Strong female character

Some people consider that "strong female characters" are sufficient to define a work — particularly SF or other genre work — as feminist. This is no doubt in response to a standard that focused work on male characters, with female characters poorly characterized or entirely absent.

Characterizing people on attributes other than gender stereotypes is a critical aspect of characterization and good writing. While failing to characterize gender stereotypes is sexist, moving beyond gender stereotypes is but the first step in non-sexist writing: other pitfalls include, for example, gendered plotting, or unnoted acceptance of sexism on both the part of characters and the authorial voice.

Avoiding all pitfalls of sexist writing may render a work non-sexist, but it does not necessarily render a work feminist or anti-sexist.