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Unfortunately, as a rule, men are more attracted to the genre of 'Action Movie' than women.
This has been the case for many years, and (despite the fact that more and more women are beginning to watch action movies) production companies still produce most of their medium-sized budget action movies with the male market in mind.
This means that (unless the writer/director/producer is on top of the game and has employed great actresses and are thinking in terms of making a strong female lead character (like Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Alien, or even Summer Glau as River in Serenity)) if any women are present in an action movie (either as a lead or as a supporting cast member) they will be portrayed in a 'hot-chick-with-a-gun' light.

Even movies with an all female lead cast (Dead or Alive or Charlie's Angels) can often be seen to be more appealing to men (due to the underlying sensual nature of the cast or the characters they are portraying), than to women (who apparently should be looking to them for empowerment).
There are exceptions of this, however, where a strong female character is also a very sensual and sexual one, take the character of The Bride from Kill Bill, or some of the female characters in Sin City or even something as overlooked as Starship Troopers (not exactly role models, but certainly a lot more than just chicks-with-guns).
Needless to say, there are only few 'Action Movie's where the female lead or supporting cast can be said to be empowering. Instead, if women are looking for empowerment through movies, they should be looking beyond the confines of action movies, and more towards such characters as Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs (a good model for empowerment as you can often really connect with the character as opposed to her just being a hard-ass) or someone like Ellie Arroway from Contact (another brave soul, with a real heart and with whom a connection is easily made) (both, coincidentally, played by Jodie Foster).
The best place for women to look for empowerment (if they feel the need to search for such) is still in the writings of people like Charlotte Bronte or Jane Austen, as their method of empowering women is still far more realistic than in most movies, and the characters are certainly still the best examples of empowered women in entertainment history.

Learn more about this author, Jamie Bruce.
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