Ficticious Female Characters Made of Awesome

[amari_z]

I grew up reading a lot of adventure stories, fairy tales and myths, and I was one of those girls who generally identified far more with the male characters than female--because, really, it was the male characters who got to do the fun things. March is Women's History Month, and so here is my random list of fictional females that I grew up loving. Not history you say? Ah, but it's my history, and I am female, ergo . . . .

Okay, some disclaimers/explanations: It's not meant to be any kind of feminist empowerment theory list, but is strictly based on my own personal quirks and exposures. And it's by no means complete, since, well, I'm just forgetful that way. I'm also not including any contemporary works (which is probably far, far richer territory), but stuff that I saw/read in my more formative years--for the most part. In no partiular order:


Éowyn from The Lord of the Rings. I loved her from the moment I saw her in some cartoon version of RotK, which was so long ago that I remember afterwards checking out The Hobbit from the library and begging my big sis to read it to me since it was rather beyond my reading level (she refused—she wasn't a dork like me). I think I might have been seven or eight? When she takes off her helmet and says the line. Perfect.

Nancy Drew. I'm actually surprised at myself with this one, but on refection, yes, she does belong here. I wasn't a huge fan (I've never really been a huge fan of the mystery genre), and didn't read too many of these, but she was smart and daring and active.

Ramona Quimby in Beverly Cleary's books. She was a brat. I think I also particularly liked her because my own older sister liked her long-suffering, older sister.

Harriet M. Welsch of Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I don't need to explain this one, right?

Sophie Hatter of Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle. I did like the movie, but I loved the book as a kid and still do. Sophie is made of win.

Clytemnestra. I nearly put down Medea, but that might be a bit over the top—even for me. Clytemnestra kills her Troy-returning, mistress-totting husband Agamemnon. In the bath. With an ax. She's been waiting to do this for ten years, since he killed their daughter. It probably is a little TMI information about me, but I really like her.

Harry Crewe in the Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword. In a lot of ways, Harry fits the idea of a magical girl heroine. She's whisked away to a strange land (literally) by exotics and finds out she has some powers and she saves the day. But I remember loving her because she's uncomfortable with the trappings of what is expected of a female, things actually don't come that easily to her, and she felt real.

Pschye. Okay, so she's in it chasing after a boy, but still. I'm subverting the myth, no doubt, but I like her because she does question, and is prepared to act, and when she turns out to be "wrong" she doesn't give up on what she wants.

Wonder Woman. I debated a bit about her. Although I know little about comic books, I tend to perceive her as originating in male fantasy. And, of course, there's the costume and the fetishism. But still, as a kid, I liked her. She is strong, she (sometimes) flies and she kicks butt.

Ellen Ripley from the Alien movies. The epitome of a kickass woman.

From a bit later on, because I couldn't come up with any childhood TV shows:

Dana Scully of The X-Files. I don't need to explain this one either, right?

Ms. Parker from The Pretender. In hindsight, the show was rather cheesy, but, at the time, I was interested both by the ongoing mystery plot (something that wasn't so common on TV back then) and by Ms. Parker, who was violent, ruthless, and scary. Despite her Daddy issues, she was always the toughest person in the room, and, well, I like that.

Runners up:

Princess Leia. Although I do know a lot of girls identified her, I never did, so she doesn't make the list. As a kid I'd have rather have been Luke. Or Chewbacca.

Eilonwy from Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. I loved these books as a kid, and while Eilonwy can indeed be considered made of awesome, I, predictably, identified with Taran, the boy protagonist. Like him, I tended to view her as rather bewildering and annoying.


Mmm. Sadly, that was a lot harder than I thought, and I'm rather hoping I'm just being really forgetful.

So who are yours?

A little more on point, coming soon (maybe): Historical Women Made of Awesome.

Comments

[amari-z.livejournal.com]

Hee! That's awesome that he replied. I read those books for the first time when I was in fourth grade, and they are a big part of my childhood landscape. I made a bet with my sister at one point that if I read The High King 10 times she'd buy me a book. I won.