Really like the essay! I would point out that in a lot of ways, this can apply to LGBTQ people as well (as you kind of briefly touch on) – even more so than women, they’re seen as outcasts and villains, outside of society’s approval, and defined by their “deficiency” perhaps despite efforts otherwise. And indeed, the art of embracing that difference and exaggerating it is a well-known tradition.

To be accepted into society, back to families, often the requirement is to give up that part of you that makes you, you. It’s an interesting feature of the LGBTQ journey, however, that what was seen as villainy is slowly becoming more accepted as if not heroism, then at least mainstream. The path of the hero and the anti-hero gets easier the more it’s treaded, to the point where doing so may not be heroic anymore, but simply a chosen path.

I try my hand currently at writing a story where there is not hero of the usual kind. My main-character is gifted with the ability to create illusions, which is something frowned upon in society, making him an outcast. Only in service of his king (who is the bad guy) he is allowed to use his powers, but he cannot stand what is demanded of him in this service and flees to a different country which is at war with his homeland. He will ultimately kill the king, but I have not yet decided how the story will end. I got two possibilities: Either society is so happy with what he’s done that they can overlook his magical powers which are considered evil, or he will again become an outcast, a traveling story-teller that sleeps on the roads and basically begs (when he doesn’t steal), for he can not give up the magic that is a part of him.