i can't think of any within the last 50 years. Even in the 1990's and 1980's female characters in Western media were pretty much all girl bosses.
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"Submissive" characters, aren't really any good storytelling, either as men or women. Because you're removing their agency, you are making them inherently forgettable. So, there's no reason you would remember them, even if they were there. They wouldn't have an impact on the story.
However, let's just go with feminine characters, rather than "submissive' only. Submissive isn't ever going to be useful. So when can I think of the last feminine protagonist?
Mrs. Brisby in the Secret of Nihm. She's literally a dutiful wife and mother. Thrust into a "fish out of water" adventure. She requires the help of men on her adventure, but she also demonstrates an apt way of navigating her way around the social environment that these men live in, while also still getting their help, but never actually attacking them directly.
Rather than a strong, female, protagonist. She's a strong FEMINE protagonist.
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Femi_nihm_?
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Here's a scene where she's helping a bit of an idiot man-child to help her. She still has to confront a "Force Of Nature" threat, but the moral of this confrontation shows that her generosity and kindness (or even her motherly instinct to care for a man who is a bit childish), along with her ingenuity, is what keeps everybody safe and her objective still available.
Anyways, I think media creators have lost the understanding of what strong femininity actually looks like. Partly because I don't think feminists understand what femininity is, nor do modern people understand why femininity is useful. It's the same reason modern writers think it's hard (and boring) to make heroic characters: they are so ideologically poisoned by nihilism and cynicism that they don't even believe in the concept. Similarly, femininity is seen as worthlessness and enslavement, rather than inspirational and dutiful. I don't think calling it "submission" is a good descriptor, either. Submission is only warranted with trust. You shouldn't submit to people you can't trust. A "submissive" person, is typically prey. Now, there's strong women in modern media, but they all have a kind of "Ripley" effect. The strong women become momma bears, or cunning manipulators, or "no wrath like a woman scorned" vengeance agents in a certain time of need.
But a strong feminine protagonist, that's pretty hard to find in the past 50 years.
Anime/manga prove this wrong yearly for you. Most male characters in romcoms/SoL shows are submissive to a point where its a meme and yet people remember them. Gojo from Dress Up Darling earlier this year is a walking sub in every sense and he is a literal Gary Stu for the author to fawn over with her self insert. Shinji Ikari is the walking poster child for submissive character traits, and his weak nature is what drives the entire plot. Heck his lack of desire to take any agency is a constant conflict.
Japanese media as a whole is filled with examples of notable characters who are submissive beyond belief to a point where it barely feels realistic to our non-Collectivist mindsets. Osamu Dasai is one of their most famous writers ever and his autobiography is built on "I am physically unable to refuse any question given to me, I am too frightened."
Your point about submission and its inherently negative connotation being intertwined with femininity is very valid, but you shouldn't make Absolute Statements because a single example otherwise renders them invalid and wrong. If you meant this to only apply to Western works, you should specify because it sounds like you are making a very definitive universal statement outside the scope of OP's question.
In fairness, he said western media, but fine.
I would say that the eastern, submissive, asian, male thing is a strange cultural icon in japan, and I'm not sure why.
To be honest, whenever I see those characters, I find them actively repulsive, which is probably a cultural bias in the west.
He did, but you were speaking definitively as "submissive characters can never" which makes it sound universally applied regardless.
Also while I don't find them to be good characters and am pretty repulsed by them myself, they do impact the story and aren't inherently forgettable.
I could probably find some examples in Western media but, as OP pointed out, they are far rarer so the list to find and pick from is much smaller.