Femme Files #2: Strong Female Characters, An Ironic Paradox

Are women only considered strong when they adopt 'masculine' traits? Katie investigates...

For me, a 'Strong Female Character' is someone who has agency within the story, clearly defined goals, flaws and weaknesses, and, thought out character arc. In essence, a 'Strong Female Character' is a 3-dimensional character who is well written and realised fully. 

However, there is a trap that many, usually male, writers fall into that takes stereotypically male character traits and just use them for female characters, while ignoring and/or removing aspects of the female experience. These traits can range from being physically strong, emotionally stoic, independent, hot-head, arrogant, and so on; essentially, the antitheses of the damsel in distress. 

Of course, it goes without saying that there's nothing wrong with a female character having these traits, and it doesn't make them any less of a woman. The problem with doing this is that it implies that the only way for a woman to be strong is to take on more stereotypically masculine roles. Therein lies the paradox, the implication that for a female character to be strong is to be more masculine is sexist and suggests that femininity is inherently weak. A message that can be harmful to young women and girls growing up who are still finding their place in the world. 

Even the term 'Strong Female Character' could be read as being unintentionally sexist. After all, how often do we hear the term 'Strong Male Character'? As an example, let's look at the MCU. Captain Marvel and Black Widow are often labelled as 'Strong Female Characters', but on the other hand, the likes of Iron Man and Captain America aren't labelled as 'Strong Male Characters'; it is just taken as a given.

One of the main problems I find with the 'Strong Female Character' is that she isn't real. She's a character archetype. A simplification that doesn't represent the complex spectrum of women in the world. In addition to this, it view's strength in a somewhat outdated and simplistic way. The 'strong female character' archetype has many subsects, for example, The Hot Heroine, the Brain, and the Boss.

To briefly explain what each of these character types are, 'The Hot Heroine' is the strong fighter, who’s highly skilled and can take on the hordes of minions with ease, and of course, is usually conventionally attractive. The Brain is the one who gets her strength from her intelligence, using it to get what she wants and beat her opponents by outthinking them. Finally, the Boss is the woman in a leadership role. Whether that's a queen or the boss of a business. She's willing to do anything to stay on top and is usually portrayed as cold, cruel, and strikes down on any opposition with an iron fist.

“Even the term ‘Strong Female Character’ could be read as being unintentionally sexist”

Again, there's nothing wrong with women taking on these roles within the story or society. However, the paradox occurs when these characters are just these archetypes, when all the attention is put on these aspects, how it’s their physical strength or their minds that make them strong. This focus serves to strip them of any complexity. In fact, often a character is made so strong that they seem to have no weakness, serving to make them a dull and uninspiring character.    

For an example of this in effect, we can look at Rey from the latest Star Wars trilogy. While I would argue that she does have character flaws, she never seems to suffer the consequences of these flaws. At the end of The Last Jedi, despite Luke’s protests she goes to Kylo Ren in an attempt to bring him back from the darkside. As a result of this decision she gets in a big fight, which she loses (sort of, it was more of a draw). Yet she suffers no consequences for this decision, in the next scenes she’s fine, back to saving the day. 

What this lack of consequences does is make Rey less of a compelling character and less strong. Instead of the focus being put on how she grows and learns as a person, it’s put on how strong with the force she is, her physical abilities. 

Another significant example of this can be seen with Captain Marvel from the MCU.

Personally, I don't find her that compelling of a character, with the only notable trait of hers being her physical strength. In the movie, we don't really learn who she is as a person, nor does she seem to wrestle with the idea that she has (spoilers) been fighting on the wrong side the whole time.

If more attention was put into her wrestling with this realisation as she slowly learns that she's been fighting on the wrong side and begins to challenge her worldview, struggles with being the person she's been told she is and embracing who she actually is. Not only would this work to make Captain Marvel a more complex character, but it would also work in favour of the film's themes. Be true to yourself, embrace who you are, and don't let others tell you what to think. 

Instead, she completely changes her motivation very quickly, still listening to what others are telling her and when she does embrace who she is in the climax of the film, it doesn't serve to grow her as a character, but just her physical strength, which makes it seem like her physical strength is the only thing that makes her strong.  

“This focus serves to strip them of any complexity”

The boss archetype also has issues, as many of these characters seem to reject traditional femininity.. They are cold, emotionless, and ruthless, stereotypically seen as masculine traits. This suggests that for a woman to be strong is to become more masculine, which is a sexist and problematic message to be sending to young women.  

However, there are many examples where the 'Strong Female Character' is done well, drawing their strength not from suppressing their femininity but embarrassing it. For instance, Princess Lela (Star Wars), Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ripley (Alien), Furiosa (Mad Max Fury Road) and Suki and Katara (Avatar the Last Air Bender.)

In fact, The Last Air Bender is full of well written and capable female characters who are both strong and feminine. A scene that particularly highlights this for me is in the season-one episode Kyoshi Island. One of the main characters, Sokka has quite literally had his narrow misogynistic worldview beaten out of him, and in the climax of the episode, he has a conversation with Suki.

Sokka: I treated you like a girl, when I should have treated you like a warrior. 

Suki: I am a warrior. But I am a girl too. 

This little, short exchange highlights that the two aspects aren't mutually exclusive. It's clear that being a warrior and a girl is key to who Suki is. They go together hand in hand as core aspects of her personality. 

Katara is a highly-skilled water bender who uses this skill to help out a lot in combat, but I'd argue her true strength comes from her compassion and heart. She's nurturing, motherly, empathetic, and optimistic. But that doesn't mean she's a pushover. In fact, some of her best scenes are when she gets fired up and takes a stand for what she believes in. While Katara plays many roles in the dynamic of 'Team Avatar', mentoring Ang in water bending, fighting, I'd argue that her key role is the mother of the group, the emotional support, providing that support, love, and care when others need it.

In fact, Season two's episode, 'The desert' highlights precisely how valuable her emotional strength is. While Ang is grieving due to the loss of Appa, Toph is handicapped due to her blindness, and Sokka is high on cactus juice, she holds it together, using her intelligence, emotional resilience, and hopefulness to get them through it. Highlighting how her nurturing and motherly nature contributes to her strength. Also, the ending ends on one of the most emotional beats in the show. Ang has entered the Avatar state due to his hurt, anger, and pain, putting the lives of those around him in danger, and how does Katara stop it. She gives him a hug, that's it, a hug. She sees his pain and offers him comfort, stopping the danger not through physical actions but emotional support.

So, I think it's time we abandon the phrase Strong Female Character. It is far too broad and doesn't encapsulate the complexities of what it means to be a woman. Instead, I think it's time to say well written female characters. As I said in the beginning, that's what defines a strong female character, not how physically strong she is, intelligent, and so on. But how well she’s written. 

credits

words — katie hulme

design — sâde popoola