Female Characters = Role Models?? NO THANKS

If I never hear the term ‘good role models’ applied to female characters ever again, it won’t be a moment too soon!

When was the last time you heard a male character described as a good role model? Yeah, exactly — it doesn’t happen.

Male characters are allowed to be whatever the story needs them to be. Good, bad or ugly, that male character doesn’t have a ‘standard’ applied to him.  

This is especially true if the male character is white, straight, and able-bodied. Somehow, this ‘default guy’ is STILL given the most variety and complexity in storytelling. He can be a hero, an antihero, a villain, or even a complete mess … and no one bats an eyelid! Grrrr. 

The Stats Back This Up (In A Bad Way)

I’ve been saying on this site for years that feminists insisting that female characters are ‘role models’ is an own goal. Apparently, this makes me ‘problematic’,a ‘bad feminist’ and even a ‘victim of internalised misogyny’ (!!!) according to a variety of femcritters out in cyber-land. (Super LOL).

But according to the numbers, what I felt to be true intuitively is apparently, objectively true. Data god and film researcher Stephen Follows wrote up this academic paper on Linkedin recently.

Titled ‘Identifying Gender Bias in Blockbuster Movies Through The Lens Of Machine Learning’, the study analysed movie scripts using emotion detection tools, mapping dialogue to Plutchik’s wheel of emotions. Here’s what they discovered:

1. Men have more emotional range. Male characters showed a broader range of emotions, including aggression and dominance, while female characters clustered around emotions like joy and trust.
2. Gender stereotypes persist. Women’s dialogue often included words like ‘kitchen’ and ‘sweetheart.’ In contrast, men’s was associated with terms like “business” and “war,” reflecting outdated gender roles.
3. Bias is structural. Emotional groupings of characters showed that gender influences how characters are written, not just how much screen time they get.
4. Female representation still limited. Although the number of female characters has increased, they remain emotionally less diverse than males.
5. Behind-the-camera influence: The results suggest that screenwriters, consciously or not, continue to write women according to traditional gender expectations.

Make sure you subscribe to Stephen’s work HERE and check out his various reports!

So numbers #1 and #4 in particular on this list prove my point. Female characters deserve the full range of emotions and experiences so female audience members can see their own realities reflected back at them.

Women are still expected to be a certain way by society (and those that aren’t, are penalised … Often by their fellow women too!). So, here’s three reasons female characters SHOULDN’T have to be good role models … Ready? Let’s go!

Reason # 1 – Representing ‘All Women’ Is NOT Progressive

Insisting that female characters are ‘good role models’ means they have to carry the weight of representing ALL women. Yet women are not a monolith. In fact, we frequently talk about how we’re NOT one thing.

Intersectionality is a thing, too. A white, straight, able-bodied woman will have a different life to a BIPOC queer, disabled woman. That’s before we factor in things like class, poverty, culture, religion and SO MANY OTHER THINGS.

Also, who gets to decide how we quantify  ‘good role models’, anyway? I’ve lost count of the times people have told me I am both a good AND bad role model! (Often for the same things too. Arf).

MORE: Erm, BARBIE Very Definitely Has An Arc. Here’s Why

Reason # 2 – Labelling Women Leads Nowhere Good

Here’s the thing. Grouping women into ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ role models is patriarchy in action. Deciding there are ‘valuable’ and ‘disposable’ women is sexist AF.

If you did gender studies, you may know this as ‘the virgin/whore dichotomy‘. I think my favourite ever review of one of my novels said they enjoyed the story, but were annoyed with my female lead. Apparently, my character enjoys sex ‘too much’.

Why is this a problem, you ask? Well, my lead is a TEACHER. Apparently, she should be above that kind of shenanigans as ‘teachers should be role models’. (I did think about writing back and saying ‘Well, I’m a teacher too and have news for you’. I did not. LOL!).

But this dichotomy is not just about literal sexual freedom. It infects every part of women’s lives every time she is deemed ‘too much’. Think about it …

• If a female character is flawed, selfish, or morally ambiguous, she’s often dismissed as ‘unlikeable’
• If she’s too competent, she’s ‘unrelatable’
• If she’s complex, she’s ‘intimidating’

And God forbid she does anything truly messy … Suddenly, she’s ‘a bad role model’ for young girls everywhere! (LOL). 

MORE: Top 10 ‘Unlikeable’ Female Characters In Movies & TV

Reason # 3 – It’s Simply Bad Writing!!

These expectations are not just unfair, they are creatively stifling. When you demand that female characters be perfect, you flatten them into one-dimensional symbols.

Female characters deserve to breathe as real, flawed, and dynamic people. Male characters are allowed to be complicated and human. Female characters should get the same freedom.

We don’t need female characters to be role models, we need them to be *real*. Let them be messy, let them fail, let them be selfish, brave, angry, vulnerable, or even cruel.

Stop holding them to a higher moral standard than their male counterparts. Complexity makes characters interesting, NOT moral purity. (Ugh).

So, destroy the idea that female characters need to be ‘good role models.’ Let them be whatever the story needs them to be — because that’s what TRUE equality looks like.

MORE: The Bechdel Test Is Not A ‘Low Bar’ For Female Characters. It’s Not A Bar At All, Here’s Why

Good Luck!

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