"Strong female characters" revistited

Remember this post I created a while back? Well, I've been thinking about that topic lately, and I'd like to revisit that post.
First of all, the reason I created that post was partly because I had recently seen the movie How To Train Your Dragon. Many of my friends liked the character Astrid because she was so bad@$$. I honestly tried to like her, but there was something about her that annoyed me. What annoyed me was that she was so bad@$$ that she was emotionless... until she fell for that Hiccup guy, of course. Although she was probably meant to be a "strong" female character, I think the message that ended up being sent was that emotion is a weakness, but it's okay if it's over a guy... which is just as degrading as the portrayal of women in Disney Princess movies.
One reason why this message is so degrading is because it sends the message that the only thing that truly matters in life is having a boyfriend, which isn't true. Don't get me wrong; true love is great. But I don't consider the relationship between, say, Astrid and Hiccup to be a great love story (I will elaborate on this in another blog post).
However, I think the message that emotion is a bad thing is the most damaging message that is sent. Take Korse from The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys as an example. He was told not to be emotional, and then he ended up killing people and taking away their freedom. When he finally realized that what he was doing was wrong, Better Living Industries did all these horrible things to him.
While it is true that being too emotional can be a problem, the message that all emotion is always wrong makes things worse. Take Dally from The Outsiders as another example. He was angry and hateful, and it only got worse until his emotions that he probably had bottled up inside him caused him to (spoiler alert!) take his own life (end of spoiler).
People are teased for "acting like girls" when showing emotion, which implies that being emotional is a sign of weakness, and that weakness is a feminine trait. Many feminists complain about weakness being considered a feminine trait, which I agree with, but they often come to the wrong conclusions. Rather than allowing people to express their emotions in a healthy way, it is becoming more and more unacceptable for women to show emotion. Gender equality should not be about equal punishment for those who express themselves. Strength should not be determined by emotion, but how emotions are handled. Emotions are healthy, as long as they're expressed in a healthy way. This should apply to everyone, regardless of gender.