I think this is a good point.

I actually did a research paper on the Hero’s Journey and Rey’s story arc in The Force Awakens back in college, and I discovered another analytical device called the Heroine’s Journey. It basically posits that there are two major journey’s a protagonist can experience. While most (male) protagonists face more physical trials, female protagonists in stories often face more internal challenges.

I can’t for the life of me remember the title, but I was recommended a book series about a girl who is a member of a royal family. Her father and brother, the king and the heir, are killed away from home, and she is swept into the burden of ruling the kingdom before she is ready. So instead of her journey being about going on some big adventure to strange places, hers is more about learning how to take care of and protect her kingdom, while growing into her own identity.

It does make me think of Rey a lot, as in Rey’s journey is really focused on her identity and that sense of belonging.
I think for a lot of female fans, this resonates with them, and they care more about that than how much Force training she has or something like that.

But to me, her combat skills or force abilities aren’t real issues imo. Though I do think some edits, like one of yours where Rey takes longer to figure out the mind trick, can help alleviate some of those issues I think people have.

I don’t think these two different journeys are necessarily exclusive to the genders, but the hero and heroine’s journeys represent more masculine/feminine, in the Jungian sense, explorations of the self. They just generally fall into the categories of male and female protagonists.