"Men are always ready to believe two things about a woman:
One: that she is weak, and
Two: that she finds him attractive"
-Morrigan, from Dragon Age Origins
Given how most male interests are in that of feats of skill or strength (and trying to better others) it is not unreasonable to see why this above quote rings true most of the time. While strong women have existed throughout the ages, it is a undeniable fact that women, on average, are not as physically strong at men. Men typically respect strength and have a biased opinion on their own abilities, and as such it's sometimes hard to sell the idea of a "tough girl" to a testosterone fueled audience. This initial bias is made worse in most "girl with gun" photos as models are seemingly told to just pose with a firearm. The lack of knowledge and reverence is evident to anyone who likes firearms.
The bias against the concept of female warrior can be unwarranted though, as history has shown. From classical greek and roman myths of Amazonian warriors, to the historical reality of female gladiators, andfemale samurai, female warriors have a stronger presence in human history than people typically imagine. In modern times, with the all-equalizing invention of firearms and relatively common practice of martial arts, women can be just as deadly as men in direct combat: you don't need to be able to bench more than 200 pounds to aim a rifle, or call in indirect fire. The 20th century was host to many femme fatales in conflicts with incredible prowess such as Lyudmila Pavlichenko who had more than 300 confirmed kill as a Russian sniper during World War 2.
I think that for a lot of guys the allure of the image of female warrior is that such a person is both rare, and very practical/useful. Much like the warrior-philosopher, the woman-warrior is a combination of two seemingly disparate and incompatible elements to create something greater than the separate entities. Though petite women who are pretty and delicate will always have their place in mainstream society, the woman who can both allure and fight will always have a place in our culture.
In recent pop culture, the best examples of fictional "women warriors" include the following
