Alright, before I get yelled at by a horde of people throwing 'misogyny' around like a sock they crapped in to beat me with, read this. When it comes to most media, be it movies, tv shows, videogames, books, I find that most of my favorite characters are women. The ones listed in the stamp, and a bunch more. And I'm not referring to brainless women wearing nothing and spreading their legs for the camera. Cortana from Halo, Celes Chere from Final Fantasy VI, Raven from Teen Titans, Zatanna from DC Comics, Makina Hoshimura from Shikabane Hime, Alicia Claus from Bullet Witch, Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, Ashrah from Mortal Kombat, and the list just goes on. I'm also a very big professional wrestling fan, but I'm disgusted by the state of women's wrestling, for the most part. It's oversexualized eye candy. That said, there are smaller independent promotions like SHIMMER which feature real female athletes, and I love them. Hell, I own some of their DVDs. So don't start with the "oh you hate women characters unless they're wearing nothing", you couldn't be further from the truth.

My problem? Too many writers seem to think that a 'strong' female character needs to be overbearing about it. The fact that she is a 'strong woman' becomes integral to her character. They try too hard to make her come off as strong, which makes her unlikeable, impossible to relate to for either gender. And then, when people voice dislike, our critics automatically jump to "you just can't handle a strong woman!" Such mindless rhetoric is why I stay out of politics.

For a woman to be strong (or for a man to be strong!) what matters is: If she gets knocked down, does she shake it off and get back up? If she's the victim of some sexist remark or action, does she cry about it, or does she move on? Can she stand up for herself, does she hold her ground when a volatile situation comes to blows? Even if she's not strong in the physical sense, is she strong emotionally? All this is important to a strong character. What is NOT included in a strong character, however, are:

-Emasculating men for fun.
-Yelling constantly when she doesn't get her way.
-Having to point out that she's a strong woman and you'd better deal with it.
-"It's DOCTOR, not Miss!" or some similar thing, constantly stated.
-Blatant bias and hypocrisy when it comes to her views between men and women.
-"I don't NEED you to come and RESCUE ME", or some similar thing, constantly stated, when all the male character did was ask if she needs help in, you know, defeating the demonic supervillain and his legion of horrors, and saving the world.

These are a few of the many mistakes that writers of today seem to constantly be making, believing that these are important in making a strong character and believing that it's what people want to see. It's the reason why so many strong female fronted works, like Canterbury's Law, are failing left right and center. It's not because "we can't handle a strong woman character." It's because, in a thinking audience, neither gender is amused by an over the top, overbearing, unrelatable, bitchy character, crammed down our throats as the lead of an otherwise great show or movie.

I hope writers start realizing their growing mistakes, and start producing more strong female characters who are actually likeable and relatable. Sad that almost all the characters in this stamp were created in the 90's or even earlier. Honestly, can't writers start getting it right again?

And yes, everything I stated here? Just as annoying if a male character does it.