I wonder if perhaps the problem has good intentions at it's heart; that we are more critical of female characters (who are, let's remember, not real women) because we are wary of being sold inferior, stereotypical characterisations of women by misogynist writers, and we feel the need to fight the slightest hint of that at every turn. I think it's important to be aware of and reject shoddy and sexist characterisation (of both female and male characters), but I do think fans reject female characters on the slightest provocation and accept deeply flawed male characters with a lot of handwaving and excuses about why it is okay to like them.
I have found myself becoming attached to some female characters, like you said, precisely because they turn stereotypes on their heads, taking characteristics we are used to seeing (and accepting) in male characters and applying them to women. I loved Erica Hahn on Grey's Anatomy (although I believe I'm unusual in this) because she was so caustic and aggressive and sure of herself, it was refreshing. I like Cristina for similar reasons; I enjoy having a female character to watch who is ambitious, self-interested and who rejects "feminine" interests like motherhood and displaying her emotions because they just don't interest her. I mean, her character is kind of a horrible person in a lot of ways, but she would be if she were male as well, and I like her anyway. It's also nice that, unlike Hahn, Cristina can be caustic and aggressive and not secretly a lesbian! It shows, to me, that the writers of the show understand lesbianism and particular gendered behaviours aren't necessarily linked; Cristina is a lot like Hahn in her "unfeminine" attitudes and behaviour, but she's straight, because sexuality isn't the defining factor of behaviour for either of them. But that was kind of a tangent, sorry :)
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I wonder if perhaps the problem has good intentions at it's heart; that we are more critical of female characters (who are, let's remember, not real women) because we are wary of being sold inferior, stereotypical characterisations of women by misogynist writers, and we feel the need to fight the slightest hint of that at every turn. I think it's important to be aware of and reject shoddy and sexist characterisation (of both female and male characters), but I do think fans reject female characters on the slightest provocation and accept deeply flawed male characters with a lot of handwaving and excuses about why it is okay to like them.
I have found myself becoming attached to some female characters, like you said, precisely because they turn stereotypes on their heads, taking characteristics we are used to seeing (and accepting) in male characters and applying them to women. I loved Erica Hahn on Grey's Anatomy (although I believe I'm unusual in this) because she was so caustic and aggressive and sure of herself, it was refreshing. I like Cristina for similar reasons; I enjoy having a female character to watch who is ambitious, self-interested and who rejects "feminine" interests like motherhood and displaying her emotions because they just don't interest her. I mean, her character is kind of a horrible person in a lot of ways, but she would be if she were male as well, and I like her anyway. It's also nice that, unlike Hahn, Cristina can be caustic and aggressive and not secretly a lesbian! It shows, to me, that the writers of the show understand lesbianism and particular gendered behaviours aren't necessarily linked; Cristina is a lot like Hahn in her "unfeminine" attitudes and behaviour, but she's straight, because sexuality isn't the defining factor of behaviour for either of them. But that was kind of a tangent, sorry :)