“That movie was awesome, and I love that the hero was a girl!”
“She was such a strong lead; I didn’t expect that.”
“This book has a surprisingly independent female protagonist.”
I support a strong female lead as much as the next person. Seeing women represented in a positive, empowering light is necessary for everyone, young and old, male and female. But the way we approach female heroes, or heroines, perpetuates the idea that a female lead is somehow unexpected. We don’t talk about Tom Cruise or Chris Pratt in the same way as Sandra Bullock or Jennifer Lawrence; our approach to Jason Borne is drastically different than our response to Katniss Everdeen. Maybe that is not the best comparison, but that is exactly the point.
Male protagonists are a part of our systemic narrative. We are familiar with them. Nobody bats an eye when Harry Potter is the story’s focus. Of course Winston is the lead in 1984. Really, who else could it be? But Liesel in The Book Thief? Jane Eyre is the lead in a novel titled for her? Oh, man. Now we’re getting crazy. With these female leads, we obviously have to analyze every possible reason why she is the lead, and why she isn’t a man. We have to see what implications her presence could have on the story. She is detracted from as a character because she is focused on as a woman; her gender takes the lead while she becomes a secondary character in her own story.
A woman should not be seen only for her gender; men aren’t. Female protagonists are not something to be celebrated; male leads aren’t. When there is a strong woman in the lead, we celebrate everything about her. We celebrate her independence, her strength, her wit, her critical thinking skills, her ability make decent wardrobe choices, her successful interactions with men. When we celebrate these things, we show that we don’t expect them out of women. We expect women to be dependent on those, primarily the men, around her. We expect women to be weak, physically, mentally and emotionally. We expect women to be dim and simple-minded. We expect women to exist for the male gaze and not herself, which would explain why heroines tend to wear flimsy leotards while their male counterparts are fully covered to protect themselves when they go into battle. We expect women to fail and falter on even the smallest things, and it’s an accomplishment when they don’t. But men? Their independence, strength, wit, intelligence, and suaveness are all expected.
I know what some are inevitably thinking, “Oh, calm down, they’re just fictional characters. It’s not like they’re real.” If only that were the case. These expectations are reflected and projected onto real women. When we celebrate women, we show that there is a systemic difference between men and women and they ought to be treated so.
If men can be seen as great characters apart from their gender, why can’t women? If Batman can be a great hero without adding “and he’s a man!” at the end to validate his worth, why can’t Catwoman be a great character in the same way? The world is about 50% women, but the representation of women in film, books, and TV doesn’t reflect that. The fact that it is 2016 and we still need to celebrate women in every form of media for the sake of increasing our representation shows a discrepancy in the representation and treatment of women in these modes.
Continue celebrating women as people; be excited when you see a strong female lead. But don’t define her as a character based on her womanhood. Let’s rewrite our narrative so that female and male leads are both expected and supported.
