I usually confine the Mary Sue label to women characters who are "awesome" and that is their only characteristic. They don't have drives and needs and inner lives that force them to make mistakes and they don't seem to have to strive for anything or lose their tempers or get into stupid arguments that they feel ashamed of.
There's a definite sexism in only noticing the women characters of the ilk since genre is ripe with perfect male characters who just win at everything (while protecting the little women without agency) but it's a bad character trope regardless.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-10-12 03:59 am (UTC)There's a definite sexism in only noticing the women characters of the ilk since genre is ripe with perfect male characters who just win at everything (while protecting the little women without agency) but it's a bad character trope regardless.