I believe a woman can be physically strong, as well as emotionally and mentally strong. My female characters do not rely on muscle mass to get thier work done. I do have a few female characters that are physically strong, but they are the rarity. But most use their brains to get around the muscle bound man standing in their way. --It takes a pretty smart young female elf of four foot six, to kill a six foot tall field plate clad warrior with a two inch push knife.--
Ya that's also the type of thing I like. It's just more interesting when the MC is female. Probably also because male MC's are so overused.
I think that you're maybe trying a little too hard. Why don't you write the character as a man? Then you won't feel sexist, but you might have a believable character that's not offensive to people reading it. The fact that you asked his question means that perhaps you are dweling too much on gender matter. On another note, what about Uma Thurman's character in Kill Bill? This one puzzles me a lot. Have a watch.
Oh man I love her character in Kill Bill. My MC in my current story definitely has a few of her traits!
It is good! - Both films were on TV the other day so it's fresh in my mind. She combines the tenderness of a women who loves, and who is a mother - she's not afraid to be feminine (and wears skirts and florals etc), but then she's also a slightly mental death machine, who has strength of mind, body and spirt. Almost an ultimate example of a strong woman.
I like that character except for the mental death machine mind set Other than that she is perfect. What do you think of this woman at first glance? Be nice because she's a friend of mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1oLo36LiOY&feature=related