Why Are Female Leads in YA so Bland?

     The fact that I run a book blog makes it pretty obvious that I love to read.  I love books and I love the characters that live within their pages; however, as I have talked to people about books and characters and read more reviews there is one thing I have began to notice.  People do not like female characters in YA books.  They are often called bland, uninteresting, and Mary Sues.  I have pondered why this happens and have an idea.  

     Most female characters could be sisters with the physical resemblance to each other.  Brown hair medium hight, usually brown eyes but sometimes blue.  They often do not think themselves as attractive and suffer from ether crippling self doubt or a massive ego (if the author is feeling "innovative".  The reason this happens is because authors are trying to make their lead character relatable to everyone. She must be like all the girls out there so they can relate to her.  This is what I believe is the route of the problem.

      In most YA books the main character is the only woman with characterization, other girls often have barely any lines. This lack of other women and girls forces the main character to be a spokesperson for all women, and when you try to please everyone you please no one.  These women are not written as characters but a figure that will be relatable to every female out there.  This is just impossible as everyone is different and no one is going to relate to the same character.  I believe this issue with female characters could be solved if there were more women in the cast and people tried to write a character instead of a figurehead. To further my point I would like to point to one of my favorite video game characters, Lucina. (Late Semi-plot spoilers for Fire Emblem Awakening)    

     Lucina could pass for a YA fantasy heroine being a princess and a skilled warrior; however, there is more depth to her character.  She is surprisingly dorky for warrior princess. The stoic persona she bears at the start of the game soon crumbles as it was an act. Parts of her true personality shine through in her interactions with her family and friends. Lucina's sense of fashion is laughable and over the top, which perplexes her mother, she is comically serious and gets in a spat with her sibling because she saw their act of cutting apples with a legendary sword appalling.  All of this is because she was written to be a character who traveled back in time to save the people she loved and not someone who could be relatable to the entire female population of the world. 

Princess Lucina: Fire Emblem Awakening