Strong Female Leads Aren’t Just “One of the Guys”

We’ve talked before about how Lorelai is “not like the other girls” and embodies the “cool girl” trope. You know the trope: yes she’s feminine, but she drives a Jeep and eats Pizza and drinks beer from a bottle. She swears, but not in an aggressive way, and she isn’t shy about sex.

There’s another female lead trope out there, and Gilmore Girls flirts with it briefly, and it’s strongly related to the Cool Girl trope

The Strong Female Lead, the female who embodies stereotypically male characteristics, but instead of the “chill” traits, she leans toward the more violent ones.

If the Cool Girl was epitomized by Cameron Diaz in the 90s and 00s (she’s so cool, she is pursued by pro football players and eventually tells Jude Law that foreplay is overrated), then the Strong Female Lead was epitomized by the likes of Angelina Jolie and Mila Jovavich, culminating in YA dystopian star Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence (who now has taken the Cool Girl mantle from Diaz).

These female leads — excuse me: Strong Female Leads — are identifiable by how many typically male characteristics they have.

Not their bodies, of course. But their personalities and their actions, particularly the angry and violent actions.

Katniss is considered strong because she can hunt and kill and manipulate to win. Not enough attention is paid to her heart, her willingness to sacrifice herself for her sister, and the way she…