Over-Done Tropes—Women Can't Fight

In a 1994 Rolling Stone article, a reporter followed a gang-intervention counselor making field visits to recent gang school graduates after their release from prison. Embarrassed by the visit and desperate to reestablish his street-cred, one gang member starts an argument with his foster sister. When the girl (younger and smaller) cusses him out, gang boy takes a swing. The author wrote that the sister slammed into gang boy so hard her earrings flew from her ears. In the resulting mee-lee she beats gang boy to the ground.

Go ahead, assume they are weak.

This is one example of why some basis in reality is important no matter what flavor of fiction you write. 

In previous posts I’ve taken some well-worn over-done fiction tropes and deconstructed why the tropes are used. From there we explore why what makes the tropes over-done and/or outdated. Most importantly, I attempt to give examples of better ways to write.

Note: I did not say easier, I said better.

A writing trope is device specific to genre, e.g., the burned-out police detective, the ne’er-do-well family member, (usually a brother, usually with an addiction) the thief/hitman with one last score before retirement, are all crime-fiction tropes. Most have been done...to death. Some may argue that they are tropes (rather than cliches) because they are relatable/reliable guideposts for the reader.

For the reader or for the writer?

Today’s subject: women can’t fight. This is a scene-setting device cueing up the “real” hero, usually a dude, to rescue the fair maiden. In extreme examples like Taken, (movie) Deathwish, (book and movie) Spider Man, (comicbook) the victimized woman is the catalyst for the dude to “hero-up” and seek justice.

Slanging that thing around without any problems...and the knife, too.

 Honestly, it’s just lazy/unimaginative writing. 

In all fairness, damsels in distress has been a trope across all genres going back to Cervantes (at least). It was permissible, (sorta) for Cervantes. What role models did he have?

Of course, Shakespeare had just as many print guides (meaning “none”) but he was also a social commentator and a phenomenal student of contemporary events. He encountered Lady Elizabeth Russell, (among the first women to command a fortress and the first to claim the rights and rights/powers of sheriff). As a result Shakespeare’s women were FIERCE and he gave his best lines to Portia and Rosalind among many, many other women.

To be or NOT to be... f'd with.

Something-something-hundred-years later…

I’ve referenced Diana Gabaldon’s historical fiction piece, Outlander, before for lazy/irresponsible writing. The treatment of LGBTQ characters is irresponsible, to say the least. However her treatment of her heroine is not much better. 

Our protagonist, Claire (Caitriona Balfe, in the TV show) is perpetually abducted and/or brutalized. And considering that the books/show is marketed primarily to women, you would expect some arc to character. And, in true, high-fantasy style, Claire does develop/grow. She goes from intrepid WWII nurse to 1960s doctor, so, yeah, growth. 

Basically Claire's situation throughout Outlander.

Then, in season five, Claire gets manhandled, (yes, that’s the extent of the description) yet again. 

Yep, season five.

In the preceding four seasons, (based on five books) Claire has been beaten and tortured as well as taught to shoot and handle a knife. She has also killed multiple men. So, when Captain Bonnett seizes hold of her daughter, Claire pulls her trusty knife and holds it fully extended in front of her, just begging for Bonnett to take it from her, which he does. 

This action is so common in books, movies, and television that it is very nearly a setpiece. Women swing wide with an open-hand slaps, telegraph stabbing with a knife held ice-pick style, or they hold a gun at full-extension just begging for someone, (male) to punch, deflect, take away. Which, seemingly, ALWAYS happens. 

Just take it, the writer doesn't know what they're doing.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

In 1981 Robert B. Parker wrote intrepid-television reporter, Candy Sloan, in A Savage Place. About half-way through the novel, Candy realizes that Spenser, (Parker’s PI protagonist) will not be able to serve as a bodyguard forever. So, she has him teach her how to use a handgun. 

Spenser finds Candy after one of the big-bad guys shoots her with the gun Spenser armed her with. Spenser then avenges her. There is all kinds of moralized subtext on Spenser’s guilt (avenging his failure more than his client) and commentary on women “acting like men” but that’s a different rant for a different time.

If you try to take that pistol from her, you're getting shot.

As if by contrast, Starling, (Thomas Harris' FBI cadette) debuted a couple of years after A Savage Place. She is the hero of the book. There is no man coming to save her. In fact, her boss and mentor are both several hundred miles away when Starling is knee-deep in the sh—tuff. But Starling is Quantico-trained. She keeps her Model 19 close to her body (so serial killer Buffalo Bill can’t snatch it from her) and, when Bill gets too close, she uses the weapon to devastating effect.

Yeah, but in the real world…

Rhonda Rousy might not be able to beat Mike Tyson, but Gina Carano would give him a run for his money until the weight advantage worked against her. Women regularly kick ass, often punching WAY above their weight. That’s neither hyperbole nor female idealization. 

Facts

Anne Bonny sailed with a pirate crew out of Jamaica, armed with a machete and a brace of pistols. Disguised as a man, Deborah Sampson, fought in Washington’s Continental Army. Also dressed as a man, Cathay Williams served in the Union Army. U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth flew combat missions in Iraq. Aileen Wuornos killed seven, (that we know of) men. These are simply among the best known (by me) instances of women who can (and damn-well do) fight.

It’s easy to dismiss fictionalized accounts based on dramatic license but to do so is a disservice to the reader/viewer. It is also dishonest. 

But you’re saying, “Wait a minute, let’s talk about how most of these examples involve military training. Even Starling was FBI trained and drilled on gun-retention and pistol combat at Quantico, while Candy Sloan was informally taught by some guy.” 

She got the same training as those dudes. Sure.

Do you suppose the foster-sister, who the gang boy took a swing at, had formal training? Or do you think maybe she had a lifetime of scuffles with boys and girls? You may not learn perfect form from getting knocked around by other kids but you learn how to dodge a punch, take a punch, and most importantly, deliver a punch. And as with anything else, the more you do it, the better you get at it.

In The Red Dragon, Will Graham informally teaches his girlfriend, Molly, how to use a handgun days before Frances “Tooth Fairy” Dolarhyde ambushes them. Drawing on what Will taught her, Molly runs for her life, drawing the Tooth Fairy away from her critically wounded boyfriend. Then, after she draws the Tooth Fairy into her house, into her bedroom—where she keeps her weapon—she “blows a rat hole” in his chest.

Harris understood that a) it is much more satisfying for the prey to “get” the predator and b) it pays off on the peril rather than exploit violence against women for cheap thrills.

“But, but, I write fantasy where ladies in fine dresses don’t fight…”

"I wear a fine dress, also, fight me."

In Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone—Inej Ghafa aka the Wraith is a spy. Sculking and dealing in shadows all around the ladies in fancy dresses. She is imminently skilled with knives and adept at hand-to-hand combat. But when she encounters a bigger, stronger adversary, (seriously, his name is “Mogens” which means “powerful”) Inej suffers a bloody defeat and is nearly killed. 

Also NOT to be f'd with.

Knowing she must face him again, Inej struggles to find something to offset Mogens’ size and strength. Rather than step into the space as the hero, Kaz, her boss, (who has his own challenges) offers her a tactic. Look for the tell, the gesture, expression, or habit that precedes an attack. Kaz, (a slight man, dependent on a cane to counter a pronounced limp) is skilled at leveraging tells, from a lifetime of competing against men with full use of both legs. 

"You protected me better than any saint," Kaz Brekker to Inej Ghafa

Inej faces Mogens again, armed with Kaz’ tactic. Rather than react to Mogens’ attacks in fear or even in defense, Inej plays to her own strengths. By using her agility against his advance and anticipating his moves, she plays a very physical chess match and destroys Mogens with his own tools.

As with any work of fiction, you have the license to write any character you choose. If you want to write about the defenseless little woman, futilely beating her little fists against the barbarian’s chest, hey, it’s your story. Just consider how much more that set-up scene, that character, that person can be.

I own none of the photos here. All are used for instructional/educational purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine. 

Over-Done Crime Fiction Tropes: Hitmen

 

Crime fiction works best when it is visceral, not standardized. One of the most standardized crime tropes is the hitman. If you’ve read mysteries, thrillers, and crime or watched movies in those genres you’ve seen the trope. The hitman fighting to escape the life, or for redemption, or for a zillion-dollar (in gold bullion) payday.  

All of which has as much basis in reality as flying monkeys. 

Every year there is at least one news story of some moron hiring a “hitman” in a bar, from a gym, or (truly, not big thinkers, here) a jail cell. Every single time that “hitman” turns out to be a cop or informant. Decades ago a guy answered an ad in Soldier of Fortune for a hitman to kill his wife. I leave you to do the math for how that turned out. Don’t forget, in murder math: it’s motive, plus opportunity, carry the idiot.  

I know what you’re thinking. So, are there hit men or not? The answer is a definitive "sorta."

Well, do they at least drive exotic cars, live in mansions, and have a Batcave full of tech and super-cool guns? 

Um, no. 

Which leads to the next obvious question. Then what’s the point?  

Exactly! 

Motivation, whatever it is, is the conflict spark that is missing from most hit men, contract killers, HMO doctors, (kidding) that populate most crime/thriller fiction. Why would a person decide to do someone else’ dirty work if there isn’t a pile of cash and six-pack abs waiting at the other end?

So, who’s a real hitman?

Kuklinski's booking photo.

Richard Kuklinski, made famous by HBO’s “The Iceman” was part of mobster Roy DeMeo’s Gambino crew. For those keeping score at home, Kuklinski is estimated to have killed between 70 and 200 people. No one knows for sure as he was a psychopath and a pathological liar. 

What is known is that he was more likely to bludgeon victims to death with a tire iron than shoot them with a black automatic. It has also been established that Kuklinski was paid nothing for the contract killings he did for DeMeo. It was considered “other duties as assigned.” He made his money on car-theft, drugs, and pirating porn. His motivation—psychopathy—is likely a result of profound abuse suffered as a child.

That tux alone screams, "killer."

Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero claimed 26 kills as a soldier in the Bonanno Crime family. He was still making “hits” in his 50s. For free. What little money he made, (undercover FBI agent, Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, said Lefty was always broke) came from loansharking and bookmaking. The hits were “favors,” that a loser, like Lefty, didn’t dare refuse.

But it’s different for government agents, right? 

Last photo of Guerara. Félix Rodríguez is on the right.

CIA asset Félix Rodríguez gave the order to execute revolutionary-insurgent Che Guevara but a drunken Bolivian soldier did the deed. As directed Guevara was shot in a manner to appear consistent with combat and not execution. 

Rodríguez got US citizenship, CIA “business” connections, and El Che’s Rolex. The soldier got to flee the country and live the rest of his life in fear. The last record of the "hitman" is cataract removal, ironically enough, done by a Cuban medical outreach in Paraguay.  

Doesn't look like much? Exactly the point.

Many of these CIA assets became mercenaries for the burgeoning cartels. While not (known to be) a CIA asset, Jorge "Ravi" Ayala was Griselda Blanco's enforcer and one of the most feared assassins during the Miami Drug War. Ayala is the exception to the rule, once claiming that Blanco paid him $50,000 to kill a man but that story has never been varified as Ravi wouldn't name the man. Further, Blanco notoriously killed men herself with little or no thought. 

Meanwhile, Ravi continued to operate chop shops and graduated to running cocaine to his old stomping grounds in Chicago. All of which suggests the killings were futher examples of, "other duties as assigned."

The coat does lend credibility.

Francesco Gullino, the prime suspect in the infamous 1978 Bulgarian Umbrella Assassination of Georgi Markov in London, allegedly did the deed to stay out of Bulgarian prison for smuggling. He was paid nothing for the killing. See a trend? 

In his excellent book on agency involvement in multiple African intrigues, former CIA agent and section chief, John Stockwell noted that rarely does anyone official “know” what happened.  A field officer gets a medal, the asset gets citizenship, a scholarship, or a research grant, and a local patsy takes the credit—or the fall.

 

Please understand, I’m not saying that your book can’t (or even shouldn’t) include a whiz-bang assassin with a suitcase full of guns. Just remember the details that inform the drama. The closer you stick to bedrock truth, the more impactful your fictional elements.

The photo at the top belongs to Lions Gate, et al. I own none of the other photos. All are used here for educational and instructional purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.