"I am the author! You are the character! I outrank you!"
I have often thought this at several of my characters, to which the reply tend to be:
"Did you say something?"
"All I ask is that you be a strong, independent character you buck at her society's view of women. Whoa, wait! Thats a little overboard! Where did you get that gun from? Don't shoot him, he's not an enemy! Enough with the rousing (and xenophobic) speeches! This isn't bucking cultural traditions, this is ignoring everything that shaped you in society to become a temper-tantrum chick with homicidal tendencies!"
It was at this point she stopped to listen and then continued on what she was doing, but not before warping her homeland to make it more like her. Great, a country of racist, prideful, gun-nuts. Thanks to her own doing the character is no longer a pedestal for equality but a product of her society.