Women’s history month may be long over, but that’s no excuse to stop celebrating powerful and important women.
Pink & Black recently published an article about fictional women who are changing feminism. However, those ladies wouldn’t have had a shot to reflect this status if it weren’t for these fictional ladies who paved the way.
There are countless historical TV figures that have made an impact to women’s representation. One of the older one of these ladies is Mary Tyler Moore. It was a breakthrough both on and off-screen. For once, a sitcom featured a woman who took charge of her own life and was completely independent. More recently is Ellen DeGeneres‘ character on Ellen. It was the first broadcast television show to feature a lead character as a lesbian. It basically allowed for shows to feature homosexual characters. The last leading lady is none other than the fiercest New Yorker, Carrie Bradshaw. She just rocked every sexual issue known to the humanity. She discussed women’s sexuality and made so many taboo subjects the norm.
As for leading ladies in literature, we are going to take it back to the classics. Vampires are all the rage for a reason, and that’s Dracula. Mina Harker is the leading lady here. She blows everyone away with her knowledge and excessive record keeping shock the men in the story. She survives to the end as a result of her own intelligence. It’s not overt, but her power is present. A more modern lady would be Hermione, the smartest witch of her time. Honestly, we all know the only reason Harry and Ron survived was because of her. Enough said.
As for film, let’s begin with a lady who kicks ass as a way to inspire women. Ellen Ripley from Alien. In a terrifying other world filled with gut wrenching (literally, aliens burst from guts) monsters, Ellen is just a normal human woman. She spews confidence and kicks some serious butt and makes no apologies, and she’s a survivor.
The last woman is Whoopi Goldberg, specifically in The Color Purple. Similar to Ellen DeGeneres, it’s important to have women of color: representation matters. A heart-wrenching tale and a new actress really jump started the importance of this film and created a model for young black girls.
Today’s female characters wouldn’t stand a chance to have autonomy if it weren’t for the minds behind these leading ladies. Female characters continue to grow, and let’s raise a glass to that.
(Feature Photo via We Heart It)