The Crossdressing Epic

This issue annoys me so much I can't sleep until I rant about it.

It all started with Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, which I am currently reading because I feel obligated too, and because I might get money for writing a review of it.  If you don't know, it is about an alternate history where WWI is fought with giant steampunk mechas and genetically engineered mutant creatures.  It is a really cool setup, and it is a shame that it is ruined by completely awful protagonists.

To be fair, the boy protagonist is not so bad, and by the time he is standing on top of a running mecha while being shot at, trying to cut loose a signal flare using his dead father's sword...yeah, he's cool.  The girl is the one I want to punch in the face.

The problem with crossdressing epics is that, rather than providing a unique and intriguing view of gender roles, they fall far too easily into the trap of relying on gender stereotypes.  Second, every sentence devoted to the girl worrying about someone discovering she is a girl, is a sentence in which nothing happens.  I don't care if she is supposed to be a strong female protagonist, and a role model proving that girls can do stuff (if they dress like boys), I want to go back to the flaming sword mecha fight.

The girls who follow this path are all luckily tall, skinny, and flat-chested, but none are actually lesbians (or trans, for that matter).  Because lesbians did not exist before the 60's, and certainly none of them tried crossdressing.  I am not saying that the heroines of crossdressing epics should necessarily be gay; I'm just saying that it seems to never even have been considered.

Furthermore, CE's act all progressive and feministy, but again, why is being a boy the only option?  Why can't she wear skirts and be married and be a devious manipulator, the power behind the throne?  Or a spy?  Or a badass housewife?  Because people want to read a typical boy's adventure story, but be feministy and include a female protagonist who is not a princess that needs to be rescued.  Or they are too lazy to come up with an original plot. 

This is another problem of society marches on, and literature stays stuck in a rut, blindly following the patterns of novels from before and ignoring the plots of real life.  Sexism does still exist today; a woman in a typically male profession will face it, leading to complications more interesting and relevant than trying to avoid being seen naked.  At least Westerfeld does have historical context.  Though considering girls have a lower body mass, you'd think they would be more in demand on bioengineered airships...

Which brings us back to my original complaint of wanting to punch that particular protagonist in the face.  Her only defining character trait is being a girl.  Otherwise, she behaves just like your average dopey farmboy protagonist (I have no idea if she actually comes from a farm or not).  Westerfeld tries to compensate by assuring the audience that she is in fact a very good flyer.  However, it comes off as insecurity in writing a female protagonist.  She just has to be really super good at what she does.  You know, to prove the sexes are equal and all.

I did track down a quote from Discworld that might help potential writers of CE's:  "in an age before unisex fashions, trousers meant 'man' and skirts meant 'woman'. Trousers plus high-pitched voice meant 'young man'. People didn't expect anything else, and saw what they expected to see."

Which makes complete sense; if a girl is doing something so unthinkable, why is she so worried someone will think it?  She's tall, skinny, and flat-chested, so what's to worry about?  Get back to the plot already!