking a character, and why do you need to like a character to like a book? I don’t (often) blog about romance novels, but I’ve been tempted to start a new blog just so I could write a post called “A Hero Ain’t Nothing But a Sandwich (with apologies to Alice Childress)” (subtitle: What Romance Could and Should Learn from YA Fiction). Okay, so the whole thing wouldn’t be just about heroes/heroines, but I’d much rather read about how someone changes because of love than how someone fell in love while saving the world.
Ooh, and I love the first two books in your random TBR.
…back to lurking
Er, I should add one more thing to my jumbo paragraph.
So, “I’d much rather read about how someone changes because of love than how someone fell in love while saving the world and/or the other protagonist.”
Sorry, another addendum to my first post, because in retrospect it seems kinda rude. You know, with mumblemumble…demons…mumble…hellholes
Anyway, the saving the world thing. I meant contemporaries with cops, firefighters, bodyguards, Navy SEALS, etc. Because, oddly, I have no problem with characters trying to save the world or another person in paranormals.
And I noticed the the Random TBR changed. The Beekeepers Apprentice and The Alienist were the first two I saw. Awesome books.
…really going back to lurking
May — hero/heroine really is just easier. And “heroine” doesn’t seem to carry the same weight when the book is just about a female, so it’s only in romance that it seems extra weighty.
Trisha — I agree that you don’t have to like a character in a novel. And I’m just as big a fan of the anti-hero as a character as I am the take-charge, save the world character.
I like both types of stories, depending on my mood — there are days when I just want the characters interacting and going through their arc, then there are days I want the blow ‘em up, save-the-world type of story.
No worries about rude, lol! You could tell me you hate my books and I wouldn’t take offense. The only way I’ll take offense for anything is if someone calls me a tubby tard. And, really, that’s half-true. And I’d probably laugh, actually, rather than be offended.
This is going to sound wierd but when ever I read heroine, I feel like I am saying the drug- heroin… I know…
We need new terms I guess!
I say hero and heroine because when I say hero and then heroine, I’m consistent with the pronounciation.
When I say heroine then hero, I pronounce them differently and it irks me. Just a teeny bit, though.
Protagonist needs to come to the light, man.
Hero/heroine/and even villain imply something cookie-cutter. To me, anyway. There is only good or evil in that name. No room for the grey and the human.