But I appreciate a well-written woman, or a real-life woman whom I can look up to. Since strong female characters--or, at least, good female characters--are going to be the topic of my Squills column for the next few weeks, I want to know:
Who are your favorite female characters, in fiction or real-life? Why do you admire them? Give me a name, what she's known from, and why you like her!
Here are just a few of mine:
In fiction:
Miss Piggy of the Muppets
She knows how to take care of herself. She knows what she wants (Kermit). She knows karate. Basically she's a boss who can kick your butt and look fabulous in the latest fashions while doing it. Best moments: the Muppets version of "The Three Little Pigs" (in "Muppet Classic Theater") and the moment in "Muppets: Most Wanted" when she figures out which frog is the real Kermit.
Rosaura, the Minecraft-based narrative series "Seedlings"
First of all, if you haven't watched this yet, DO IT. It's fantastic, and the webisodes are only like ten minutes long, and the music is awesome, and it's FUNNY and AMAZING and you just need to GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW.
Ahem. Sorry.
Anyway, Rosaura is one of our three leads. She's a normal girl--a little bit sassy, more down-to-earth than her boys, and up for compliments and an adventure or two. But she's great at making potions, which has served Our Heroes well on more than one occasion, and it's important to note that, thus far, there has not been a single hint of a love interest for her.
At least, not a male love interest...
Scarlett O'Hara, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
There are a lot of things not to love about Scarlett, and tbh I'd probably dislike her if I met her in real life. She's two-faced and manipulative. And putting her in the "strong fmc" category is almost debatable, since Rhett sexually dominates her at one point (which is when she starts feelings in awe of him/blushing at the thought of him/wanting to see him), after she's spent the entire book mooning over Ashley Wilkes (whom, let's face it, she doesn't really want anyway).
But I will say this: I admire Scarlett because she's not afraid to do what she feels needs to be done. In this life, I am the Ashley Wilkes of the world, too afraid to face reality, while Scarlett grabs life by the horns and wrestles it to the ground in a time when young women are expected to look pretty and tell men how wonderful they are. There are a lot of things to take with a grain of salt (or outright disbelief or dislike) in this book (such as the supposed "happiness" of all the slaves to be in the positions they're in). And Scarlett herself does a lot of things I don't agree with and has a lot of negative qualities--but her grit is not one of them.
In real life:
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani feminist and activist for women's education and p.s. she is only SIXTEEN holy frick
Absolutely everything you need to know about this precious baby who is younger than me and yet possibly the person in the world I most look up to is that she was shot by the Taliban for speaking out in favor of education and women's rights, she miraculously survived, and then later she came on the Daily Show and said this:
I used to think that a Talib would come and he would just kill me. Then I said, if he comes, what would you do, Malala? Then I would tell myself, Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.
But then I said, if you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others that much with cruelty, that much harshly. You must fight others through peace and through dialogue and through education. Then I said, I would tell him how important education is, and then, I even want education for your children as well. And I would tell him, that is what I want to tell you. Now do what you want.
There's way more to love about her, but basically if she's not one of your favorite people ever after that, then go back and re-read it until she is.
my mom
I know this seems cliched and corny, but my mom is awesome, okay. And I read a blog once that made me really mad because it basically said that women who become mothers are lame and never accomplish anything and have to give up all of their goals and never do anything.
Um, excuse you, but my mother is amazing. Also, are you really that ungrateful to your own mother that you think raising you was not an accomplishment? My goodness.
ANYWAY, while it's true that my mother married young and did not go to work for the FBI like she originally planned (p.s. this is true and I just found it out when we visited on the way back from our honeymoon), she did finish her Bachelor's in criminal justice. Then she raised three kids, held several different jobs, grew her own vegetables, dug post-holes and built fences and stacked hay when we had a few acres and some livestock, held a household together and kept her head even when money got tight and they had to move because Dad finally got laid off...and then went back to school for a law degree, passed the bar exam, and now has a job working for a nonprofit in the D.C area.
Moms can be strong women, okay? Like, the strongest.
Gender:
Points: 91980
Reviews: 1735