I can’t really think of any characters where her gender specifically would have made it difficult to relate to her. Certainly, some hyper-feminine characters, particularly in sappy romantic comedies are difficult to relate to, but not so much because she’s hyper-feminine, because I will have as much trouble relating to the male leads in those films too because I often don’t find either character particularly believable.
In some genres, like action and sci-fi, the sex of the character is almost an afterthought. For instance, I’ve seen a lot of references to Ripley and Sarah Connor in here, and I agree. I think just about anyone could relate to their situations because that they’re female is more or less completely incidental to their struggles. Ripley struggles against uncertain odds for survival, Sarah Connor against an uncertain future and the burden of human on her shoulders and those of her child. I could easily see both films being more or less the same with male leads (minus the whole future father aspect of John Connor that required Sarah to be a woman).
In some genres they need to be female, but it still doesn’t make much difference. In some romantic situations, I have no trouble relating to female lead. Yes, she’s longing for a man, which isn’t something I feel, but it’s really not that different from a man longing for a woman. Or if it’s a situation of a woman fighting against some stereotypical women’s struggles, we all have similar struggles, so I can relate to that. In that case, it’s not really all that different from a character of a different fighting against racism or whatever.
I have been known to identify with sentient computers, birdlike alien pacifists, and talking ponies. Female talking ponies, created by a woman. Why would I have trouble with a member of my own species just because she’s a woman? I identify with characters based on their personality and their situation. If I have trouble identifying with a character, it’s generally because I find their personality jarring and unpleasant in ways that I’d like to believe I don’t share–and even then, I often find some common ground.
For what it’s worth, the single character in all of fiction with whom I most strongly identify is Jame of Knorth, from P. C. Hodgell’s Godstalk Chronicles. In fact, I sometimes wonder just how much the character influenced my own personality, since the first book made quite an impression on me as a boy. Jame is a woman.
As a male gamer and a fan of the Zelda series, I would have no problem with that at all. It might have been a hard sell to many gamers when the Zelda series started, but I think it would be less so now. I frequently make and play female characters when given the option, and no, it’s not just to watch their butts bounce across the screen. It’s because character concepts tend to pop into my head fully formed, and some of them happen to be women.
I would, assuming that a woman were playing them. I think the default is that the character is the same gender as the person playing.
I also do not have a problem with Inner Stickler’s broader point that identifying with a woman who only does stereotypically masculine things is not the same as being able to identify with women who do stereotypically feminine things. And it goes both ways: there’s a difference between women who can identify with Zapp Brannigan and those who can identify with Kiff.
On a totally unrelated note, I’d suggest that Chronos read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, at least for a little bit, to see if he can more readily identify with Harry there. I definitely can–it’s honestly one of the first if not the first book I’ve read where I’ve identified so much with the main protagonist.
EDIT: And I have no problem identifying with any of these. I actually find some stereotypically female traits to be easier to identify with.
Katniss doesn’t, but that’s not because she’s a girl. I think the only time I did identify with her was also when she was acting in a way that could be considered stereotypically girly.
Yeah, this is how I look at it, too. Some that spring to mind:
Lizzie Bennet in Pride & Prejudice
Friday and Podkayne in their respective Heinlein books
Ripley in the Alien movies
Sarah Conner
Lisa Simpson
The girl in True Grit
The girl in Spirited Away
The young witch in Kiki’s Delivery Service
Amelie
How far down that road do we go before we are in “No True Scotsman” territory? The OP didn’t make any such distinctions.
I thought of a female protatgonist I identified with that has not yet been mentioned: Nancy Drew. OK, so her best friend was named “George.” Deal! I wanted her to solve the mystery, escape the clock tower and stop being so hassled cause she was just a girl!
I don’t know if they would identify with it, but they might still find it to be of interest. A boy of that age is likely to be quite curious about how a girl of that age thinks about relationships, and consider such passages to be instructive.
One other possibly relevant point about Chell, by the way: There are hints that she first came to Aperature Science for Take your Daughter to Work Day… and has been a prisoner there ever since.