Chicks in Flicks

Cinematical put up an article last a week about about Girls on Film and why wanting more interesting female protagonists isn't just a feminist ploy for equality. The main gist of the article is that wanting to see some variety in the types of woman portrayed in film is not any different from other minorities wanting to see themselves represented on screen. I remember talking with George and Katie over some fried food at Deny's late one night last semester about the lack of female characters in both the junior and senior films last year. Even now as I write my senior project I made the decision for my character to be male without really considering it. The story could be exactly the same with a girl, why did I automatically make him a guy? While I don't think that all female protagonists go the way of Jezebel's breakdown of women in romantic comedies, it did get me thinking about the number of movies with female protagonists that aren't labeled 'chick flicks'. Personally what annoys me most is the fact that most the female-lead movies that aren't chick flicks are the movies specifically about female protagonists overcoming sexual adversity and that there is little to no middle ground. I'd like to see a strong and interesting female character in a movie that's not about how she is strong and interesting despite being a woman. 

EDIT 6/24: It's not a list of non-chick flicks with female protagonists, but it's close enough: a list of seven non-click flicks by female directors. I'm a little bummed out that American Psycho isn't on there. It did get a mention, though.