I'm Tired of "Strong" Female Characters Part Three

Last week, I shared three tips on crafting a strong female character in this blog post. This week, I've saved my biggest tip for last. It's just one tip, but I've saved this for one big post so that it's easier to understand and apply. Are you ready? Here we go! 

Let Her Be Strong in Other Ways.

The only way that strong women seem to be depicted as being strong is in a fierce and violent way. 

The strong woman is the one beating up all of the bad guys. She's the one leading the rebels into battle. She's the one going undercover. She's doing what the guys can't (my thoughts on this will need to wait for a different post). But fighting isn't the only way a woman can be strong.

One strong woman in fiction is Arwen of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. 

She doesn't fight anyone. She doesn't kill anyone. She doesn't run around "breaking stereotypes" and "proving that women can do whatever men can do." Yet she doesn't sit around making doilies either. Arwen waits loyally for Aragorn to come back to her. She never lets go of the hope that she will be reunited with Aragorn. She encourages others around her. She is full of grace and isn't afraid to be feminine. 

Arwen makes the hard choice to stay behind with the man she loves instead of leaving Middle Earth with her people for someplace far safer. She refuses to let go of love, even if it is the "easier" way out.

Sometimes, being strong doesn't mean chasing the bad guys. Sometimes, it means simply being brave, no matter what's going on around you. Sometimes it means being strong for others, even if we aren't the ones charging into battle against an army of orcs.

Doesn't it take more strength to heal than it does to hurt? 

Lucy Pevensie, from C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, was given a special healing cordial from Father Christmas. She uses this cordial to heal others, including her brother Edmund. Yes, Lucy uses a dagger when necessary, but she is primarily a healer, in my opinion.

It takes more strength to heal and mend than it does to hurt others. It takes more strength to help others than to tear them down. Women were designed by God to be nurturing, loving, and caring. These traits shine in healing. Why shouldn't the strong women of fiction do more healing, not just in the physical sense, but also in the spiritual sense? 

We need to see more women who are strong in character in the books we read.

When I think of a strong female character that is strong in character, I almost immediately think of DC Comic's Wonder Woman. Wait a minute, you may be saying. Isn't she one of those cliché strong women? And aren't you a Marvel Comics fan?* Well, yes, Wonder Woman does a whole lot of fighting, but what I love about Wonder Woman is that she has a strong character. She is full of compassion. She wants to help others. She stands strong in her beliefs, no matter what. She encourages the people around her. She is full of grace, and despite all of her fighting for justice, she is also gentle. Wonder Woman isn't just strong physically, but she is also strong in character. She's a great example of a strong female in fiction, in my opinion. Her character is something that girls can truly look up to!

*Yes, I am a HUGE Marvel Comics fan, but I have two exceptions to my I-don't-like-DC-that-much stance. Those two exceptions are the Flash (Grant Gustin's Flash, of course) and Wonder Woman. 

These are just a few ways that women in fiction can break free from our culture's fake version of strength and be truly strong. 

I've only scratched the surface of this subject with this post. There are so many different ways women can be strong without having to hurt others or be a ninja-warrior. Are there women that can beat up bad guys? Yes, there absolutely are. Is there anything wrong with having a female character who happens to be skilled in archery or swordplay? No, there isn't. But girls need to see more than just that in the women they look up to fiction. 

I hope you'll join me next week as I wrap up this series on strong female characters. 

What do you think? What are some other ways women can be strong?