I propose; The femme vitale character

[Stella_Omega]

Coming from Pure's thread below, I would like to offer a new female archetype.

The femme fatale famously, uses her sexuality (or at least that's what most men claim is the weapon) to enslave men, and takes their power, or wealth, or ability away from them, dropping the empty husk behind her as the curtain closes. Literature is chock-full of this woman, likewise virgin or amazon queens, Joan of Arcs, whores with hearts of gold, Aphrodites, earth goddesses...

What literature seems to have a shocking dearth of, are femmes vitale-- women who have the same charismic power-- sexual perhaps-- and who can take over responsibility for a partner, and enable and empower that person.

This is a character that I am writing, in (I realise suddenly,) no less than five separate projects, and I'd love to know if anyone else here is writing someone who most of these traits, or acquires them during the plot progression;

She is not a walk-on or cameo role. This is a main character.

She is proactive. She is self-respecting, and her partner respects her.

She is the alpha in the relationship. She makes the rules and her partner follows them. She does not dump the partner when they get tiresome as does Bizet's Carmen, she straightens them out.

She is not a shining light of womanly purity a la De Berjerac's Roxanne (who otherwise comes very close) this woman consummates her relationship. She gets laid.

(Added per pure's thread; she may be, but need not be charitable and gentle, and she may very well have goals of her own, she might be selfish.

And she makes it all the way to the final credits.

What say you? is anyone writing women like this-- one more way to view the sex.

 

[slyc_willie]

You know, when you first proposed the label in Pure's thread, I thought, "That would make an excellent title for a novel. Femme Vitale."

 

[cloudy]

I wrote a character very like that in The Warrior's Song (no longer here at Lit) - Sherry Hawk.

She was a very strong, very loving woman...willing to give her all for her love (Joseph) and her people. One of my favorite characters to write.

 

[Stella_Omega]

You know, when you first proposed the label in Pure's thread, I thought, "That would make an excellent title for a novel. Femme Vitale."

write it, baby!

 

[slyc_willie]

write it, baby!

I just might . . .

 

[Stella_Omega]

I wrote a character very like that in The Warrior's Song (no longer here at Lit) - Sherry Hawk.

She was a very strong, very loving woman...willing to give her all for her love (Joseph) and her people. One of my favorite characters to write.

Are there any particulars about her, that you feel would add to this idea of mine?

Again-- this aspect of female persona doesn't need to be a warrior as such, it's most of all about her relationship with her partner(s).

it just seems rare, a female-dominant dynamic minus those castration-fear aspects. And I believe that the more role models we have, the better able we are to accept a concept-- look at how wholesale the fatale trope is!

 

[3113]

What literature seems to have a shocking dearth of, are femmes vitale-- women who have the same charismic power-- sexual perhaps-- and who can take over responsibility for a partner, and enable and empower that person.

You mean...she doesn't get to suck the guy dry, leaving him to slowly die alone and abandoned?

Doesn't sound like much fun, but I'll give it a try.

 

[slyc_willie]

Are there any particulars about her, that you feel would add to this idea of mine?

Again-- this aspect of female persona doesn't need to be a warrior as such, it's most of all about her relationship with her partner(s).

it just seems rare, a female-dominant dynamic minus those castration-fear aspects. And I believe that the more role models we have, the better able we are to accept a concept-- look at how wholesale the fatale trope is!

Although there's no sex involved (yet), Amanda Tapping's character of Dr. Magnus on the new Sci-Fi series Sanctuary seems to fit your mold. She's clearly in charge, very self-empowering, sexy as hell, but the men around her aren't threatened. She's a very supportive and diplomatic person . . . who can kick ass when necessary.

 

[jomar]

I think that's sort of the character Ruane in my Chase story. She started a company, gets kidnapped, kicks ass and is far from helpless. And she gets the guy!

 

[Stella_Omega]

You mean...she doesn't get to suck the guy dry, leaving him to slowly die alone and abandoned?

Doesn't sound like much fun, but I'll give it a try.

Actually, didn't your football player character end up with a pretty decently empowering girl?

 

[Stella_Omega]

I think that's sort of the character Ruane in my Chase story. She started a company, gets kidnapped, but basically escapes and is far from helpless. And she gets the guy!

This is not relative to a strong woman alone-- it's about a very specific type of situation where she is more powerful, within the relationship, than her partner.

I can see Ruane being able to handle the femme vitale role, easily, And Slyc's example of Amanda Tapping shows vitale in potentia as well.

Let's just hope the writers don't give her the jekyll/hyde switcheroo when they do give her a love interest. They do love to do that.

 

[Varian P]

I'd say Eva in my novel After qualifies: her story starts with her as a literal slave, and by the end of her tale, she is in eager, joyful dominance over not one but three male lovers, and, effectively, of her society.

She redeems all three of these men from the less honorable sides of themselves, and makes serious strides in improving their small world (it's post-apocalyptic sci fi, so it's a group of about twenty-five survivors). And she accomplishes that, in part, by fucking every guy in the story, over the considerable but surmountable protests of her lovers.

She dies, but she dies a hero with an enduring legacy.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Does the femme vitale have a male counterpart?

 

[Varian P]

Does the femme vitale have a male counterpart?

Not a walk-on or cameo role. This is a main character.

Proactive. Self-respecting, and his partner respects him.

The alpha in the relationship. Makes the rules and his partner follows them. Does not dump the partner when they get tiresome, but straightens them out.

Not a shining light of purity . He gets laid.

Makes it all the way to the final credits.

Off the top of my head, this is the most common character in Western fiction, film, etc., to the degree that if you simply say "hero" or "protagonist," this is the default assumption.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I think that Edith Sondheim has grown into this figure after her now-regretted divorce. She uses her experience, brains, political power and organizational ability to assist and empower many around her and delights in her own pan-sexuality. And since I believe in second chances, she will be rewarded at the end of the story.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'd say Eva in my novel After qualifies: her story starts with her as a literal slave, and by the end of her tale, she is in eager, joyful dominance over not one but three male lovers, and, effectively, of her society.

She redeems all three of these men from the less honorable sides of themselves, and makes serious strides in improving their small world (it's post-apocalyptic sci fi, so it's a group of about twenty-five survivors). And she accomplishes that, in part, by fucking every guy in the story, over the considerable but surmountable protests of her lovers.

She dies, but she dies a hero with an enduring legacy.

Sounds kinda like what I'm looking for!

Does the femme vitale have a male counterpart?

You mean the personality of her partner?

Yes, they would be someone who is willing to be the beta in the relationship.

They would have (or develop over the course of the story) much respect for her abilities, trust her judgement, feel that her rules are good ones, and, if they fuck up, would be concerned to redeem themself for her...

If your asking about their sexlife, I, of course would write it as non-vanilla. Would her partner always bottom? Not always. I have passages in "Sarabande" where the couple switch, and he's a merciless top. There are no concerns for Tracy's masculinity or potency!

One line I still love; someone asks him how he can bottom, and he says "I know where my chains are and how far they stretch, do you?" The guy says "Oh, you're ritualising your insecurities then." And Tracy says; "That's right -- and I get laid in ways you can't even imagine, a little side benefit."

As I'm writing her these days, this archetype isn't especially interested in owning a worm. Where's the status in that? She's powerful and she wants her pets to be powerful too.

(I should add up above that she can certainly be selfish in her motives, she's not a self-sacrificing, my-man-above-all type)

Off the top of my head, this is the most common character in Western fiction, film, etc., to the degree that if you simply say "hero" or "protagonist," this is the default assumption.

See-- I knew all of this sounded familiar!

And doesn't it suck that the female with these qualities is so non-existant!)

 

[Stella_Omega]

doublepost

 

[Guest]

Does the femme vitale have a male counterpart?

Oooh.

I certainly hope so.

 

[Xelebes]

Literotica apparently needs its own mythology for it to have all the archetypes it needs.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Literotica apparently needs its own mythology for it to have all the archetypes it needs.

Women certainly do. Out of the plethora of bimbos, whores, mothers, black widows, merry widows, virgins, sweethearts, gal-pals, maneaters, manhaters, manstealers, sluts, bitches, damsels in distress, rape victims, secretaries, bikerchicks, college girls, MILFs, and, of course, femmes fatale...

This woman doesn't seem to have much place in literature.

 

[slyc_willie]

Women certainly do. Out of the plethora of bimbos, whores, mothers, black widows, merry widows, virgins, sweethearts, gal-pals, maneaters, manhaters, manstealers, sluts, bitches, damsels in distress, rape victims, secretaries, bikerchicks, college girls, MILFs, and, of course, femmes fatale...

This woman doesn't seem to have much place in literature.

Which is sad. To be honest, after a little reflection, I had the temptation to think that the heroine you were describing was simply a female version of the typical male hero: strong, tough, in control and dominant, but not in a domineering way. Just a self-assured woman who knew what it took to get the job done, but recognized that she couldn't do it alone.

But your Femme Vitale is not just a female James Bond, not a Lara Croft or Wonder Woman. This is a strong, nurturing woman, a powerful mother figure (yet, as you described, without children of her own) who empowers the man or men in her life. Through her, they become greater, more efficient, more capable, and as a result, gain more respect and more recognition of the Femme Vitale as their guiding light, so to speak. He -- or they -- would falter without her. She is clearly the driving force for them.

I'm liking this idea more and more.

 

[Xelebes]

Women certainly do. Out of the plethora of bimbos, whores, mothers, black widows, merry widows, virgins, sweethearts, gal-pals, maneaters, manhaters, manstealers, sluts, bitches, damsels in distress, rape victims, secretaries, bikerchicks, college girls, MILFs, and, of course, femmes fatale...

This woman doesn't seem to have much place in literature.

Well then, then let's get started.

 

[Xelebes]

Well then, then let's get started.

Wait, are we allowed to use the Challenges and Exercises forum for that or just here?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Which is sad. To be honest, after a little reflection, I had the temptation to think that the heroine you were describing was simply a female version of the typical male hero: strong, tough, in control and dominant, but not in a domineering way. Just a self-assured woman who knew what it took to get the job done, but recognized that she couldn't do it alone.

It might be, in many ways, the other way around-- that the man realises he can't do it without her.

But your Femme Vitale is not just a female James Bond, not a Lara Croft or Wonder Woman. This is a strong, nurturing woman, a powerful mother figure (yet, as you described, without children of her own) who empowers the man or men in her life. Through her, they become greater, more efficient, more capable, and as a result, gain more respect and more recognition of the Femme Vitale as their guiding light, so to speak. He -- or they -- would falter without her. She is clearly the driving force for them.

I'm liking this idea more and more.

You sound like Tracy-- that's the way he talks about his Stella .(not me, not me)

Quite so, this character is not a solo hero-- not in this particular aspect. I sure don't mind me a good Laura Croft, and I'm writing one right now in fact In the same story as a femme vitale-- two different women, two different types.

One thing though, this woman could have children, that's not a deal breaker. I always imagined a coda ending to "Sarabande" where my couple have teenagers, and greying hair, and in private, Tracy still settles himself at her feet.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Wait, are we allowed to use the Challenges and Exercises forum for that or just here?

Whoah, really, you're ready to write a story? That's awesome!

I wasn't asking for postings on this thread, though-- I'm hoping to spread this idea in general. I'm posting it on several other writing forums, and in my livejournal as well.

Want to put it in the challenges thread? Or make it long enough to post to lit? *is excited*