I am seriously curious what people think, because this is an important subject.
But for instance, lets say you think of Aerie as a "real woman". Her shyness, her vulnerability, her inexperience, these are not feminine attributes (these are attributes a phallocentric mind wants to force unto women, but that is another question). Being a push over is not a girly thing to do. And I know Aerie has an evolution as a female character and grows a spine in Throne of Bhaal, still it is obvious whom the writers were trying to please with her...
I would also argue that Wyll is traditionally masculine. He wants to be a hero, he wants to measure up to a hyper masculine standard. He is action-oriented, he has anger issues, and he has a kinda swagger. He is black though (which is for some people a feminizing quality, see how Obama was feminized by the GOP, despite being quite frankly a manly man).
Yeah but as a guy what kind of mind are you supposed to have if not a phallocentric one? I love being phallocentric, and I don't want to change that about myself. And yeah I do consider Aerie to be a real woman, her shyness, vulnerability and inexperience are not exclusively female qualities, but they evoke my caretaker response. Contrast her with Viconia, who is callous, cruel and an experienced lover, and you will notice that the only difference between Viconia and Aerie is that Viconia isn't honest about her own vulnerability. Her whole romance plot is about getting under her armor of hatred and violence to touch her real heart. Aerie maybe shy, but she is courageous, while Viconia isn't shy, but she puts up this elaborate play to keep people at a distance. Both of them are very feminine, because they are both vulnerable and seek your support and strength to fall back on. Jaheira however is none of that. She is the masculine one of the BG2 bunch. Romancing Jaheira is like dating a guy, but she is not overdone like Laezel, which is nice. If you observe the relationship between Aerie and Jaheira you can't really say that Aerie is a pushover. She literally stands up to everyone around her and goes on the offensive on both Jaheira and Viconia. Jaheira and Viconia are both nagging shrews, which is what I would describe as a negative feminine quality, while Aerie is kind and nurturing, which I would call a positive feminine quality. Which is funny, because I consider kindness and nurturing to be a positive masculine quality as well.
However I must disagree on Wyll. He is not traditionally masculine at all. He is practically a parody of classical masculinity, because he just oozes bravado and really wants to show off and prove himself in the eyes of others (which is not masculine, but insecure). Wyll is basically what I would call a representative of playful machismo. Don't get me wrong, I like Wyll, but he is more of a boy then a man.
