What I'm less sure about is any theory that links this with the idea that the female characters who exist are not as interesting -- because I think the people who ARE fannish about those characters disprove that.

I really do see your point. The very fact that there is a fandom for a character would mean that someone finds them compelling and quality enough to explore.

I guess I was just implying, although not clearly saying, that I assumed (yipes! So many qualifiers in this sentence!) that if the characters were "compelling" and "quality" there would be a large fandom around them.

Thanks for the recs to xmenfirstclass. I read those when the ficathon came out and was both impressed and surprised by the number of people who focused on Jean and/or Wanda. It was a surprise, though, because it struck me as being so out of the norm for the X-men fandom.

A largely female audience gives a greater amount of attention to male characters -- overall -- for a lot of different reasons.

I just wonder why, I suppose. It might be that my first suggestion is more accurate. Maybe women (generally) focus on characters they want to be with over characters they want to be?

Or maybe it's a whole other factor that I just don't see.

Also, I really hope I never came across as defensive. You've given me a lot to think about and it's been really interesting. :)

So, thank you!