I'm a huge fan of sci-fi/fantasy/action plot lines. I love superheroes. I love space. I love aliens. I love mythical creatures. I especially love when women are portrayed as human in these tales. What I HATE about these genres is that they seem especially prone to Strong Female Characters.
Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with characters who identify as female being bad-ass and standing up for herself and saving the day. What I'm referring to is the exhausting pattern of tropes that lead to Strong Female Characters, who are often only "Strong" under the male gaze.
Their outfits are rarely practical, and really only make the women look sexy. They generally do not achieve anything the men do, but they achieve something just big enough for the writer to say, "See? She did SOMETHING." My least favorite is when they are hyper-sexual, with a sex drive that no human could possibly have. And they're always conventionally pretty.
I'm not saying that I'm against strong female characters, but what I'm upset about is the fact that now, the only strong female characters that we get are cut from the same cookie cutter. Quite frankly, I don't give a shit about Strong Women. Show me weak women, show me evil women, show me women with daddy issues, mommy issues, living in poverty, being a villain, being the hero, winning, losing, crying, laughing, having sex (real sex, not porn), kicking ass and taking name, being a coward whose absolutely useless in battle.
What I'm saying is that I DON'T want all female characters to be flawless Strong Female Characters. I want characters based off of real human characteristics. I love the fact that George RR Martin wrote Sansa Stark to be such a wilting flower. Because you know what? There are real women that exist in the world that DO fantasize about their crush and ultimately end up in a quasi-abusive relationship. There ARE real women who are so naive as to not leave a bag of dicks similar to Joffery.
I've had to sit for twenty-some-odd years watching story upon story about weak men being slimy little rat bastards and STILL considered the hero. I want women who are flawed and REAL. I could not care less if they were sassy and didn't need no man...
...What I care most about is the fact that even when the image of women you're putting out into the world is a positive one, it does not negate the fact that it is still only ONE image.
Strong Female Character or not, we can't keep telling the same story over and over again. Do you know how many stupid fucking comic panels I've looked at JUST encasing Bruce Wayne's self-loathing alone? How hard is it to write some dimension into female characters. Make Wonder Woman cry. Make Cat-woman have a day where she just cant stand to look herself in the mirror. Make Harley get into an argument with the Joker and tell him she's leaving, only for her to end up going back to him. Make Poison Ivy stop mid-way in seducing a man because her best friend calls or her test results from her newest plant experiment came back.
Either way, can we please do something so that there isn't just ONE narrative for women being told?
