The Strong Female Protagonist

Current Music: The Iris - Summer Stars

I do not like most "strong" female leads. When the lead character is a female and described as strong, she is almost, invariably, sexually driven, manipulative or otherwise pretty malicious. Any of this things are perfectly acceptable in any human, I simply resent that a woman isn't considered strong, in media, unless she is very sexual or conniving. I should example this. Based on a true story, a play about "the spiritual leader of Argentina", Evita, comes to mind. A conversation about the named main character is what inspired this tirade. Also, my sentence structure is all over the fucking place tonight. Please, pardon my syntax. My date to the show is a fan of the musical and had even seen it played by a different cast not too long ago. After the show, I say that I liked the play but I did not like the character of Evita for few reasons; I did not see her as a good person, just a social climbing opportunist that cheapened herself by using sex as a political bargaining chip. The conversation went around and she was described as a strong woman for those very reasons and my date even specifically says that's why he likes this play. He likes it because of the "strong female lead".

Sookie Stackhouse, both book and TV version is another. She very rarely drives the plot or story in any direction and is rather the vessel of desires by other, stronger characters. But because she asserts herself sexually, often and without remorse, as well as her uncanny ability to be completely unaffected by any past plot points (no matter how personally and deeply they affected her until her next romp), she is often described as a strong female lead. Sex is great. Sex is wonderful. However, I can not satisfy my longing for female characters that I can relate to with two-dimensional protagonistas on their backs. Nothing she does is inherently wrong, it's what she doesn't do (make choices, assert herself, stand by her decisions, take care of herself) that, again, makes me resent her representation as "strong".

Is the ability to have sex for personal gain, the drive to take advantage of those around you or a predilection for physical altercations all that can differentiate a woman from "standard"?

Maybe I should counter-example to show the contrast? A completely unsexualized example might be Mathilda, from the Ronald Dahl story of the same name. This girl is a shining beacon of strength of character. Given volatile and untraceable powers, her sense of right and wrong remains crystal clear. She rights wrongs, protects those with less power than herself and, even when suffering from self-doubt, is a emotional touchstone for her readers and the characters around her. She is well-rounded, flawed, scared-yet-resilient, delightfully witty, intuitive young lady with super powers. If I could watch a show with a character like Mathilda, with or without any telekinesis, I'd tivo the ever-loving shit out of it.