And Three and Four and Jazz Hands
meganbmoore was discussing issues she had with Supernatural's treatment of female characters, which I don't disagree about. This got me thinking about some of the well handled female characters they DO have out there in my fandoms. I'm no raging feminist by any means, so maybe some will disagree with some of the women I pick as not being as admirable as I think they are.
Everyone knows that I love Kahlan from Legend of the Seeker. She's not only emotionally tougher than Richard, but she's also as physically as tough as if not more skilled than he is. Kahlan's never portrayed as not feminine though. Where as Denna is shown in an almost masculine light, Kahlan elegant and ladylike and she will CUT you if you try to pull anything. Richard is not only in love with her, but they're also best friends. He doesn't try to protect or baby her and he tends to lean on her as his emotional rock when he needs to. I appreciate that Kahlan is much tougher in the show than she seems in the books. It's nice to see a female character who doesn't need rescuing.
Merlin offers Gwen and Morgana, who are ladies born and bred, but who are tough in a fight. I honestly don't like Morgana for reasons that she just rubs me the wrong way, but she and Gwen are both shown as fiesty women. Gwen, for all her shyness, is the only one Arthur backs down to and Morgana is seen as being a strong, if emotionally unstable, woman.
Ruby from Demons is my favorite character on the show mainly because she has no idea what is going on, but is insistant that she be involved mainly because she cares about Luke. He's the dumb one for not catching on to what a good thing he has.
There are two particular characters that started out with good writing but got lost somewhere. Fiona from Burn Notice started losing my sympathy last season as her continuing to be manipulated emotionally be Michael is out of character for someone as smart and tough as she is. Sure he doesn't mean to, but he just expects her to come through for him no matter what without any commitment. Marian from Robin Hood also lost me mainly because of her capriciousness with Robin and Guy. This is a smart woman who should want to crack Robin over the back of the head most of the time and she also should be smart enough to know that Guy is ruthless. She seems oblivious on both counts, which makes me wonder where there writers were.
Everyone knows that I love Kahlan from Legend of the Seeker. She's not only emotionally tougher than Richard, but she's also as physically as tough as if not more skilled than he is. Kahlan's never portrayed as not feminine though. Where as Denna is shown in an almost masculine light, Kahlan elegant and ladylike and she will CUT you if you try to pull anything. Richard is not only in love with her, but they're also best friends. He doesn't try to protect or baby her and he tends to lean on her as his emotional rock when he needs to. I appreciate that Kahlan is much tougher in the show than she seems in the books. It's nice to see a female character who doesn't need rescuing.
Merlin offers Gwen and Morgana, who are ladies born and bred, but who are tough in a fight. I honestly don't like Morgana for reasons that she just rubs me the wrong way, but she and Gwen are both shown as fiesty women. Gwen, for all her shyness, is the only one Arthur backs down to and Morgana is seen as being a strong, if emotionally unstable, woman.
Ruby from Demons is my favorite character on the show mainly because she has no idea what is going on, but is insistant that she be involved mainly because she cares about Luke. He's the dumb one for not catching on to what a good thing he has.
There are two particular characters that started out with good writing but got lost somewhere. Fiona from Burn Notice started losing my sympathy last season as her continuing to be manipulated emotionally be Michael is out of character for someone as smart and tough as she is. Sure he doesn't mean to, but he just expects her to come through for him no matter what without any commitment. Marian from Robin Hood also lost me mainly because of her capriciousness with Robin and Guy. This is a smart woman who should want to crack Robin over the back of the head most of the time and she also should be smart enough to know that Guy is ruthless. She seems oblivious on both counts, which makes me wonder where there writers were.