Girls with Guns: The Kickass Asian Cowgirl

“Where is the Asian cowgirl?”

I grew up watching a lot of Hong Kong cinema and TV shows featuring badass, kickass female characters. These characters might not always be visible in big mainstream films, but they are there. Michelle Yeoh, who was only recently honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2026, has starred in such kickass characters in the sub-genre of “girls with guns” in Hong Kong cinema since the 1980s. When I was a kid, TV shows like 陀槍師姐 (Armed Reaction) (1998), featuring Charlie’s Angels-like female cops were Hong Kong household hits that my younger self thought women could fight as hard as men. Although, as the stories depict, these girls with guns are more vulnerable to sexual harassment than their male colleagues (I still recall the very disturbing rape scene in Armed Reaction), these women are never weaker.

When I started learning more about the Western genre films and books in the United States, I expected to see some feisty Asian cowgirl characters riding horses while gulping down bourbon. But, no, none. (Please leave a comment if I am wrong.) I asked my partner, who has been living in the States since his teenage years, “Where is the Asian cowgirl?” He often laughs in my face: “You must have been a white guy in your past life.” Well, I just thank him for his “compliment.”

The media I grew up with told me otherwise: yes, the cool people are often men. However, exceptions happen occasionally—you do not have to be a white guy, a guy, or even man-like to be badass. 古惑仔情義篇之洪興十三妹 Portland Street Blues (1998), a spin-off film from the widely-known Hong Kong gangster film series Young and Dangerous (1996-2000), features a resourceful, bold, butch-looking female lead, played by Sandra Ng Kwan Yue. If Ng’s character is still too man-like, other films show me that an unapologetically feminine woman can be very badass, too. In the 1990s, the actress Amy Yip was well-known as a sex symbol due to her voluptuous figure and sexy film roles. Guess what, Amy Yip the “bombshell” also plays a few kickass roles in lesser-known movies, including a ruthless night club entrepreneur in 夜生活女王霞姐傳奇 Queen of Underworld (1991). There, Yip’s character fearlessly strikes the Triad boss who harassed and kidnapped her daughter. Strong female leads like these might not be the most common in Hong Kong cinema. Yet, with a bit of intention, it is not hard to find movies with these kinds of characters, especially in 1990s Hong Kong cinema.

I am afraid that the above examples are glamorizing crime or violence, so I must point out that, in reality, many women involved with the Traids were knocked up at a very young age and are stuck with being single parents for the rest of their lives. Please remember that women can be darn cool even when they are not punching a man! I met one of my best friends in Chicago, who moved from Hong Kong to Texas as a child. We immediately bonded over the Hong Kong girl band Twins, who rose to stardom in the 2000s. We both love the song 德州的故事 Texas Story (2005) —a girl who travels from the big city of Hong Kong to a small town in Texas for her cowboy lover. As the song portrays, this big city girl loves the cowboy so much that even the small Texan town looks magnificent to her. And the Hong Kong girl happily wears a denim jacket for her groom in the wedding, only to find out that the “gold mine” she imagined is actually filled with mud. At last, the girl ditches the poor Texan cowboy and goes back home without hesitation. I loved the girl power of this song—the girl failed, but she wiped her ass and got right back up! There are so many girl-power songs like this in 2000s Cantopop.

Of course, Hong Kong is no utopia for gender equality outside the media world. In family, law, politics, etc., (one can go down the list endlessly) men are often favored over women. To share one experience closer to home: my father’s side is one of those Hong Kong indigenous families, and only because I am female, I am not entitled to the indigenous land rights that allow one to build a three-storey house in the village without a premium. Bear in mind that Hong Kong ranks among the most expensive rental markets in the world! As my mum said, if I had been born with just a few more kilograms of flesh, I could have achieved financial freedom by now. (Thanks, mum, you said that as if I had a choice!)

I realized I have been growing ever hungrier for badass Asian women in the media. I traveled to Hong Kong for the first time in six years and was dazzled by the enormous billboard bank ad featuring TV actress Charmaine Sheh Sze-man, a spin-off ad from her popular TV drama 新聞女王 The Queen of NEWS (2023). In both the ad and the show, the fifty-year-old Charmaine Sheh appears as a gorgeous, neatly dressed professional who takes no bullshit. My cousin wondered why I made such a big deal out of an ordinary ad like that. I guess I had just forgotten how society could actually look up to a charming, smart, and intelligent East Asian woman in the media.

To cure my fix, instead of watching reruns of Hong Kong movies with badass female leads, I have been indulging in another extreme end—expat literature and films that feature white guys traveling in East Asia. From the classic The World of Suzie Wong (1960) to the male version of “chick lit,” like Ugly Americans (2004) by Ben Mezrich, East Asian women are still often no more than cheeky sex workers waiting for a white savior or cute little love interests for white men. This time, I care less about the stereotypical representation of East Asian women than about how much fun these foreign guys’ lives seem to be in Asia. My rather weird reasoning is that, if, as my partner said, I am not a white guy in this life, at the very least, I want to take a peek at their enviable freedom and privileges.