In recent years, the concept of strong and smart female characters have been the subject of attention in the media, making it seem that it’s a new concept. However, the concept of strong and smart female characters isn’t new. The concept has been around for a few decades but the difference now is that many strong and smart female characters have been ruined through politicization from the liberal elements of the media in recent years by including 4th wave feminist rhetoric. Some examples of politicized female characters are Wonder Woman, ghost busters, furioza and Captain marvel.
And there definitely is disapproval but it’s a strawman to assume that it’s only so called “misogynistic men” who have a problem with politicized female characters when in fact many people regardless of sex, race, religion, political views have vocally expressed their disapproval of the politicization of tough female characters.The disapproval is completely understandable, most people watch movies and tv shows for fun, not for some forced political message. In this take I’ll show examples of non politicized tough female characters that are admired by many people regardless of differences.
1. Honey Ryder(Dr. No 1962)
One of the first ever “sexy yet strong” female characters to appear in a film. This character appeared in the first ever James Bond film called Dr. No. She doesn’t dish out punishment on screen but it’s implied that she can take care of herself. She is played by Ursula Andress.
2. P*ssy Galore (Goldfinger1964)
A strong female character appearing in theJames Bond film “Goldfinger” and is played by Honor Blackman. Try not to laugh at her first name, “P*ssy” didn’t have a vulgar alternative meaning back in the 60s. This character is dressed in a female business suit, which is already a sign of power. She is also a leader of a group of female bomber pilots. She initially works for the villain but eventually switches sides and becomes a “Bond girl”.
3. Kissy Suzuki (You only live twice 1967)
One of the first strong Asian female characters in film. In the James Bond film “You only live twice” Kissy Suzuki played by Mie Hama, is portrayed as a Ninja working for a Japanese Ninja clan that is allied with James Bond. She is shown to be able to take care of herself and even dishes out some punishment on the villains in the film. In the novel, her character has a son with James Bond.
4. Princess Leia (Star Wars franchise)
Princess Leia’s Character is a very strong character. She is shown to have good combat skills and the ability to remain calm in tough situations, including when she was in Jabba the hut’s custody a part of the story that angered 4th wave feminists a couple years ago because of how Leia was dressed even though the film had already been out for a few decades.
5. Marion Ravenwood (Indiana Jones)
The character of Marion Ravenwood is the primary love interest of Indiana Jones. However her character isn’t your typical damsel in distress, her character can definitely stand her ground and is strong willed as well.
6. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider franchise)
The tomb raider franchise has been around since 1996, it was originally going to have a male protagonist but it got scrapped due to it being similar to Indiana Jones. And so Lara Croft was born. It’s primarily a video game series but there have also been three Tomb Raider movies released with Angelina Jolie starring in the first two, while Alicia Vikander starred in the latest one. The character of Lara Croft appeals to everyone regardless of politics due to it being a apolitical “sexy and strong” female character. However, the 4th wave feminists started to get upset over the “sexualized” and “unrealistic” depiction of Lara Croft, prompting all Tomb raider games and movies from 2013 and onwards to portray a more “realistic” and less sexualized lara Croft. While Tomb raider games haven’t completely succumbed to the liberal PC trend, Lara Croft no longer wears sexy clothing.
7. Most Resident Evil female characters
Almost Every female character in resident evil is strong and capable of punching above their weight class. It’s funny how Japanophobes criticize Japan for being a “misogynistic” country when the Japanese entertainment industry has created an abundant amount of strong female characters. Resident evil is no exception, even the resident evil movies have a dominant female lead that is not politicized.
8. Sarah Connor (Terminator Franchise)
A strong and highly intelligent character from the Terminator franchise, originally played by Linda Hamilton. Despite having no martial arts training, she can still handle herself in close range combat and is able to get herself out of difficult situations. Having survived her encounter with the terminator in the first film, her character evolved into a battle hardened character in the second film. She demonstrated excellent prowess by subduing several abusive orderlies and the close minded psychiatrist. She showed high intelligence by escaping her restraints and breaking out of the psychiatric hospital she was wrongly detained in.
9. Wei Lin (Tommorow Never Dies 1997)
The second dominant Asian woman in a James Bond film is Wei Lin portrayed by Michelle Yeoh. Most “Bond girls” are damsels in distress but every once in a while there’s a Bond girl that is capable of standing her ground. Wei Lin is one of them. 
10. Trinity (Matrix franchise)
The character of Trinity played by Carrie Anne Moss, is one of the most iconic female characters ever created. Not only was she the first character introduced in the first matrix film but she instantly proved to be able to punch way above her weight class by effortlessly subduing her attackers in the first scene. She also makes the first move on the male protagonist Neo played by Keanu Reeves. It’s not very often that a female character shows her romantic feelings first.
11. Jinx (Die Another Day 2002)
The latest Bond girl that can stand her ground played by Halle Berry. She proves to almost be James Bond’s equal in this film.
12. Black Widow (MCU)
Black Widow played by Scarlett Johansson is the most beloved female character in the MCU. Both male and female marvel fans love this tough female character. She’s smart, strong and attractive without any political motivations behind her character.
13. Arya Stark (Game Of Thrones series)
The character at first glance doesn’t seem much at first but she’s a lot tougher than she looks and is able to punch above her weight class by battling a woman that’s 5 times her size to a draw.
14. Tris Prior (Divergent series)
The character of Tris Prior played by Shailene Woolley is a very tough female character that continues develop as the story progresses. She starts off as a defenseless character and eventually develops into a very tough and smart character.
15. Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games franchise)
Played by Jennifer Lawrence. Katniss is a character that has excellent survival skills and has good aim with her bow. She also becomes a symbol of defiance.
16. Elektra(Daredevil season 2 and The Defenders)
Played by Elodie Yung. This version of Elektra is very powerful, capable of physically overpowering Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist in one fight.
17. Sam Carlson (Close 2019)
A body guard played by Noomi Rapace, this character is smart, tough and can get out of tough situations.
18. Alita Battle Angel (2019)
A movie based on a Japanese Manga that follows the story of a female cyborg(player by Rosa Salazar) in the future.
19. Morgan Yu (Prey 2017)
In this video game, the player can choose to play as either a male or female. Whether the player chooses to play as male or female, the character name and story is the same. It’s a first person video game which means the player sees the game events through eyes of the protagonist who is very tough.
20. Any RPG female protagonist
Whether it be the Fallout series, Elder Scrolls series, Saints Row series etc. All female protagonists are in no way political. Besides it wouldn’t make sense to make a RPG game political since that would defeat the purpose of an RPG game where you can choose your character’s back story, traits, sex, race, design their physical appearance and do whatever you want in the game with that character.
So as you can see, feminism is not needed to create smart and tough female characters. I can guarantee you that you’ll find almost no criticism of the female characters listed above. On the contrary, these characters have a received praise in some form from both male and female audiences regardless of their political differences.
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