Fictional women of awesome
I think this was probably from scrollgirl at one point. But I'm watching Studio 60 right now, and while there are many things I love about the show, its treatment of its women is so far from one of them. Not its women characters, but what the show does to them. So I thought I'd try and finish this post. I guess it may kind of be a ' fuck you, she's awesome' list. It started at 10, but spiralled to 21 before I put a halt to it, and that's including quite a few duos...
Looking at it, I'm still not sure what it says about me and women. There are a lot of women who kick ass, women who are doing better than the men at their own game. Lots of women with guns, or who are in other ways violent. There are less nurturers than I would like, I suppose, though there are mothers. There are also less women of colour than I'd like. There are a lot of clever women, and a lot of women who are semi-alienated for that. A lot of women who don't get the guy. But also a lot who do, a lot who spend their time looking out for the guy because he tends to forget. A few women who have been raped or assaulted, a lot of women who've had to get past something and learnt to be strong. They're not even all women I'd like to get a coffee with (some of them scare me a little). But it's nice to remind myself that there are plenty of fictional women with stories worth telling, who have power and love and even agency, hopefully :)
(I guess vague spoilers for Buffy, SG-1, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Sports Night, Wicked, Fray, Star Wars, Sarah Jane Adventures, Harry Potter, Discworld, X-Files, Veronica Mars, Pride and Prejudice, Circle of Magic, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Eureka, Robin Hood, Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galactica. No explicit spoilers for anything out this year, anyway)
1. Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Because we get to see them grow into women, because it was at kind of the same time as I was trying to do that, because they're strong (in all the ways, and different ways) and vulnerable and real and loving. Because they made a family, and looked out for them, and sacrificed and faced the darkness to keep the world safe. It just takes so much strength. I don't have that much. // I got so much strength, I'm giving it away.
2. Samantha Carter
Stargate SG-1
For some reason, Sam takes more defending than a lot of this list. I don't know whether it's just the 'she interferes with my slash' issues, but she takes a lot of flak she doesn't deserve. She's a genius, and a hero, and she manages to balance being a member of the military with wanting to unfold the secrets of the universe.
3. Dana Whitaker and Natalie Hurley
Sports Night
I have some quibbles with Dana's romantic storylines, but I think Dana & Natalie are the closest Sorkin came to getting the relationship between women. It's the show with a f/f friendship that equals its m/m equivalent. They communicate in half-sentences, sometimes less than that. They love each other without games, without needing something in return, without any of the messiness of the romanctic relationships. They're a sisterhood of two, if probably not what CJ means when she says it.
4. Melaka Fray
Fray
Fray starts the big battle, without knowing that help will come, without a watcher, without the slayer dreams. Just because her people need defending, and she's the one who can do it. She rallies an army, even though her heart's broken, and she knows what she's going to have to do to win.
5. Leia Organa
Star Wars
I think Leia was my first real feminist hero. She's smart and funny and warm. She can outthink and outshoot the guys. She's the rebellion before either Han or Luke get involved.
6. Donna Noble
Doctor Who
I can't explain the true depths of my love for Donna without spoilers. She crept up on me, because she's funny and scared and brave and an equal for the Doctor. Because she stands up to him, and against him when he needs it, and with him when he needs that instead.
7. Sarah Jane Smith and Maria Jackson
Sarah Jane Adventures
Sarah Jane! Because she's the one left behind, and she makes that into something worthwhile. She won't let things lie, but she doesn't assume the worst of the aliens. She's not quite a natural mother, but she protects her kids. Which includes Maria, who has a truly awful mostly-absentee mother, and yet ends up looking out for her Dad, and these ridiculous boys she ends up with, and kind of worshiping the woman next door.
8. Hermione Granger
Harry Potter
*g* Hermione is the only character on this list I cosplayed as... We had a charity thing at school when I was maybe 14, where we dressed up. So I was Hermione, with the wand and the cat. Cause really I was always destined to be the bookgeek with feline company. I guess it's because (some truly ridiculous work in HBP aside) Hermione's not the love-interest, and not the girl who needs to be saved. She stays with Harry when no one else will, she loves him when everyone else leaves, and she's amazing in her own right. With books and cleverness, and also bravery and friendship, and quite often having the sense that everyone else lacks.
9. Susan Sto Helit
Discworld series
I quite wanted to be Susan for a long time, and I think probably still do. She's so beautifully rational, and sensible, even in the face of overwhelming nonsense. She has a Look and a voice and she's her grandfather's granddaughter but human at the same time. Monsters under the bed fear her.
10. Dana Scully
X-Files
I only know bits of the things which happen to Scully later on, but at the moment I'm still very much in love with her. Again because she wants proof, and because she's a female sceptic to Mulder's male believing. Because she spends just as much time saving Mulder as he does her. Because she's tiny and redheaded and kicks ass ;)
11. Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars
Another father's daughter, another girl who kicks the asses of all the guys around her. Veronica's flawed, and sometimes too hard and sometimes too easy a sell for a sob-story, but she's earned that right. She's defensive and prickly but defiant and unbroken. She's an excellent liar and doles out the snark liberally. She's a marshmallow :)
12. Elizabeth Bennet
Pride and Prejudice
One more hero from way back when. Lizzie's not demure or soft, she's passionate and witty and okay she occasionally sabotages herself but we get why she does it. She reads and she has fine eyes; she gets the guy in the end. What, I'm not allowed one romantic heroine?
13. Trisana Chandler
Circle of Magic series
Tris is the archetypal bookworm - unhappy at being dragged out into the world for anything. She has a temper and she wears glasses and generally she likes animals better than people. But she draws a circle around the people she loves and the place that becomes home and heaven help anyone who tries to hurt them. She grows to love Briar and Daja, even though she starts off kind of prejudiced against them. I kind of love how close her and Briar get.
14. Toshiko Sato
Torchwood
Tosh is a very smart women pining after a guy who doesn't notice her - I get that. She's also incredibly brave, and level-headed in a crisis, and she loves Owen enough to keep loving him even when he's having a breakdown and taking it out on her. She saves the day more often than she gets credit for it.
15. Zoe Carter
Eureka
When we meet Zoe, she's a juvenile delinquent in the back of a police car, driven by her father. She does stupid teenage lashing out things, but when it comes down to the bit, she loves her father and also she's kind of a genius. And we get to watch her grow into herself, now that she's somewhere she can be challenged, and somewhere that looks out for her. She thinks she has to protect her Dad, because he's really dumb sometimes, but she also teases him worse than anyone else. She's gonna rule the world someday.
16. Sarah Connor and Cameron
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Observe my icon. Sarah and Cameron spend all their time keeping John safe. And you can argue about whether it's a problem that these two strong women dedicate their lives to keeping a man alive so he can be the leader, but you cannot tell me these women don't rock. Because they do.
17. Djaq
Robin Hood
This is mostly an excuse to show a woman with a bow. Djaq is a female Saracen scientist warrior who spends most of the time dressed as a boy to allow her to be the last two things. Again, we are less than happy with where the plot decides to take her, but in my world mostly she continues to be happy in trousers and short hair, owning Will and Allan.
18. Tami and Julie Taylor
Friday Night Lights
Oh, mothers and daughters. Two women who know they'll always have to compete with football for the attention of the guys they love, and do it anyway. Love the guys anyway, and call them out on their crap. Tami makes it absolutely clear to her husband that what she does as a guidance counsellor is just as important as what he does as coach. She takes the kids under her wing - Matt and Tim and Tyra and Lyla and all the others - and tries to be there for them in a way that their parents and team aren't. (Connie Britton should be getting Emmy nods). Julie is clever but still just teetering into maturity - she's vulnerable and real and doesn't let Matt be an idiot around her for too long.
19. Laura Roslin and Kara Thrace
Battlestar Galactica
Even when I disagree with what these two are doing, I still love them as characters. Laura is a leader, and she's badass, and sometimes that means making the tough choices. She was a teacher first, and she's sick, but she knows there's no one else but her so she does the job she's given. Kara is screwed-up in oh so many ways but she knows that. And she knows she's a great pilot, and a bad partner, but she loves the Adama men with all she's got and that's enough. And no, I don't care if she smokes and drinks and swears and cuts her hair short - none of those things in any way detract from her awesome.
20. Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl
Justice League
Little girls need comic book heroes too. Even if said heroes wear metal bras and teeny panties. Women who fight instead of being rescued, and who do some rescuing themselves. These two have kind of a complicated relationship, but it's nothing to do with men and everything to do with their jobs. And who amongst us hasn't wanted to punch a guy into the nearest wall/smash him with our mace? We can fantasise too ;) Also - wings!
21. Elphaba and Glinda
Wicked (musical)
A completely female-led musical which, yeah, has a romantic plot but that's not what it's about. It's about these women, and their friendship, and how their power is diminished and how they take that back. It's also about reputations, and legacies, and doing what you need to do, no matter how other people will look at you afterwards.
I need a longer list: CJ Cregg, Donna Moss, River Tam, Zoe Washburne, Temperance Brennan, Faith Lehane, Jaye Tyler, Cordelia Chase, Fred Burkle, Keladry of Mindelan, Alanna of Trebond, Daine Sarrasri, Deputy Jo Lupo, Luna Lovegood, Vala Mal Doran, Teyla Emmagan, Elizabeth Weir, Rose Tyler, Penelope Garcia, Molly Walker, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Raven, Gertrude Yorkes, Molly Hayes, Karolina Dean, Nico Minoru, Turanga Leela, Lisa Simpson, Mulan, Agnes Nitt, Granny Weatherwax, Angua von Überwald, Tiffany Aching, Jo March, Dr Miranda Bailey, Dr Addison Montgomery, Cristina Yang, Cindy Mackenzie, Betty Suarez, Trinity, Karrin Murphy, Elizabeth Swann, basically all of the Jossverse women, all of the women of Discworld, most of Sorkinverse women, most of the women of Tortall and Emelan.
Though I may have to do another picspam soon which is just 'people who are pretty', because going through my photos folder to find all those was sort of inspiring...
Looking at it, I'm still not sure what it says about me and women. There are a lot of women who kick ass, women who are doing better than the men at their own game. Lots of women with guns, or who are in other ways violent. There are less nurturers than I would like, I suppose, though there are mothers. There are also less women of colour than I'd like. There are a lot of clever women, and a lot of women who are semi-alienated for that. A lot of women who don't get the guy. But also a lot who do, a lot who spend their time looking out for the guy because he tends to forget. A few women who have been raped or assaulted, a lot of women who've had to get past something and learnt to be strong. They're not even all women I'd like to get a coffee with (some of them scare me a little). But it's nice to remind myself that there are plenty of fictional women with stories worth telling, who have power and love and even agency, hopefully :)
(I guess vague spoilers for Buffy, SG-1, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Sports Night, Wicked, Fray, Star Wars, Sarah Jane Adventures, Harry Potter, Discworld, X-Files, Veronica Mars, Pride and Prejudice, Circle of Magic, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Eureka, Robin Hood, Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galactica. No explicit spoilers for anything out this year, anyway)
1. Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Because we get to see them grow into women, because it was at kind of the same time as I was trying to do that, because they're strong (in all the ways, and different ways) and vulnerable and real and loving. Because they made a family, and looked out for them, and sacrificed and faced the darkness to keep the world safe. It just takes so much strength. I don't have that much. // I got so much strength, I'm giving it away.
2. Samantha Carter
Stargate SG-1
For some reason, Sam takes more defending than a lot of this list. I don't know whether it's just the 'she interferes with my slash' issues, but she takes a lot of flak she doesn't deserve. She's a genius, and a hero, and she manages to balance being a member of the military with wanting to unfold the secrets of the universe.
3. Dana Whitaker and Natalie Hurley
Sports Night
I have some quibbles with Dana's romantic storylines, but I think Dana & Natalie are the closest Sorkin came to getting the relationship between women. It's the show with a f/f friendship that equals its m/m equivalent. They communicate in half-sentences, sometimes less than that. They love each other without games, without needing something in return, without any of the messiness of the romanctic relationships. They're a sisterhood of two, if probably not what CJ means when she says it.
4. Melaka Fray
Fray
Fray starts the big battle, without knowing that help will come, without a watcher, without the slayer dreams. Just because her people need defending, and she's the one who can do it. She rallies an army, even though her heart's broken, and she knows what she's going to have to do to win.
5. Leia Organa
Star Wars
I think Leia was my first real feminist hero. She's smart and funny and warm. She can outthink and outshoot the guys. She's the rebellion before either Han or Luke get involved.
6. Donna Noble
Doctor Who
I can't explain the true depths of my love for Donna without spoilers. She crept up on me, because she's funny and scared and brave and an equal for the Doctor. Because she stands up to him, and against him when he needs it, and with him when he needs that instead.
7. Sarah Jane Smith and Maria Jackson
Sarah Jane Adventures
Sarah Jane! Because she's the one left behind, and she makes that into something worthwhile. She won't let things lie, but she doesn't assume the worst of the aliens. She's not quite a natural mother, but she protects her kids. Which includes Maria, who has a truly awful mostly-absentee mother, and yet ends up looking out for her Dad, and these ridiculous boys she ends up with, and kind of worshiping the woman next door.
8. Hermione Granger
Harry Potter
*g* Hermione is the only character on this list I cosplayed as... We had a charity thing at school when I was maybe 14, where we dressed up. So I was Hermione, with the wand and the cat. Cause really I was always destined to be the bookgeek with feline company. I guess it's because (some truly ridiculous work in HBP aside) Hermione's not the love-interest, and not the girl who needs to be saved. She stays with Harry when no one else will, she loves him when everyone else leaves, and she's amazing in her own right. With books and cleverness, and also bravery and friendship, and quite often having the sense that everyone else lacks.
9. Susan Sto Helit
Discworld series
I quite wanted to be Susan for a long time, and I think probably still do. She's so beautifully rational, and sensible, even in the face of overwhelming nonsense. She has a Look and a voice and she's her grandfather's granddaughter but human at the same time. Monsters under the bed fear her.
10. Dana Scully
X-Files
I only know bits of the things which happen to Scully later on, but at the moment I'm still very much in love with her. Again because she wants proof, and because she's a female sceptic to Mulder's male believing. Because she spends just as much time saving Mulder as he does her. Because she's tiny and redheaded and kicks ass ;)
11. Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars
Another father's daughter, another girl who kicks the asses of all the guys around her. Veronica's flawed, and sometimes too hard and sometimes too easy a sell for a sob-story, but she's earned that right. She's defensive and prickly but defiant and unbroken. She's an excellent liar and doles out the snark liberally. She's a marshmallow :)
12. Elizabeth Bennet
Pride and Prejudice
One more hero from way back when. Lizzie's not demure or soft, she's passionate and witty and okay she occasionally sabotages herself but we get why she does it. She reads and she has fine eyes; she gets the guy in the end. What, I'm not allowed one romantic heroine?
13. Trisana Chandler
Circle of Magic series
Tris is the archetypal bookworm - unhappy at being dragged out into the world for anything. She has a temper and she wears glasses and generally she likes animals better than people. But she draws a circle around the people she loves and the place that becomes home and heaven help anyone who tries to hurt them. She grows to love Briar and Daja, even though she starts off kind of prejudiced against them. I kind of love how close her and Briar get.
14. Toshiko Sato
Torchwood
Tosh is a very smart women pining after a guy who doesn't notice her - I get that. She's also incredibly brave, and level-headed in a crisis, and she loves Owen enough to keep loving him even when he's having a breakdown and taking it out on her. She saves the day more often than she gets credit for it.
15. Zoe Carter
Eureka
When we meet Zoe, she's a juvenile delinquent in the back of a police car, driven by her father. She does stupid teenage lashing out things, but when it comes down to the bit, she loves her father and also she's kind of a genius. And we get to watch her grow into herself, now that she's somewhere she can be challenged, and somewhere that looks out for her. She thinks she has to protect her Dad, because he's really dumb sometimes, but she also teases him worse than anyone else. She's gonna rule the world someday.
16. Sarah Connor and Cameron
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Observe my icon. Sarah and Cameron spend all their time keeping John safe. And you can argue about whether it's a problem that these two strong women dedicate their lives to keeping a man alive so he can be the leader, but you cannot tell me these women don't rock. Because they do.
17. Djaq
Robin Hood
This is mostly an excuse to show a woman with a bow. Djaq is a female Saracen scientist warrior who spends most of the time dressed as a boy to allow her to be the last two things. Again, we are less than happy with where the plot decides to take her, but in my world mostly she continues to be happy in trousers and short hair, owning Will and Allan.
18. Tami and Julie Taylor
Friday Night Lights
Oh, mothers and daughters. Two women who know they'll always have to compete with football for the attention of the guys they love, and do it anyway. Love the guys anyway, and call them out on their crap. Tami makes it absolutely clear to her husband that what she does as a guidance counsellor is just as important as what he does as coach. She takes the kids under her wing - Matt and Tim and Tyra and Lyla and all the others - and tries to be there for them in a way that their parents and team aren't. (Connie Britton should be getting Emmy nods). Julie is clever but still just teetering into maturity - she's vulnerable and real and doesn't let Matt be an idiot around her for too long.
19. Laura Roslin and Kara Thrace
Battlestar Galactica
Even when I disagree with what these two are doing, I still love them as characters. Laura is a leader, and she's badass, and sometimes that means making the tough choices. She was a teacher first, and she's sick, but she knows there's no one else but her so she does the job she's given. Kara is screwed-up in oh so many ways but she knows that. And she knows she's a great pilot, and a bad partner, but she loves the Adama men with all she's got and that's enough. And no, I don't care if she smokes and drinks and swears and cuts her hair short - none of those things in any way detract from her awesome.
20. Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl
Justice League
Little girls need comic book heroes too. Even if said heroes wear metal bras and teeny panties. Women who fight instead of being rescued, and who do some rescuing themselves. These two have kind of a complicated relationship, but it's nothing to do with men and everything to do with their jobs. And who amongst us hasn't wanted to punch a guy into the nearest wall/smash him with our mace? We can fantasise too ;) Also - wings!
21. Elphaba and Glinda
Wicked (musical)
A completely female-led musical which, yeah, has a romantic plot but that's not what it's about. It's about these women, and their friendship, and how their power is diminished and how they take that back. It's also about reputations, and legacies, and doing what you need to do, no matter how other people will look at you afterwards.
I need a longer list: CJ Cregg, Donna Moss, River Tam, Zoe Washburne, Temperance Brennan, Faith Lehane, Jaye Tyler, Cordelia Chase, Fred Burkle, Keladry of Mindelan, Alanna of Trebond, Daine Sarrasri, Deputy Jo Lupo, Luna Lovegood, Vala Mal Doran, Teyla Emmagan, Elizabeth Weir, Rose Tyler, Penelope Garcia, Molly Walker, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Raven, Gertrude Yorkes, Molly Hayes, Karolina Dean, Nico Minoru, Turanga Leela, Lisa Simpson, Mulan, Agnes Nitt, Granny Weatherwax, Angua von Überwald, Tiffany Aching, Jo March, Dr Miranda Bailey, Dr Addison Montgomery, Cristina Yang, Cindy Mackenzie, Betty Suarez, Trinity, Karrin Murphy, Elizabeth Swann, basically all of the Jossverse women, all of the women of Discworld, most of Sorkinverse women, most of the women of Tortall and Emelan.
Though I may have to do another picspam soon which is just 'people who are pretty', because going through my photos folder to find all those was sort of inspiring...