Comment on In movies a strong woman is manly. (big muscles, aggressive, punches people, etc.) Is that really the way it is?

Syn_Attck@lemmy.today ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

This is a very vague and open-ended question. Keep thinking on it and ask a more specific question to get better answers.

Masculine is the word you’re looking for. It’s all the same, really, just less precise. Out of biological necessity, women and men evolved different ways of handling situations. There will never be a stereotype or trait that applies to every individual of a large group, but if I ask you which is more likely to get into a bar fight, it’s clear the scale tips in one direction or the other.

But regarding the movie question, no. It’s cheap to make a woman physically beefy to give the idea that she’s strong. There are many examples where the woman hero character is not beefy strongwoman. Movies where sword skill or martial arts are employed. There are characters of women who are strong because of their intelligence, always being one step ahead. Characters who use their cunning wit and charm to con people. Characters who are able to unite opposing groups to fight a larger enemy.

You see big = strong more often because it’s an easy trope. You wouldn’t expect to see a movie with some lanky spaghetti armed guy kicking ass all day. At most he’d usually be the hacker sidekick for comedic effect.

The discussion around gender stereotypes, no matter how accurate, will always be a landmine, so be warned.

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