What does it mean to be ‘a strong female character’ in today’s media? This label has been bestowed upon many female Hollywood icons, including Katniss Everdeen, Daenerys Targaryen, Furiosa and many others. While I agree that these women may all be classified as strong female characters, it is not their physical strength and courage that makes them so.
The notion of the strong female character has, in my opinion, become somewhat warped in recent years. More often than not, the characters with this title are weapon-wielding, highly-trained fighting machines that punch their way out of every situation. There also exists a similar trope where there is a ‘chosen’ woman who is somehow better or more special than the female characters surrounding her due to luck, magic or an uncanny ability to pick up difficult skills more quickly than anyone else. However, my least favorite is the female character who exists solely for her sex appeal and fights battles in an impractical, dangerous costume and is still marketed as a strong woman due to the fact she can shoot a gun or throw a punch.
What makes a female character strong is her complexity; a female character who is well-developed, with a background and history that contribute to her personality and decisions, is a strong one. A strong female character can be jealous, heartbroken, stubborn or downright mean, because real women experience these emotions on a daily basis. Strong female characters do not have to be stone-faced, emotionless fighting machines, just as they do not have to have a story line revolving around a lead male character. Women are a diverse group of people and should be treated as such within the media.
Katniss Everdeen is a strong female character because of her realistic development and characterization as a teenage girl forced to lead a revolution, not because of her ability to shoot an arrow. Elizabeth Bennet, a woman who never picks up a weapon in the entire duration of her storyline, is just as much a strong female character as Katniss. What is important in writing realistic, strong women is not to create girls who are superior to their peers, but rather to create women who drive plot lines and act like real women. After all, women are not all part of a singular hive mind; we have our own likes, dislikes, stories, goals and driving forces, and a strong female character is one who is a realistic portrayal of our truly incredible diversity.
