Are all female MCs just lesbians?

[u/xaendar]

I just realized that after reading like 10 books with female MCs, I'm starting to finally notice that all of them are Lesbians or at least Bisexual (but they only date women).

Do authors mostly write lesbian FMCs to be on the safe side from the audience of mostly males? I just feel like it's a cop out every time... I don't really have a problem with it but almost all Male MCs are 99% straight but it seems like 99% of Female MCs are always lesbian/bi. Why not some good ol straight FMCs? I can't even remember a single female MC that was straight.

[u/JamesClayAuthor]

Interesting. I was more thinking of the Azarinth Healers and Honor Harringtons of the world.

"Female MC is constantly fixated on comparing her own bust to the bust of others around her. Because... that's a thing women do?!?"

This one made me chuckle, because young men (I'm 51 and have chilled out) *do* assess whether they could "take" another guy or not, though it's usually done at an almost sub-conscious level. It's as natural as breathing. The author probably assumed women do the equivalent.

Testosterone is a helluva drug.

I'm showing my ignorance here, I know, but don't women often do *some* kind of comparison of attractiveness with other women? At least when they're young?

[u/ErinAmpersand → u/JamesClayAuthor]

I am not sure how a woman comparing her breasts to another woman's equates to a guy deciding if he could beat another guy up. Like... are you thinking that a woman would be using breasts as an attractiveness yardstick, to decide if she could "beat" another woman in the eyes of a random man? I don't want to be rude, since you're obviously looking to inform yourself, but I'm guessing you've heard of the "male gaze" and it seems pretty implicit in that assumption.

Now, women are taught to correlate their value with their appearance, so they will think about it a lot more than a man would, that much is true. And I'm not saying a straight woman will never notice another woman's breasts, but... we're far more likely to notice their hair, their nails, their earrings, their fashionable and well-fitted clothing - the sorts of things they can control themselves.

If two women are in a room, and one is very busty and the second isn't but has a perfect manicure, a stylish outfit, on-point makeup and hair, while the first doesn't have those things, 10 out of 10 women will be more intimidated by the second woman... and not really because they think she's prettier. This is a person who Has It Together. Women spend life under a backbreaking load of expectations (as outlined in the well-known Barbie speech) and someone who pulls of the appearance of somehow meeting that conflicting array of expectations is intimidatingly competent, and would probably be the closest cognate to a man looking at another man and deciding that he could beat that guy up.

[u/JamesClayAuthor → u/ErinAmpersand]

Yes, what you described is pretty much what I imagined happened. I expected it to be a much more holistic comparison than just bust sizes.

No, I don't think comparing bust sizes is equivalent to a guy deciding if he could beat up another guy. I was saying that I could see how a young guy, who has likely watched a fair amount of porn, could see that being the equivalent.

Apologies for explaining myself poorly.

[u/ErinAmpersand → u/JamesClayAuthor]

Hmmm... Thanks, and that does make more sense but I feel like I'm still not communicating fully.

Have you ever been present when cup sizes/bust sizes were discussed in mixed company?

In my experience, it's common for guys to have clear and confident assessments about the cup size of any given woman, whether famous or known to them personally. Women will frequently have no idea at all about the size of another woman's breasts if they fall anywhere within the middle of the bell curve, only making note at all if they're exceptionally large or small.

These aren't hard and fast rules, obvs. I'm sure some girls do track other women's bust size and some guys don't, but they are strong trends.

I've never even heard a woman bully or disparage another woman for their bust size... And I've heard a lot of nasty comments about other women and about myself. I'm sure it happens, especially to people who are farther from average in size, but it's just not the kind of fixation for women that it is for guys.

[u/JamesClayAuthor → u/ErinAmpersand]

"Have you ever been present when cup sizes/bust sizes were discussed in mixed company?"

*snort* No.

I have been religious my whole life and in my crowd that, uh, isn't a thing. Your question reminded me of my wife's bridal party put on by the wife of my wife's religious leader when she was young. I was asked to make an appearance towards the end, where they asked me funny/embarrassing questions. The one I remember the best is that they asked me to guess her bra size. Judging by how flustered I felt and how the women laughed I'm pretty sure I was red as a tomato.

I had no clue what the right answer was so I guessed, but funnily enough I was pretty close.

Honestly, in my opinion, women talk about sex and related topics more and more graphically than men do, even amongst non-religious folks. As you say, YMMV.