Wanted: Strong Female Characters and Representation

A question you hear asked of male writers is how they write strong female characters. The answer is usually the same; they write them like they would write a strong male character. On the surface, this egalitarian response is exactly what we want. 

The idea of strong female character has become a trope of certain genres. It’s now moved into the realm of being a stock character archetype. Typically, when we look at the characters in this category we think of Buffy Summers, Black Widow, Cersei Lannister, Arya Stark, etc. We tend to look for women who tend to take on more typically masculine characteristics in terms of codes of behavior. These women kick ass, sometimes literally. This seems to be directly related to a male perspective of feminism. It’s about treating the women as though they were no different from their male counterparts, and this is certainly feminism at its heart.

However, there is another aspect of feminist media that I think we sometimes overlook in pursuit of female characters as the hero in narratives, and that is the issue of representation. I don’t want to be misunderstood; I am grateful that men like Joss Whedon, George R.R. Martin, and by extension David Benioff and Dan Weiss have created spaces for the strong female character. Yet, there is more to the female experience than the desire to be the hero. We want to see ourselves and our experiences reflected back to us.

For example, there were some who were disturbed and outraged by a scene in Age of Ultron, where Natasha Romanoff calls herself a “monster.” She then relates that she is unable to children due to undergoing a sterilization procedure as part of her assassin training in an undisclosed Soviet-esque state. In the context of the scene, there is more going on than Natasha’s struggle with the sterilization she underwent. Her “vision” induced by Scarlet Witch replayed many of the horrific scenes from her past life as an assassin. She feels like a monster because she is a murderer. 

However, women feel that this confession that some saw as commentary about women needing to be able to have children in order to be complete, that it was her infertility that made her less human. Through no fault of his own, it would be difficult for Whedon to understand the immense pressure some women from family and society as a whole to have children. This pressure sometimes leads to women without children feeling less valued members of society. I know that I have expressed that I have little to no desire to be a mother. This revelation is usually met with an assurance that I will someday change my mind and want to have children, that my biological clock just hasn’t started ticking yet. These conversations generally lead to moments of self-doubt and anxiety. I wonder if there is something wrong with me if I truly don’t want to be a mother.

This is why it is so important that women directors, writers, and producers have a seat at the table. As well-intentioned as men like Whedon and Martin may be, they cannot completely understand what it is like to be a woman and how our experiences shape our interactions with the world around us. It becomes easy for audiences to misinterpret what they are trying to say.

The upcoming season of Marvel’s Netflix show, Jessica Jones, will be directed by all women. This is a significant milestone as Jessica Jones will be one of the few shows helmed exclusively by women. Jessica Jones is a deeply flawed and broken “hero.” The first season was praised for its honest dealing with issues of rape, assault, and PTSD. While these are not issues exclusive to women, no two people experience and deal with them in the same way. Especially when talking about rape and consent, women may process the experience different from men. While male and female victims of sexual assault may both have to overcome doubt in their reports, these doubts are manifested in different ways. Having a female voice will provide additional authenticity beyond the actress’ character portrayal.

While strong female characters are important role models for young girls, it is also important for them to see the whole of the female experience. Strong women are allowed to break. Strength is not necessarily the lack of emotions as we see in the portrayal of strong male characters. There is strength in embracing one’s flaws and being vulnerable. It’s this dichotomy that can sometimes be lacking when women are written as the “strong female character” archetype.

Below is about a half hour long video with some of Hollywood's leading ladies discussing representation and what it means to be more than just a pretty face: