Hero vs. Heroine: Unraveling the Differences

It's not about one or the other, it's about two sides of the same coin.

The Heroine’s Journey and the Hero’s Journey are like two sides of moon. As storytellers, we are blessed with an entirely new possibility to see both sides at the same time.

Photo by Altınay Dinç on Unsplash

No more monomyth, you ask? Well that’s up to you, but if there is a multi perspective available, I reckon it’s like finding an entirely new level in your house: more space, sure, but also an entirely new vantage point to examine your story.

In the following you’ll discover some differences between the two narrative arcs.

NB: I will often refer to a hero as a ‘he’ and heroine as a ‘she.’ I’ve touched on this in another post here.

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• The heroine’s journey is a spiral or quantum field | A hero’s journey is linear
  

• The heroine’s journey is near and internal | The hero’ journey far and external
  Hero protagonists cover great distances overland, above land, in the sky and space. Whereas heroine protagonists remain in their ecosystem or close to it. Their internal journey can become a journey below ground, into the underworld of sorts. It is less visible, but just as momentous. Harry Potter series follows a heroine’s journey, as does Aftersun and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
  

• A heroine sees no separation between humanity and nature | A hero views humans and the divine as separate
  This is a topic in itself which I’ll cover in the future. 
  

• The sacrifices a heroine makes are for the collective good and come at great personal cost | The cost hero’s sacrifices lie in the health and lives of others
  Also he does get recognition whereas her efforts are more often than not, unrecognised (thus she hides in plain site).
  Erin Brockovich follows a heroine’s journey. Bourne Ultimatum follows a hero’s journey.
  

• A heroine learns to receive, gets networked and together they rise | A hero conquers alone
  

• A hero competes |  A heroine collaborates.
  Case in point above.