As someone who grew up obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and saw all the episodes of Xena: the Warrior Princess, it is no wonder that I expect more from a female character. When it dawned on my child brain that Cinderella needed a man to rescue her from her sad existence, it made me question the whole idea of fairy tales. Why was it necessary to be rescued when it was possible to save yourself?
Now, I'm not saying there are not cases where everyone could use a little help: men and women alike, but I wish my childhood had been filled with more Elsas and Meridas instead of Snow Whites and Rapunzels – even though the modern take on these stories make them a little more forgiving. Even to this day I still love The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast; however, the ultimate message of those stories is not that great. Thank god I latched on to Buffy when I did because it made me realize that a woman character can be so much more than a plot device for a male character.
Looking at the female characters in all formats of today, it seems as though there are more kick-ass women out there than ever before. However, these women may kick ass, but they are barely characters at all. Take a look at Black Widow from The Avengers. She has the potential to have an amazing story and could have a mind blowing set of side movies on her own. Yet, the only expansion on her story we have seen is by developing a relationship and a bit of backstory of her being sterilized in order to become a fully formed assasin (And I still stand by that Joss Whedon is one of the best creators of female characters alive right now). This is terribly limiting for the main and practically only female character of the franchise. Thankfully, we've seen Marvel rectify itself some when it comes to the release of Jessica Jones on Netflix.
The good news is that when I was putting this list together, it came to my attention that Buffy was not my first introduction to a strong, female character; she was just the first that really grasped my attention. This list did open my eyes that even though they were limited, I was fortunate to have great stories featuring heroines of all types during my childhood. There was even trouble keeping the list to ten.
Below are some of the female characters that I was introduced to as a young girl. Maybe a younger generation can find these characters as inspiring as I did; even though I didn't truly know it until looking back. Some of them are strong physically, some have special abilities, and some are just brilliant, but all of them are fully-developed.
- Buffy Summers – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Hermione Granger – Harry Potter series
- Elizabeth Bennett – Pride and Prejudice
- Sara Crewe – A Little Princess
- Mary Lennox – The Secret Garden
- Jo March – Little Women
- Dorothy Gale – The Wizard of Oz
- Lucy Ricardo – I Love Lucy
- Matilda - Matilda
- Kaylee Frye - Firefly
As a bonus, here are some newer characters that are getting it right. Not all of these may be suitable for really young children, but I'll leave that up to the parent's discretion.
- Merida – Brave
- Anna – Frozen
- Rey – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Imperator Furiosa – Mad Max: Fury Road
- Arya Stark – A Song of Ice and Fire/ Game of Thrones
Which female characters inspired you when you were younger? Any on this list? Maybe it was one of the ones I painfully cut to keep this list from going on forever.