Why are guys reluctant to female heroines?

I have admired some of the female actors. But its just my feeling that I like male actors more, not that I am sexist, its a possibility, because I am a male.

Overall, I just like to watch a movie and admire a film like a critic. And as a critic, I have seen fewer female actors as good as male.

Of course, I can be biased too......:)

"Women's lib"???? Uh, the 70's was a while ago; you might consider at least bringing yourself into the 90's, or even mid-80's. You begin talking about action heroes; then you say "great female heroine" which is a broader concept. (One needn't be "actiony" to be a hero or heronine -- think Erin Brockavich, for instance.) What springs to mind for me, though, is what's become my very favorite TV show -- more Super-Hero, than mere action hero. Interestingly enough, created by a guy, but a guy who's a feminist. Do yourself a huge favor and get your hands on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV show, not the movie, which, I gather, isn't very good, and is not at all like the show). I, myself, don't care much for either action or horror (both of which it includes; as well as just about every other genre), ordinarily; if you do, you should especially like this. It's also a superb take on estrogen power from a male (but feminist male) perspective. Usually men get women wrong (thinking of TV and movies; most depictions of females just don't get us), but the creator of Buffy (with, I gather, some help from the women among the writing staff) really got it right. Joss (creator) isn't one to go for the "perfect" heroes, but richer, more realistic people. Thus, Buffy is flawed and sometimes deeply confused, does the wrong thing, etc. (Not like, say, the old Superman TV show, where he's perfect in every way.) But she's super-strong, fast, hard to hurt, and a quick healer (these are the super-powers of the slayer). She's also a leader. She's also pretty, charming, fashionable. She falls in love, deeply. Suffers tragedy. And, in the course of the series, grows up into a self-assured young woman. You could then watch the same creator's take on the male hero by watching the spin-off Angel. (While you're at it, rent Firefly, as well. By the same creator, but a sci-fi, westerny, not-supernatural show, tragically short-lived, but continued in the movie Serenity.) As for the effect of feminism, in the pre-feminist days, the Big Message women heroes tended to learn was that they really needed a man, and to stop being so smart and independent, pretend to be a weakling and moron, so a man would love her. (Think Annie Get Your Gun, for instance. Or, heck, Sally Rogers of the Dick Van Dyke show -- how sad she was along; in order to be attractive to men, she had to play dumb and meek.) That has changed, somewhat. There's still the attitude that women shouldn't be as good as they really are among many. But there's an increasing acceptance of the strong, smart, capable female.

We have 3 choices: hero, villain, fool.

Men really don't want to be the damsel in distress. So like (I think) Mabel said, we can't identify.

I guess it's kind of emasculating.

Meanwhile I do have female heros, such as Mother Theresa. Although that's probably not the same kind of hero you meant.

One other thing, in real life. Sometimes it seems women heros are forced onto us simply by the fact that they are women. For example, if a woman is captain of the Space Shuttle, she gets notariety being that she's a woman. I mean how many men came before her? Championing women just because they're women seems like an admission of inferiority to me. And that is not cool.

IDK - it seems like the female heroine has to be hot (ie lara croft) in order to catch men's attention. Wheras women are interested in both male and female heroes. I think this will change in a few generations. Men are just used to males being the heroes.

ukcuf: My mother is a doctor who works in an emergency ward and she keeps her cool when there is crisis every day - its her job - she has to so that she can save lives. Im pretty sure that makes her a hero!

louisebr has an excellent answer.

Men love female heroines and the villains, they love them fighting in their skimpy outfits.

Michael, how are they unrealistic, Joan of ark was very much real, and some male hero's are unrealistic too, how many spider mans, Batman's, hulks, have you seen lately?

Cultural representations of men and the things men do are the accepted norm...from literature to blockbuster films, TV to video games men's lives are depicted, explored and often turned into heroic adventures in the entertainment industry; media in general. Narratives are for and about them often. Women on the otherhand are not represented in that way, and so to enjoy a story or relate to the narrative in some way, we are expected to subvert the text; attempt to see ourselves in that story. Men, in general, do not expect themselves to be secondary in the telling of the story, so they do not take to role swaps well. There will be some on here that will list what they think are exceptions, but they are not the norm, and when female main characters are central to a story they usually have recognisable characteristics which demonstrate her femaleness, or her 'weakness' etc.

ukcufs sums it up...never witnessed a woman hold her nerve in real life, so how can that be represented in media? So, never been ONE woman who has been courageous? Not one act of bravery, heroism? Or do we not get to hear/see those stories?

Most heroine comics use males as the butt of there jokes.

Improper story telling.

It's not only heroes. Men won't normally watch women sport, even though many admit the game might be technically superior. My own husband admitted to me that he was horrified when his favourite band got a girl singer - and yet, he is the first to admit that she was absolutely wonderful and gave a new lease of life to their music.

I've never understood it.

Because they can't identify with a heroine

Edit: Because men and women view things differently. I would say that women admire rather than identify with both a hero and a herione.

because a lot of men don't see women as heroes just because they're not muscular or giant

but we have the brains and to me that's way more important than size