Celebration of Women

[butterfly]

On the principle of trying to say positive rather than negative things, I'm posting about some of my favorite female characters. I thought I'd start by talking about the women that, for one reason or another, I loved enough to have an icon of.

Some women appear in more than one icon, some appear with other characters, but all of the women listed here were at least part of the reason that I have that icon in my list. So, in chronological order of when I got those icons:

1. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) -- possibly my very first feminist hero. Also, a major part of how I learned that I was bisexual was figuring out exactly why I was pining alongside Xander for Buffy, rather than pining alongside Willow for Xander.

2. Christina Aguilera (actual person) -- still my favorite of the Girls of Pop that were popular in the nineties. I love her music and her attitude. I always felt like she respected herself and owned her own sexuality and was a supporter of other women as well.

3. Cordelia Chase (BtVS/Angel) -- Kicks ass, though I didn't really fall for her as a character until her last appearance on the show. Like Buffy (though she'd hate the comparison *grins*), Cordy always picked herself back up again and showed how strong she was.

4. Yuna (Final Fantasy X and X2) -- The first FF character to earn a spin-off, I love Yuna's hope, determination, and her sense of duty to the world she lives in and loves.

5. Fred Burkle (Angel) -- Unquestionably amazing. Tough and smart and ruthless when she needed to be.

6. Illyria (Angel) -- should Illyria count? In terms of treatment of female-appearing characters (which is what much of the recent discussion has been about), definitely. I found Illyria to be a fascinating and compelling character.

7. Ghanima Atreides (Children of Dune) -- Definitely suffers from a subconscious gender preference on the part of the author, but she's awesome all the same.

8. Kate Winslet (actual person) -- appearing in my icons as a character that I may still post a story about. If I ever finish writing it. In general, I do just adore Kate Winslet and her acting, and I very much love Abigail, the semi-OC character that I created who I visualize as Kate.

9. Joey Potter (Dawson's Creek) -- teen girl from the wrong side of the creek trying to figure her life out. She fucked up, fell for the wrong guy, succeeded at her chosen field, made friends, and decided to stop running away from what she really wanted. I love Joey Potter, man.

10. Cher Horowitz (Clueless) -- a total sweetheart who really grows up during the course of her movie. Her heart is always in the right place and she figures out how to get the rest of her there, too.

11. Satine (Moulin Rouge) -- honestly, I love her partly just because I think this is Nicole Kidman's hottest role (I mentioned the bisexuality). But I also really enjoy a good tragedy and I feel Satine's pain, hope, and love.

12. Nagiko (The Pillow Book) -- one of the sensual and beautiful movies I've ever seen (note: kinda tragic, though). Nagiko lives through the movie though and is a very strong, adapable, and fascinating character. It's her story that's being told.

13. Leia Organa (Star Wars) -- smart, brave, determined.

14. Jordan Two-Delta (The Island) -- very curious and once she knows the right thing to do, does it without any hesitation.

15. Padmé Amidala (Star Wars) -- if Anakin demonstrates the dangers of falling too far into aggression based on fear, Padmé illustrates the danger of forgiving too easily. Both Anakin and Padmé loved blindly and in secret and suffered consequences from that. If I love Leia because she triumphs, I love Padmé because she tries.

16. Zoe (Firefly) -- can kill you with her pinky. Is also incredibly funny and tender and complex.

17. Rose Tyler (Doctor Who) -- she creates herself. She refuses to accept the limitations that the world (and her family) would place on her and goes after what she wants.

18. Sharon Valerii (Battlestar Galactica) -- in all of her complicated differences. I fell so hard for Boomer and I do really adore Athena now. She's my favorite character on BSG.

19. Lindsay (Arrested Development) -- shallow. Selfish. Tactless. She loves her daughter but is generally horrible at spending any time with her. Lindsay is not a particularly good person, but she's a very interesting one (and no worse than the majority of the characters on AD).

20. Alma (Brokeback Mountain) -- who breaks my heart as much as the guys in the movie do, but who also has more of my admiration because she gets out of her sucky situation to find a person that she won't be miserable with. In the end, she's a much stronger person than Ennis.

21. Mimi (RENT) -- I love her because she lives 'no day but today' but she isn't at all perfect. She uses heroin and there is no indication, even at the very end of the story, that she's completely done with the drugs. She's a good person, but she's also an addict. This is not something that I've seen done successfully in very many places at all.

22. Maureen (RENT) -- In her crazy bisexual glory. I love her for not being ashamed of herself and for living every moment to the fullest.

23. Joanne (RENT) -- Like Maureen, she isn't afraid or ashamed of who she is and she doesn't stand for being walked over (which... I love Mark, but he and Maureen weren't a good match for that very reason -- she could totally walk all over him). Strong, capable, ethical.

24. Inara Serra (Firefly) -- Because gentle strength is still strength. Not all women need to be able to break people in half with their pinkies.

25. Megan (Numb3rs) -- I love the way her mind works -- I love that when she doesn't know something, she's never afraid to admit it and ask for clarification and I love that when she does know something, she's very calm and sure about it.

26. Lois Lane (Smallville/Lois and Clark) -- Where to begin? Lois Lane is one of the heroes of my childhood. L&C's Lois is the person I looked at and said, "I want to be like her." And I didn't mean 'a reporter', I meant tough and witty and funny and interesting. And now, with SV's Lois, she's still the type of woman that I admire but I also am getting to see her grow into some of her best traits.

27. Gwen Cooper (Torchwood) -- Strong, developing into a very good leader, emotionally available. I love her relationships with everyone. I love that she makes mistakes and then learns from them. I love her compassion and determination.

28. Atia of the Julii (Rome) -- Powerful, ruthless, and a survivor. Rome's best deviation from actual history is what they chose to do with Atia.

29. Gabrielle (Xena) -- I love a good 'coming of age' story and Gabrielle's is powerful. I'm not all that far on my full rewatch of Xena but I'm very impressed by how fast she's learning.

30. Niobe (Rome) -- doing the best she can in the world that she lives in. Niobe has so few good choices available, but she tries to give herself and her children a good life.

31. Teyla Emmagan (Stargate: Atlantis) -- leader, warrior, all-around cool chick.

32. Vala Mal Doran (Stargate: SG-1) -- incredibly enjoyable to watch. I love her chemistry with Daniel and the way that she integrates herself into the team.

33. Original Cindy (Dark Angel) -- utterly awesome, yo. My very favorite DA character. I need to find a song for her so that I can vid her.

34. Max Guevara (Dark Angel) -- also pretty damn cool. I love how we see her develop her heroism and how she becomes a leader.

35. Susan (Doctor Who) -- she's a sweetheart and I love her relationship with the Doctor.

36. Claire Bennet (Heroes) -- I loved her best in S1, though she did some cool things at the end of S2. But in S1 she had a really great coming of age story (until her empowerment got retracted at the very end. *sigh*).

37. Ruby (Supernatural) -- had more potential than the show explored, but I really love the idea of her and Katie Cassidy was terrific in the role.

38. Deb Morgan (Dexter) -- a full, complex, fascinating character. She and Dexter have the most real sibling-eske relationship that I've ever seen on TV. All around fab.

39. Jo (Doctor Who) -- very likable, plus she grows quite a bit as a character in her time on the show.

40. Vicki (Blood Ties) -- my biggest regret about Blood Ties not coming back is not getting any more Vicki. Such a strong character and so many interesting things about her were being explored in the show, issues about the lives of women that I haven't really seen explored anywhere else.

41. Bela (Supernatural) -- what I said about Ruby? You can put that here, too.

42. Tracy Turnblad (Hairspray) -- a sympathetic activist character who is both overweight and the romantic lead of her movie. This is rare and cool.

43. Sam Carter (Stargate: SG-1) -- intelligent and strong character who, though she has suffered some bad writing, has always emerged on the other side and recovered from it.

44. Donna Noble (Doctor Who) -- she's doing things that she thought were impossible and doing them with humor and bravery.

45. Jackie Tyler (Doctor Who) -- she learns how to get over her fears of risk-taking (in both her daughter and herself).

46. Jo Harvelle (Supernatural) -- what I said about Bela and Ruby applies here, too. I liked her best when she wasn't being used as a 'love interest' character and was disappointed that she was dropped as a character as soon as that label no longer applied to her (Supernatural: take a hint from Doctor Who -- people can be friends and care about each other and help each other out even if one of them once had a crush on the other).

47. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) -- I had some frustrations with her character but, overall, her intelligence and bravery do her credit, and she cared about ethical issues that no one else in the books gave a second thought.

48. Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice) -- Again, this is a character that really grows in the course of the time we know her. She learns that a first impression isn't the only thing that matters.

49. Toshiko Sato (Torchwood) -- brilliant and damaged, just like everyone else in Torchwood. I especially love her for her honor, bravery and kindness.

50. Martha Jones (Doctor Who) -- I had an up-and-down relationship with her while S3 was airing but, in the episodes since then, I've really enjoyed her.

51. Maria (The Sarah Jane Adventures) -- Clever, curious, and figuring out who she really is. Maria is fabulous.

52. Sarah Jane Smith (Doctor Who/ TSJA) -- I love how clearly capable she is in her chosen career. She's the hero of her own life and I love that we get to see that.

53. Jenny (Doctor Who) -- So like the Doctor in so many ways. I loved having Jenny on the show. And she grew so much, in such a short time.

54. Amber Volakis (House) -- I have loved Amber since her first appearances on House (I think I first fell for her when she tricked the other students into walking away from something House had asked them to do). I love her for being ruthless in the pursuit of her goals, but always caring for her patients. I love how strong she is and that she refuses to let Wilson treat her like she needs to be taken care of. It's also so easy to see, in her reactions to House, how much sexism she's had to put up with in her career and how she refuses to compromise herself in order to fend off being called a 'bitch'. There have definitely been places in her story where the writers have disappointed me, but I love her character fully.

Comments

[shei.livejournal.com]

Great idea and great list!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's always fun to celebrate women and I especially felt the need to do so right now.

[elz.livejournal.com]

I love your list! And:

I need to find a song for her so that I can vid her.

You totally do! I'd love to see that.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I've found a couple of songs that sorta maybe work but I want to find the song for her that speaks to me and feels absolutely right. Which takes longer! I believe that it's out there, though (I'm also open to the idea of doing a Cindy/Max friendship vid because they are my BFF OTP).

[bell]

I was so glad to see Yuna on your list. ♥ And I count Illyria. Not your most conventional woman, but that's her current vessel.

Great list, both in selection and in writing.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yuna is a fabulous character. I don't think I've ever really cared about a video game character's happiness the way I do hers.

Illyria definitely kicks major ass.

I'm glad you enjoyed the list!

[queenrikki-hp.livejournal.com]

Yay list (or at least the ones I know).

Also, a major part of how I learned that I was bisexual was figuring out exactly why I was pining alongside Xander for Buffy, rather than pining alongside Willow for Xander.

That's really sweet, actually-and makes a better story than seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones in Zorro(which was my catalyst for that particular realisation).

All around great list.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Well, Catherine Zeta-Jones is totally hot (the only reason that I like Chicago, to be frank), so that makes sense, too.

[queenrikki-hp.livejournal.com]

So very, very true (both on the hotness of CZJ and her being the reason to like Chicago).

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

Also, a major part of how I learned that I was bisexual was figuring out exactly why I was pining alongside Xander for Buffy, rather than pining alongside Willow for Xander.

Well, I'm straight and I think Buffy is hotter than Xander, so that might be more about having powers of observation than anything. Seriously, though, Buffy was just such a real person to me, and yet a larger-than-life hero at the same time. Definitely a favorite of mine as well.

Fred -- when she lifted that bloody hand, that was just such a wow moment for me.

Cher Horowitz -- never saw Clueless, but now I will. Thanks for the rec!

Leia -- Yes! Between Leia and Sue Storm, it never crossed my mind that a woman couldn't fight just as well as the boys. I didn't notice sexism in my little world until after college.

Rose -- I think we're all very clear on the awesome that is Rose Tyler.

Sharon Valerii -- Me too! As interesting as Kara Thrace may be, as strong as Laura Roslin may be, Sharon's my favorite by far.

Lindsay -- Is going to get the dubious honor of co-starring in my first non-sci-fi fic. She's a great comic character, and I've come to learn that female comic characters are rarer than I thought in mainstream stuff. (Also Newsradio did well with that, and Reba was great.)

Inara -- Not all women need to be able to break people in half with their pinkies. Amen to that! I want a second movie, and with way more Inara in it!

Gwen, yep. Gabrielle, yep. Teyla, yep.

Vala!!! We're all clear on my love for her. She's been through so much, but she can still smile. That's just as amazing to me as the fact that she can kick everyone's ass. And then there's her chemistry with Daniel. *melts*

Original Cindy -- I need to find a song for her so that I can vid her. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

Max -- And don't ignore the fact that she's hot. I also love her combination of toughness and vulnerability. Like Vala, she hits all my character-kinks very effectively.

Claire, yep. Carter, yep.

Donna -- She's another one who has turned out to be very real to me.

Hermione -- Good points. I'll steal those.

Tosh, Martha, Jenny . . .

You have excellent tastes, which we all already knew, and I'll stop stealing your list and go make my own now.

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

I get really sad when people diss on Inara because she's the 'hooker' I've seen a bit of that lately and I want to say 'But she's more then that, lalalalala, shutup, shutup, shutup'.

But that's a waste of effort. It's not that I don't understand that people have tastes, there are some characters I can't stand that others do, but I think people are focusing on the wrong thing with her. Ya know.

OK, maybe I'm just a sad fangirl :(

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

Well what they're missing is the way her society views her line of work, and what that says about the society as a whole. They're also missing her very subtle conflicted feelings about the whole thing, which Joss never did get to explore. He wasn't saying, "yay prostitution, women who sell themselves are free," as so many seem to think. The Firefly universe isn't Joss's ideal future the way the Trek universe is Roddenberry's ideal future. It's a broken society, where moving food from one planet to another is "smuggling" yet prostitution is not only legal, but elevated. In some ways, guild law protects these women, and it's an improvement, since we all know the sex trade will never just go away, but then we meet the women in Heart of Gold, and see that only part of the sex trade really has the protection, so how is that better?

And back to Inara, her job does not define her, like you were saying. I'm very curious as to what forces in her life have brought her to Serenity, and I want to know her better.

*stops rambling, goes back to payroll*

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

They're also missing her very subtle conflicted feelings about the whole thing, which Joss never did get to explore. He wasn't saying, "yay prostitution, women who sell themselves are free," as so many seem to think.


Well, you say it better then I do. When someone says that Inara in Firefly is an example of anti-feminism in Whedon's work, my response is normally 'But she's cool, can't you see she's cool'!

Which isn't very intellectual :)

This could possibly be my thought processes in Dollhouse as well, I'm thinking Whedon is going to be exploring a similar theme.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad that you enjoyed the list!

Clueless is a really fun movie. It's pretty fluffy but it's well-done fluff.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Fantastic post! I also have much love for Buffy, Cordelia, Illyria, Joey Potter, Rose, Donna, Jackie, Martha, and Sarah-Jane :D

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thanks! There are a lot of really great female characters out there.

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

I pretty much agree with all the characters that that I know of

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Because they rock! *grins*

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

24. Inara Serra (Firefly) -- Because gentle strength is still strength. Not all women need to be able to break people in half with their pinkies.

I adore Inara. Not that I don't like Kaylee too, but I much prefer Inara for her gentleness and restraint. Must edit my own list to add her!

[millylicious.livejournal.com]

I'm totally declaring this a meme and wil be doing it.

[blacksquirrel.livejournal.com]

Kate Winslet is my Ideal Ego. And I love that you included Nagiko! I haven't thought about that film in *ages*

[sunnytyler001.livejournal.com]

Poor Amber! I agree! She needs more love!

mindless babbling.

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

I love Yuna, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. And she's totally not the type of female character I fall for, but I do so adore her. I must admit it took me half way through the game to get to that point. I never watched the sequel and never will. I suspected what her mission was with fighting Sin, but it was a mighty powerful blow when it was finally revealed (God, I love the last scene....).

But *squee*

And I also love Ashe from FFXII, have you played that one yet?

And of course Gabrielle, she's my dearest, but so is Xena, I can't choose between them, as well as Callisto, and Ephiny. There are so many cool female characters in that show, and Minya!.

[madame-parker.livejournal.com]

This is such a wonderful list! And how happy am I that I've pretty much seen almost all of them in action, doing amazing things, showing what it means to be a women and that strength and intelligence can come in many forms.

[seacrystal.livejournal.com]

I don't recognize like almost 90% your list, but I love being introduced to them. :) And I especially like how you picked out Kate, she's definitely just an awesome person all around, and an absolutely fantastic actress.