Men in literature (and how it effects women in literature)

I think men are often put on a pedestal in literature.  Even if they are seen as doing something wrong, they are - in the end- upheld as an example of what a good person should be.  Which, by itself is not necessarily a bad thing, as stories usually go through a character's personal development through growing from mistakes.  But, I see in so many places a relationship of the men with women that show the male 'superiority' that it is slightly troubling to the feminist in me.  Perhaps realistic, but still troubling.

In the end of many stories, the women of the story approve and acquiesce to the man with implied superiority.  I think it's very subtle, and may pull on a woman's feeling that they are never perfect.  But, in looking at men of the story, it is like you can point to the man as an ideal person who can guide women.  The men go through their ups and down- as do the women of the story- but, in the end, the men is still ahead of the women.  The woman wants the man to say something witty about them.  The women expects the man to provide for her/her kids/his family.  The women accepts that her role is by said man.

I think this is true, even when the women has her own career in the story.  Or even if the women makes more money than the man.  I'm reading The Cookbook Collector now and so far one of the women is more successful than her boyfriend, but still 'leans' on him as the more secure, strong and -almost by default- knowledgeable person of the two.  The written words say otherwise- the boyfriend in the story thinks that the girlfriend is smarter, etc- but the actions seem to lean towards this natural imbalance between men and women.  Sure, they figure that the women have their own lives/careers/etc, but the men is still the leader of the relationships- good or for bad.

So, is the male/female role something that is inherently imbalanced?  I just read the transcript from 28 February's "Tell Me More" show on NPR. Besides the fact that I love NPR and agree with most opinion pieces like those from Michel Martin, I think that she brings up a great point on the imbalanced worthiness of news stories based on the audience they 'apeal' to.  Why can't news shows talk about fashion- particularly given the amount of time we talk about rather 'male-specific' things on the same shows?  Particularly since fashion is a mult-billion dollar industry that effects millions of workers and billions of people? (I mean- everyone wears clothes, right?)  But, it's not just about talking about fashion- it's about giving value to topics based on the perceived idea that they are 'girly' or 'manly.'  And the idea that something 'girly' is unvaluable, but 'manly' things have value.

Even if it's 2 men beating the cr@p out of each other for sport.