@christopher really though, i do see your point. i just guess that we haven’t grown out of our standards for what roles people should play in society. we’re taught that men should focus on being strong, not just to protect but also attack if need be. meanwhile, women are taught more simple convenience skills and told to focus more on school and chores to be the brains to their husbands brawn. a classic dynamic duo.
for example, as a kid i was constantly pressured by my parents to join a sports team and work out. my dad said so because he wanted me to be strong and use it to get the ladies where as my mom thought it would look good on my resume and it could aid me in my basic skills as well as develop my ability to apply myself. another example is how my first ex girlfriend was told by her mom repeatedly that she shouldn’t be playing so many video games (yes gamer girls are real and no they’re not sexy.) because then she wouldn’t have the skills to be a good wife.
the best part to support your argument, however, is how in modern society, we are scrambling to tear that down without as much success as we would like. this also affects the way authors will use gender as a basic for their charachter. this makes what an author will promote to their audience as a role model also different, as now male leads and female leads will sometimes swap characteristics. boys may be cuter, or not afraid to hit a women. girls might have a lot more fight in them or bad cooks, or not afraid to show off their body... although that one has been making small blips in society since bloomers and feminism. and sometimes these characteristics will clash together to make a character that may almost seem more manly or womanly than usual,
and that’s exactly what happened with this main love interest.
i don’t have a good tl;dr for this one.