hausofodin:

One thing that stood out to me in Force Awakens is the fact that Rey is not mocked for being a girl, even by the villains.

Usually any time you have a female protagonist there is inevitably a moment when someone (usually the villain, sometimes an ally) remarks how astonishing it is that the protagonist could do the things she does despite the fact that she’s a girl.

But TFA doesn’t do that. When Kylo Ren finally meets Rey on Takodana, he says, “So you’re the girl I’ve heard so much about.” He doesn’t say, “how could a mere girl have caused so much trouble,” or “imagine my surprise when they said a girl had the droid,” or anything else to express surprise at someone of her gender ending up in her position. It’s just “so you’re her.”

Likewise, when Kylo runs to Snoke to report how Rey turned the tables on his interrogation, Snoke’s outburst is at the fact that a mere scavenger resisted Kylo, not that a girl did. 

Obviously I’m not pointing this out in defense of Kylo and Snoke, but as kudos to the writers for not going the lazy route and resorting to the kind of gender-based insults we’re far too used to hearing in scenes like those. It’s so profoundly refreshing.