The majority of my main characters are males.... actually, reviewing those books I have written, I can't think of one where the main character was a female. Setting aside, RPGs, of course.
While I have female characters in my books, they're never main characters. Perhaps the hero's mother, or sister, or sweetheart... I already mentioned this on this aywsf thread, but I'll say it again: the book I'm currently writing finds the characters in the midst of a war, and in the world I created (or rather, the world that created itself using my head) women just don't go to battle. Therefore there are only brief appearances of women in the book, though a little girl of about seven years old is telling me she wants to occupy a chapter or two... but she assures me not until the second book.
I don't think I'm that bad at portraying male characters, because in all truth the only females I know I hardly
ever see (if ever) so it is much easier to pick up on what men/boys say, do, feel, and think.
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I find most heroines to be blithering idiots who think they can fight better, etc.
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I find most of them the same way, though of course there are exceptions (as had been said many, many times). For a beginner at creating characters I would say don't let your main female character ever touch a sword or any kind of weapon. When one is more experienced they can work out females that can fight, etc. but aren't the classic.... Mary-Sues? I've noticed that many beginners like to make their females warriors because they can do more exciting things, but they don't know how to handle it so they're original female warriors. Tolkien knew how to do that. Eowyn wasn't one of those blithering idiots.
When I write a female character they're just that... not women in pants with swords, with battle skill. They're like all the lassies I know (or most of them). Those who can sew and knit and weave, who are found in lovely dresses they or their mothers made with petticoats and long stockings (and who won't talk about them around men/boys, as I probably shouldn't be doing now
), who are patient loving mothers, faithful lovers, or sweet caring sisters. If the 'warrior' character is well done I don't mind reading it too much, but I don't write it.
And that's how I do it.