That Oscar-winning butch actress, who scares your girlfriend because she won't get cute and perky and star in a million harmless little romantic comedies, has taken one step closer to becoming a hairy-legged feminist icon.

That's right, after chopping off her hair and then growing biceps bigger than your thigh, Hilary Swank has decided she doesn't really need a man in her life. Swank and husband-unit Chad Lowe have called it quits. People magazine weeps over the parting "Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe have jointly decided to divorce," the couple's lawyer, Jeffrey A. Bernstein, tells PEOPLE. "They continue to be friends and have the utmost respect for one another."

The couple, who wed in 1997, announced in January that they were separating. "Hilary and Chad have decided to separate, but they are hopeful they'll be able to get through this tough time," Swank's rep, Troy Nankin, said in a statement at the time.

Indeed, Swank, 31, and Lowe, 38, appeared to be making efforts to save their union. At the Golden Globes in January, when interviewer Isaac Mizrahi asked a solo Swank about the single life, she responded, "I'm not single. We're trying to work our marriage out." And as Chad wept delicately into his silk handkerchief, Hilary Swank offered him a ripped shoulder to lean on and informed him in a steely voice that boys don't cry.