It depends on the talent of the writer whether their characters turn out horrid or not.
I tend to make all my lead protaginists female. In fact, in the story I'm writing now, the female protaganist will end up being trained in sword-fighting and actually kill a few people effectively. This may seem more realistic for a male, but, I tend to not conform.
Hopefully, it won't turn out horrid, but my point is this; regardless of gender, race, or age, it's your talent that determines how real and plausible these characters are.
So throw out the 'heroines are blithering idiots' thing. I've seen plenty of male 'heros' that were as stupid. In fact..*picks up cruddy heros and heroines and tosses them into a fire* There...let's begin anew, shall we?