A popular trait in fantasy media recently has been to portray the lead female characters in an aggressive light. The female characters are usually very strong willed and abrasive towards other characters, striving to prove their worth. It has been pushed to a stereotype to see the lead female character being motivated to prove that she is “one of the boys” and that she does not need a man to save her because she is not a typical damsel in distress. This stereotype has been seen across genres on multiple occasions, Astrid in the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”, Arya in the book “Eragon”, and Sophia Lamb in the video game “Bioshock”.
The stereotypical female character who tries to prove her worth usually is presented with a masculine personality. The female character tries to act tough like the guys to prove that her femininity does not hold her back and that she can accomplish anything the males can. In a movie such as “How to Train Your Dragon” the stubborn and strong character Astrid has an immediate disliking to the agreeable and amiable main character. Astrid’s unwarranted aggression towards the hero presents the audience with unnecessary tension. This lays the ground work for future character development as Astrid later changes her mind and warms up to him, but the tension has already tainted the mood of the film which was trying to be light and cheerful. As Judith Halberstam says in Chapter 34, “Performances of masculinity seem to demand a different genre of humor and performance. It is difficult to make masculinity the target of camp precisely because masculinity tends to manifest as nonperformative” and this aspect did have an affect on the films light hearted charm. Astrid’s sour mood toward other characters is a jarring element to the character’s relationships, and thus feels like a moral lesson that the filmmakers were trying to force into the movie.
By comparison, Eowyn from the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy was an excellent female character. Eowyn was determined to do her part to serve her country Rohan without being abrasive towards others and more importantly without losing her femininity. Eowyn remained compassionate and caring towards Pippin by allowing him to ride on her horse and yet she was passionate and brave enough to ride into battle and even defeat the Lord of the Nazgul herself, something many men were too afraid to attempt. She shows an impressive balance between being a woman and a warrior despite the fact that the King, who is her Uncle, commanding her to stay out of the fight. While she proved that she could hold her own in battle she also managed to preserve her personality and character. She did not feel that she had to act masculine to prove her worth.
Most Fantasy movies and books could learn a lesson from Eowyn. Women in today’s society assume that they have to show masculinity to be equals with men but Eowyn shows that women can be equals without being cold to others. It is more ideal for women to be tru to their feminine warmth and compassion than to try and be masculine to compete with men.
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