,

List dedicated to very flawed female identifying main/major characters who are either actively doing bad things or on the verge of it (either to attain a certain lifestyle or out of boredom or jealousy or due their extremely warped worldview) and feel very little, if any, remorse.

They tend to be portrayed as manipulative, solipsistic, misanthropic, vicious, amoral, obsessive, restless, and unpleasant. Some observe others and the world around them with either disdain or disinterest. Some will indulge in violent and/or grandiose daydreams. Some will feel "a sense of sublime potential" and see "themselves superior to their environment". Some might not always act out their fantasies but they often seem on the threshold of someplace dark and gnarly . Their interior self and/or outward behaviour often goes against or challenges social norms. They are liars, stalkers, thieves, killers. They betray or sever themselves from their friends, their partners, their families (for money, because they are sick of them, because they have found someone 'better').
Readers or other characters may even wonder whether they are affected by an antisocial personality disorder. They may use people, or are prone to envy other people's material goods or social stations, or develop unhealthy obsession with someone or several someones.
Their perpetual restlessness does mean that they are unlikely to ever feel satisfied by what they have.

Examples are: Toni Morrison's Sula, Shirley Jackson's Merricat, Ottessa Moshfegh's Eileen, Susie Yang's Ivy, Gillian Flynn's Amy Dunne.

The books on this list belong to
The Female Malaise subgenre.


Unlike the Catastrofemales, who are more often than not sad, passive, and confused, the girlies on this list are more proactive and calculative (more often than not they are the ones who use others, not the ones who to get used).

PS: this list is by no means condoning the behavior of these characters

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Comments Showing 1-2 of 2 (2 new)

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message 1: by millie (new)

millie i can't decide if hysteria by jessica gross would work here... i feel the main character could be like this often but not the entirety


Nancy •͙͙✧⃝•͙͙✩ͯ I feel like Tampa by Alissa nutting would go in this list given that she's a narcissistic pedophile who preys on young boys... Tampa


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