Look around this very site and you will find numerous of strong female heroes I grew up with. These heroines range from superheroes to sci-fi to the lone post-apocalypse story I actually enjoy. I have nothing against strong women taking the lead and kicking butt in their own way. It’s when they do it like a man would, or rather a poorly written male hero, that I get disappointed. I like seeing what they bring to the table that separates her from the guys.
We live in a time when writers are either afraid to make a female character struggle because of backlash from certain groups, or refuses to have them struggle because they’re part of those groups. This leads to a character so strong that she’s boring to watch, which when done with a male hero is still that boring.
In the following video, which if you’re reading this means I needed to get something out there due to no article ideas of not being able to work on anything in time for posting due to life, Literature Devil on YouTube digs into the evolution of the Mary Sue into a “girl-boss”, why they make for terrible or boring heroes, and gives us examples of heroines who did it better by being great characters instead of power fantasy stereotypes meant to represent the entirety of womanhood…ignoring those women both creative and in fandom who hate those characters. The video is an hour long, with some mild swearing, so have a seat and send the kids out, then read my own thoughts, with my own examples of this done right.
To copy/paste from my comment on the video:
Next Morning Nonsense Superchat goal: buy LD a white outline so the black arrow doesn’t blend into darker parts of an image.
There are two examples of some of these characters done better, Riri specifically and Rey in a more general sense. Here on YouTube you can find a cartoon called Marvel Rising: Heart Of Iron. You can guess what character makes her debut, but the difference here is how she’s written. She’s still a genius adapting Tony’s work (Tony makes a brief cameo to show the hero in the armor wasn’t him) but her motivation is to become a hero and keep others from suffering like her stepdad did. (He dies in a car accident rather than a drive-by because it’s a kids show.)
Riri ostracizes her friends, including the still alive Natalie, because her goal of creating her own powers Stark style and be a hero to help others, which only plays into the story because her AI has become her only friend, and she’s going to have to sacrifice her/it to save the world. She learns to connect with others because this version of Squirrel Girl is that good at making friends and her computer programming skills bring them to work together. She finds friends among the very heroes she wants to be part of and begins to heal. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than any other Riri depiction thus far, and the woman leading the team has to gain confidence in herself to lead the team and realize everyone is on her side. Plus the villain is Hala, another woman, so it’s not a “men bad” story.
As for Rey I always point to Rowan Freemaker. The Freemaker Adventures may be a LEGO Star Wars parody, but Rowan has to learn to use the Force to find the McGuffin in the first story and become a Force Builder in the second season, a title that only exists in a LEGO world. He trains with others and on his own to get better over the course of the series, and earns his victories, aided by his older siblings and droid friend, plus the mentors he makes in both shows (one of which turns out to be evil). If Rey was more like Rowan she might be easier to cheer on, and the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special does have her struggle to become a good Jedi Instructor after seriously screwing up. LEGO parodies understand character development better than Lucasfilm.
I grew up with a lot of heroines in my stories, and they all needed help, ultimately saving the day on her own only if her name was in the title or she was the last one standing. Otherwise she was thankful for mentors, friends, sidekicks, and allies regardless of gender. I miss those days.
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