Strength in characters is not a zero-sum game. Having a strong male character does not make the female character any less strong. Possibly the reverse. If the female character pairs up with a weak male character for no good reason, that might make me think less of her. A strong character should be choosing a partner who shows strength of some sort. Not pairing up is fine with me too, but pairing up with an inferior partner who seems to exist just to make the first character look good really doesn't work for me, regardless of the genders involved.