Female Characters

I often hear about Strong Female Characters in stories.  In recent years I have heard the term used more and more frequently; so much so that I'm wondering if people even know what they are talking about.  
      Sure, we all love our women characters to be strong and independent.  I grew up with characters like Princess Leia and her mother Padme from Star Wars.  My favorite cartoon series (and by that I mean the only cartoon series I watch at all at this point) is all about young mares who learn about friendship and protect their home from evil.  But what is a Strong Female Character (SFC)?  And how do we differentiate between her and an Obligatory Feminist Archetype (OFA)?  

The first place to start would be characterization.  Does the woman have both strengths and weaknesses?  A good writer knows that that character is more interesting if she has qualities that are both good and bad.  For example, Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series is very intelligent, in fact, she's the best student in Hogwarts.  She is not afraid to speak her mind and desires to help those who most need it.  But she can also be an annoying know-it-all and sometimes doesn't think her ideas through.  This combination of virtues and flaws make her an interesting three-dimensional character.  

      Another thing to consider is that an SFC can be found in any role, traditional or otherwise.  Molly Weasley is an example of an SFC in a more traditional feminine role, that of the stay-at-home mother.  She is devoted to her family and friends and cares about their safety.  She looks after the house while her husband is at work and her kids are at Hogwarts.  But she is certainly no pushover.  Anyone foolish enough to get between her and her family—particularly her children—will more than likely find themselves in the afterlife.  

     Teneniel Djo of the Star Wars franchise is an example of an SFC in a non-traditional female role, the Amazon.  She is a huntress who roams the planet Dathomir.  She is a tough warrior and does not shy away from a fight.  Although she does not know it as the Force, she knows she is powerful and proves an invaluable ally to Luke Skywalker and Company when they are on Dathomir.  But she is not without vulnerability.  She is wandering soul because she was ousted from her clan and is trying to avoid the evil Nightsisters.  And she gradually learns that a man may want to be her partner and not so much her slave.  

       And an SFC understands the value of companionship.  Even if she is a fiercely independent woman, she will acknowledge that she cannot do everything on her own.  She may not want the man to stand in front of her and take the bullet, but she will be more than happy if he's watching her back from a distance and taking down those whom she does not see coming. 

An OFA at first sounds like an SFC, but in fact she is a kind of Mary Sue.  The first thing to notice is that she will be an insufferable equality queen** who is always right.  Tauriel from the Hobbit films exhibits this behavior in The Desolation of Smaug when she bluntly says, "This is our fight." She is always right in the film and Thranduil is almost always wrong.  This is not a mark of strength but of arrogance.  The love-triangle thing didn't help matters either*.  

        The OFA can only be found in one role, an exaggerated form of tomboy known as the Girl-in-Boy's-Clothes.  This is a woman character who holds traditional feminine trappings in contempt and acts as tough as she possibly can and is always better than the men.  Rey from the Disney canon behaves like a tough girl every chance she gets.  She defeats an evil overlord in less than a minute and is more powerful than Luke Skywaker.  She uses her anger on a regular basis and belittles the men around her.  And Disney wants her to be role model? 

      Finally, the OFA's entire purpose is to promote an agenda.  She will not have any personality save for whatever socio-political ideas the author wants to trumpet.  This means that any other characters in the story who are not the OFA will fade into the background and have little to no relevance no matter how often they appear.  And when that happens, the story dies.  
     

To sum it all up Strong Female Characters are likeable, fun, and entertaining.  Obligatory Feminist Archetypes are annoying, insufferable, and boring.  A woman should not have to cast aside all things feminine in order to be strong.  And no one wants to be around anyone who thinks she's right all the time.  Obligatory Feminist Archetypes give Strong Female Characters a bad name and should never be used in stories again. 

_____________________________________________________________
*If there is anyone reading this who bore witness to the horrific argument between me and my brother as we were leaving the now-defunct Eastgate Cinema in Madison on December 14th, 2013, I apologize for my rash behavior.  It was wrong of me to go into a purist fan rage in public. 

**An equality queen is a woman who fights for equality in a self-righteous manner. 

Updated 5-16-18 at 6:13 pm