Women in Pop Culture

I've heard so many times that there aren't enough strong female characters in films and literature, and I believe that is far from the truth.  Wonder Woman was not the precedent for heroine movies or tough women in pop culture.  When I was growing up. I watched She-Ra and Xena.  Both were princesses, wielding sharp objects and not taking crap from anyone. 

Strong women figures can be found across the following four categories: Movies/TV, Books, Superheroes, and Video Games. The first is a list of strong female Movie/TV characters who impacted me during my youth.

Strong Female Movie/TV characters:
1. Millennial Disney princesses: Ariel, Belle, Jasmine.  Ariel was an explorer who took action to meet her man, and saved him twice.  Belle was an intellectual who didn't put up with sexual harassment.  Jasmine is a fast learner at pole vaulting.
2. Sarah Connor, Terminator saga.  She went from being a puffy-haired waitress to fighting next-to-unstoppable terminators.  When she learned that a new T-800 arrived, her maternal instinct drove her to escape a mental hospital to save her son.

3.  Xena Warrior Princess.  I can not leave her out.  She’s a travelling Greek fighter who kicks butt alongside her best friend.
4. Valeria from Conan the Barbarian.  When I was younger, I wanted to be like her so I could be with the sword wielding Conan.  She saved Conan from being demonically possessed.
5. Hsu Feng’s character in To Kill with Intrigue.  This anti-heroine kicked ass in colorful clothes, and taught a very early Jackie Chan protagonist to be humble.
6. Those women from American Gladiators. I didn't want to be a skinny, tooth picky model. I lifted weights I found in the basement, and hoped someday I would be strong like them.

Women in Books:
I recall a complaint that there aren't many females protagonists in books. I can name ten.  The same goes for superheroines.

1. Elizabeth Bennett, Pride and Prejudice
2. Jo March, Little Women
3. Sayuri, Memoirs of a Geisha
4. Chris McNeil, The Exorcist
5. Alanna of Triband, Lioness Quartet
6. Acorna, Acorna series
7. Dorothy Gale, Wizard of Oz
8. Elphaba, Wicked
9. Aibileen, Skeeter, and Minny, The Help
10. Nancy Drew – all her books.

And just for kicks,
11. (Insert princess), The majority of fairytales.

It's harder to find fairytales for boys.  There is Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and Three Little Pigs.

Note:  More than half of the books listed above were written by women authors.

Superheroines:
1. Wonder Woman
2. Super Girl
3. Batgirl
4. Spider Girl
5. Catwoman
6. Hawk Girl
7. She-Hulk

8. Rogue, Storm, Shadowcat, Jean Grey from X-Men
9. Zatanna – Magician who speaks backwards and saves people.

10. Fallen Angel – Cloaked head to toe in red, this superheroine has super strength.
11. Sailor Moon – An iconic super girl who started the “magical girl” hero trend.  Her impact on pop culture is strong, but her character capitalizes on being human, which made her identifiable.  Unlike the others, she does not try to be a strong woman character at all.  Instead, she acts like an average teenage girl.
12. She-Ra (and her United Nations of Kickass Women*)
13. Burka Avenger - In this Pakistani cartoon, a female teacher morphs into a burka clad superheroine and fights the Taliban to keep education available for all children, including girls!

Interesting to note: Five stemmed from male heroes. About one third of them had their own movie. Over two-thirds of them are fully covered, clothing-wise.

Strong Female Video Game Characters, specifically strong and not sexualized:
1. Samus Aran and Mother Brain, Metroid. In the original, you find out that the intergalactic hero is female after you beat the game.  Mother Brain is the opposite of a sex vixen.
2. Chell and GLaDoS, Portal. One's wearing an orange jumpsuit and defying death, and the other is an evil computer.
3. Carmen Sandiego. There was a PC game for her.  Whether in games or television programs, Carmen is an elusive crime boss in a pink trench coat.
4. Ashrah, Mortal Kombat. She is the woman fighter who is completely covered head to toe in white, and has a tough backstory.  She doesn’t need a swimsuit to fight.
5. Chun Li, Street Fighter. She avenges the death of her father, and has insanely fast kicking.
6. Robin, Dark Wizard. She wears a suit of armor, and leads an army at the age of 22.
7. BB Hood, Darkstalkers. She's an innocent little girl with explosives and an Uzi.

Originally a Facebook Note posted: October 23, 2017
Updated: February 28, 2020; March 25, 2020; May 30, 2020

*”United Nations of Kick Ass Women”  I attribute that phrase to Sara Cook, who wrote it in her article referenced below.  I do not share all her views on feminism, but I found her analysis of a childhood cartoon to be very enetertaining.

Cook, S (2011 Jul 28).  Inspirational Fictional Feminists: She-Ra.  Bad Reputation – A Feminist Pop Culture Adventure.  Retrieved from:  https://badreputation.org.uk/2011/07/28/inspirational-fictional-feminists-she-ra/