What would a female power fantasy character look like?

[TehCookie]

Female here, don't men jack off to everything? There are men to fap to male power fantasies, but that doesn't exclude it as a power fantasy. I'd say the same applies to female power fantasies. Everyone has different fetishes, I don't think that should disqualify characters.

Also that female-perspective sexual fantasy in the OP has to be a joke. It might help figure out what girls like if you ask them instead of asking people on the internet who pretend to be girls. I can't believe the author saw those results and thought it was even remotely accurate.

well the thing is, that most characters like She Hulk, who is an Strong Independent Woman, who likes Attention, are considered Male Sexual Fantasy instead of a Female Power fantasy, even though she fits the description of a Power Fantasy.


Im guessing most discriminating is inherently done by these people that want to categorize everything, in the efforts of having their viewpoints lauded.

Superman is a male power fantasy yet plenty of women find him attractive, characters are not exclusive to one thing. I think characters can be both. Honestly with characters like She Hulk, it all depends on the camera and posing. Moviebob pretty much nailed that.

 

[Freechoice]

Ultimate female power fantasy = Princess Celestia. She's pretty much the all-powerful ruler and goddess of Equestria.

This is probably true.

Also, why the fuck hasn't the Major from GitS been listed yet? Jesus Christ, she was Bayonetta before Bayonetta and she wasn't a completely unlikable prick the entire time.

Also also, why do people list intelligence so goddamn much? Intelligence is a gender neutral characteristic that, on the male side, is generally reserved for specialized characters one could describe as "nerdy" and scheming bastard villains. So the girl has to be intelligent and kick ass? Isn't that inverse sexism or some shit trying to expect women to do calculus on a mook's face when it's sufficient for the male hero to just punch someone?

And what is intelligence? Is it tactical experience gained from years of combat experience? Is it street smarts? Did she go to some fancy college?

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Ever watch Xena: warrior princess? I'm a dude, but she is the first thing that springs to mind!

 

[ms_sunlight]

Ever watch Xena: warrior princess? I'm a dude, but she is the first thing that springs to mind!

She has many skills!

One thing I loved about Xena was, when she was fighting there was nothing girly about it. They made her look like she was really hitting people really hard, and Lucy Lawless had this fantastic wild look she'd put on her face, like she was totally lost in the moment.

 

[Casual Shinji]

So I guess Nightcrawler is kinda the Tali (Mass Effect 2) of the female nerd demographic.

Female power fantasy characters that aren't total jack off material for men as well? How about Nausicaa from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and San from Princess Mononoke? Both remarkably strong willed characters whose epidermis is mostly covered.

Then again, I'm a man.

Nausica is Miyazakis Male Domination Sexual Fantasy, he has a total hard on for strong independant women that can do everything and in the end rescue the prince.

Well shit, what isn't deemed a male sexual fantasy these days?

If you would've said San I might have begrudgingly agreed, since she fits the angry badass girl stereotype that nerds go for a bit more. But Nausicaa, really? Far be it from me to say what men go for, but I always figured the general opinion of Nausicaa to be that a good hearted young girl who is a jack of many trades and is well loved by her community; All in all a good role model

Then what about Dola from Castle in the Sky; She's a pirate captain and she blows shit up real good. And going by her haggard appearance, I doubt any man would be into her. Plus, she's 50. So she's not just a power fantasy for girls, she's one for old people, too.

Well theres enough porn of her on the internet to warrant for Strong Willed Action Girls Fetish, Hell You could probably throw in BUttercup from PPGZ in there too.

Then we had best return to characters like Catwoman and Rogue; Atleast their sexualization isn't creepy as fuck.

But when it comes down to it, does a female power fantasy need to be completely devoid of sex appeal? When you look at male power fantasies like James Bond and Indiana Jones, isn't the general description of these characters that women want them and men want to be them? Couldn't the same apply to female power fantasies, men want them and women want to be them?

How many power fantasies for either men or women can you name that aren't in peak physical condition, i.e. physically attractive? It's because it's part of the fantasy. We all want to be attractive to the opposite sex. It's just that what makes men and women attractive differs from eachother. A man can be attractive or sexy if he wears a tux, but that which makes a woman attractive or sexy is almost always seen as objectification.

 

[ms_sunlight]

When you look into comics you can find lots of female power fantasies. In both DC and Marvel.

"Female character who is powerful and appeals to men" is not the same as "female character who female readers aspire to because she is their power fantasy". The former is often a cariacature femme fatale or dominatrix.

Can you name me some characters who are aspirational to female readers as power fantasies, so we can examine your claim?

 

[boag]

Female here, don't men jack off to everything? There are men to fap to male power fantasies, but that doesn't exclude it as a power fantasy. I'd say the same applies to female power fantasies. Everyone has different fetishes, I don't think that should disqualify characters.

Also that female-perspective sexual fantasy in the OP has to be a joke. It might help figure out what girls like if you ask them instead of asking people on the internet who pretend to be girls. I can't believe the author saw those results and thought it was even remotely accurate.

well the thing is, that most characters like She Hulk, who is an Strong Independent Woman, who likes Attention, are considered Male Sexual Fantasy instead of a Female Power fantasy, even though she fits the description of a Power Fantasy.


Im guessing most discriminating is inherently done by these people that want to categorize everything, in the efforts of having their viewpoints lauded.

Superman is a male power fantasy yet plenty of women find him attractive, characters are not exclusive to one thing. I think characters can be both. Honestly with characters like She Hulk, it all depends on the camera and posing. Moviebob pretty much nailed that.

Then its not really the characters fault, its the framework around which they are observed that are to blame.

 

[boag]

So I guess Nightcrawler is kinda the Tali (Mass Effect 2) of the female nerd demographic.

Female power fantasy characters that aren't total jack off material for men as well? How about Nausicaa from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and San from Princess Mononoke? Both remarkably strong willed characters whose epidermis is mostly covered.

Then again, I'm a man.

Nausica is Miyazakis Male Domination Sexual Fantasy, he has a total hard on for strong independant women that can do everything and in the end rescue the prince.

Well shit, what isn't deemed a male sexual fantasy these days?

If you would've said San I might have begrudgingly agreed, since she fits the angry badass girl stereotype that nerds go for a bit more. But Nausicaa, really? Far be it from me to say what men go for, but I always figured the general opinion of Nausicaa to be that a good hearted young girl who is a jack of many trades and is well loved by her community; All in all a good role model

Then what about Dola from Castle in the Sky; She's a pirate captain and she blows shit up real good. And going by her haggard appearance, I doubt any man would be into her. Plus, she's 50. So she's not just a power fantasy for girls, she's one for old people, too.

Well theres enough porn of her on the internet to warrant for Strong Willed Action Girls Fetish, Hell You could probably throw in BUttercup from PPGZ in there too.

Then we had best return to characters like Catwoman and Rogue; Atleast their sexualization isn't creepy as fuck.

But when it comes down to it, does a female power fantasy need to be completely devoid of sex appeal? When you look at male power fantasies like James Bond and Indiana Jones, isn't the general description of these characters that women want them and men want to be them? Couldn't the same apply to female power fantasies, men want them and women want to be them?

How many power fantasies for either men or women can you name that aren't in peak physical condition, i.e. physically attractive? It's because it's part of the fantasy. We all want to be attractive to the opposite sex. It's just that what makes men and women attractive differs from eachother. A man can be attractive or sexy if he wears a tux, but that which makes a woman attractive or sexy is almost always seen as objectification.

I guess then that the objectifying is actually the impressions that the viewer projects on them, right?

 

[Halo Fanboy]

The term "Mary Sue" covers most of the aesthetics and personalities in common female fantasies. I think some of the more prominent aspects of that kind of character are insane skill, uniqueness and friends with everyone. Just google the term if you want some good examples.

 

[TehCookie]

Then its not really the characters fault, its the framework around which they are observed that are to blame.

Exactly, and it's not just the writers it can also be the fans. Look at Lara Croft. She's suppose to be female Indiana Jones, yet she's known as a huge sex symbol. Sometimes it's not even the writers, it's how the fans treat the character. Bayonetta who was written to be a sexual fantasy with gratuitous T&A tended to be more respected by both genders from what I observed.

 

[Bad Jim]

does a female power fantasy need to be completely devoid of sex appeal? When you look at male power fantasies like James Bond and Indiana Jones, isn't the general description of these characters that women want them and men want to be them? Couldn't the same apply to female power fantasies, men want them and women want to be them?

Women who wear very little clothing are generally desperate rather than successful. Slutty clothes are made to attract men. Successful women who already have a nice man don't need slutty clothes and can wear practical/comfortable clothing instead.

Contrast Mr Bond who has a beautiful woman throwing herself at him in every movie, without him even trying. This is the male fantasy, to have lots of attention with little effort because you really are that hot. The female version of this would be Twilight.

A lot of comic book females tend to show lots of skin or wear figure hugging costumes but are rarely seen getting much male attention. The female fantasy would have them wearing practical clothes and still getting hit on.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I discussed the matter with my girlfriend and we came to an odd conclusion. It would appear that most of the time, females she identified as being "power fantasy" were simply serving in the symbolic male role. It would seem that most of the cases we could identify, the female was empowered simply by acting more like the traditional hero gender.

We did identify a second category that seemed worthy of note: the strong matriarch. Ellen Ripley in Aliens is probably the best example I could name. Her motivation that stirs her to action and heroics is a threat to her surrogate daughter.

If there is a third type of character, we weren't able to think of it.

The sexual fantasy discussion got a bit blue but David Tennant was mentioned among others.

 

[TheScientificIssole]

Bowie should be in ALL of the four categories.
I guess everybody else got the good ones. Wait, the chick from Gears Of War 3. She wears more armor than the guys. I mean, the Locust wear armor that shows their abs. Like a half-shirt that chicks wore in the early 00's.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I think Lighting and Fang from final fantasy XIII were two strong female characters that never let their genders get in the way. They handle any situation and they are both interesting characters.

They were both originally male characters too, interestingly enough. I sense a pattern in the force.

The term "Mary Sue" covers most of the aesthetics and personalities in common female fantasies. I think some of the more prominent aspects of that kind of character are insane skill, uniqueness and friends with everyone. Just google the term if you want some good examples.

We have already established in this thread that a Mary Sue is not what we want. What you are saying is almost dismissive as if to say 'We can't make female power fantasy characters because they will be a Mary Sue and be terrible.'

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

My personal opinion of mary sue is that it's a vague label people have applied to all those 'girl power' characters who are just made out to be better than every man in their world because the creator wanted to score feminist fans. A vague description I know, but you can just feel it when they are doing it.

Xena had equals, both male and female... Though she did suffer power creep iirc and ended up able to take on Ares the god of war in combat.

 

[Singularly Datarific]

Like a Conservative's nightmare.
*badum-tish*

 

[Odoylerules360]

Thank you for the mostly useful responses,

For those still interested, here's what I meant to say, a post by someone who's done way more research into this than I have:

http://exploringbelievability.blogspot.com/2012/02/project-representation.html