From a brief skim of the op I think they are asking 'why do all the male characters suck?'? I think I might be an attempt at a troll thread only because I've seen them do that 'HOF needs to come back' thing before, even saying the dead wardens can be possessed by envy demons and then come back that way so everyone get the most important character to the franchise back.
I think it's the same person from the genocide thread. In any case, probably bait about the lack of manly men.
Thanks.

I suspected as much, but the cozying up to Solas was throwing me off.
Actually, I thought that a previous response to you summed it up pretty well:
I think that that applies to many of the followers and/or LI, but I certainly do NOT think that that then makes such characters "losers." Also, there are some contradictory arguments. Cullen certainly needs support when it comes to lyrium, but they don't seem to feel that he is a "loser."
I'm rather torn on whether I like this as a character device, or not. On the one hand, it is nice when characters have independence and autonomy, especially in a romance, and I think that DAI did pretty well for some of these. On the other hand, helping a character work through some of their issues in a caring, supportive way, whether friend or romance, can help to make the relationship feel more real and stronger.
This is why I like the Dorian friend and romance so much. He has autonomy and independence, but the PC also helps him grow and heal. And because of this I am not bothered by the Trespasser events, as some were.
See, that was my first thought. But it didn't make any sense to me because the PC can also (un)harden Leliana twice and can rival Merrill and Isabela to change their minds... the PC having magical powers of influence and changing the course of a character's life is not exactly a dude-exclusive phenomenon.
At the end of the day, though, it's one of those things you can't win... because if the player gets put in charge of a character's Big Decision (Leliana, Bull...) people complain that the character in question is weak or indecisive. But if a character sticks to their guns, people complain that they're obstinate and
why can't I change their minds, dadgummit! (As with Sera and magic, Alistair and Loghain, etc.)