Desgning a great female character (Extra Credits)

[Lishy]

Saw this on Extra Credits, I had to share:

[LRH]

Interesting video. It gave me a few thoughts looking at creating great male characters too - if you can look at the issues surrounding societal pressure on females to create a great female character, you can also do the same with male characters, having them both accept and reject the societal pressure to behave as society would have them behave.

For example, why not a doting stay-at-home father who's at home, protecting his children, during a zombie plague, while his wife the Army Ranger is out fighting zombies directly? Army husbands can have just as tough a time as Army wives after all (maybe tougher? I doubt they have the kind of societal support that Army wives seem to.) Yes, he exercises some of the gender role society ascribes to him as a male - the strong protector, the warrior - but in this case, he's out of his depth - he knows more about raising children than he does about fighting. He has to learn what his wife went to basic training to learn, and he has to learn it 'on the job'. Meanwhile, he's worrying about where to find the resources he needs to keep he and his children alive, and all the while having to put on the brave face and tell his children that mommy will be okay, while not entirely believing it himself. Strong story concept, no?