The Culture Truce

The heroine must publicly agree to abandon her personal ambitions in favor of cultural expectations. This preserves the order. Unlike examples of male-oriented heroes, who usually feel perfectly at home in their native culture, many heroines do not. This is a fundamental difference for many of our heroines. She intuitively senses that familiar and even trusted allies of her culture may turn against her at any time if she disturbs the order.

In fiction, the heroine often makes some attempt at independent action, only to be supressed in full by the agents of her home life. This first suppression attempt, which typcially features manipulation, coercion, or outright intimidation, will succeed. Heroines then attempt a secret pursuit of her own independence while appearing to honor the culture truce. The veneer of conformity, however, cannot be sustained.