Role Models
It got a little depressing this semester, thinking about sexism and double standards while working on my Slut issue. To remind myself of instances in which the world doesn’t suck, I felt a need to compile a list of some of my favorite brave, badass ladies. I could write pages and pages of love letters to each of them, but (at this moment anyway) I won’t.
I should note that I intentionally didn’t list many favorite female musicians, because there are so many that they would create a chart all of their own. Also, my love of female pop stars is perhaps too embarrassing to share on the internet (at this moment anyway). So there aren’t many musicians on this list, except for a few cases where I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, here’s what I’ve got, row by row:
1) Tina Fey, Daria Morgendorffer, Hopey Glass/Maggie Chascarillo, Kat Stratford, Girl, Joan Crawford, Lisa Simpson
2) Rebecca Doppelmeyer/Enid Coleslaw, Rebecca Doppelmeyer/Enid Coleslaw, Alice Kim, Linda Hamilton, Julia Wertz, Franka Potente, Michelle Yeoh
3) Beatrix Kiddo, Barbra Streisand, Doris Day, Spinelli, Elaine Benes, Starlee Kine, Sandra Tsing Loh
4) Erika Moen, Scarlett O’Hara, Lucille Bluth, Buffy Summers, Aline Kominsky Crumb, Josephine Baker, Annie Lennox
5) Marge Gunderson, Sharon Mitchell, Annie Sprinkle, Julie Doucet, Gertrude Stein, Kristen Wiig, Julia Sweeney
6) Margaret Cho, Alison Bechdel, Janeane Garofalo, Susan Sontag, Toni Morrison, Dorothy Parker, Mae West
7) Joan Holloway, bell hooks, Miranda Hobbes, Betty Rizzo, Lindsay Weir/Kim Kelly, Sarah Vowell, Rosie the Riveter
NOTE: One awesome woman I forgot to put on this list is Sarah Haskins. So…watch this cool behind-the-scenes video about her instead! And as long as you’re clicking…check out Cracked’s list of “Hollywood’s 5 Saddest Attempts at Feminism.” They’re pretty fucking spot-on.
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I love this post
December 23rd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I saw Cynthia Nixon and hoped against hope this was about Tanner ’88 (or, judging by the picture, the less-good Tanner on Tanner) but NO IT HAD TO BE ABOUT SEX AND THE CITY.
Not really sure what you mean by “role models.” For instance, there are a number of characters on this list (for instance, Buffy and Elaine) who are strong female characters while at the same time being pretty shitty individuals (Buffy later in the series, Elaine pretty much always). Are you saying that they are good models for fiction writers? Or that these are people you actually want to be like? Because if you ever become as mentally deficient as season six Buffy I am going to cry.
P.S. I forgot how much the Buffy photographers tried to counterbalance Sarah Michelle Geller’s small breasts with extreme cleavage shots. Sigh.
December 23rd, 2009 at 5:47 pm
THANK YOU MADELYN.
NO THANKS TO YOU DYLAN. Dylan, the point is that they’re INTERESTING. They’re not all perfect, and I’m certainly not suggesting that EVERY SINGLE EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES OF BUFFY was flawless. But these people/characters are interesting and, in my opinion, all in some way defy stereotypes. So leave your stupid comments in your pocket!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfUj4QJGnok
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Also, (to Dylan) recognizing someone as a “role model” doesn’t always so much mean that one thinks the person is some kind of ideal, but may be an act of recognizing that these people and characters have influenced one’s being, and, er, role. Some of the characters listed here I definitely remember tapping into my brain as screaming, “Hey! Here’s a depiction of a feminine persona that actually jives with what I’m all about!” Even sometimes when the character was too much of a caricature, it’s not always possible to totally shirk off rudely identifying. My list would be different (e.g., more Willow, less Buffy), but to some I scream, “Of course!” I think I have a harder time figuring out what characters and people are shaping me now, since time gives perspective and all (would NOT have admitted to myself that I could identify with a teen movie character UH-UH, NO WAY, when 10 Things I Hate About You came out, but now I can fully recognize it as a stone cold fact.)
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:45 pm
you forgot the most important of all female role models. WONDER. ELLA. WONDERELLA!!
http://nonadventures.com/2009/11/14/the-cheese-stands-atoned/
December 24th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Hey,
So may I make a request that you make the female musicians chart? I love this post, I think it’s amazing. However, I’m always fascinated by people’s musical heroes and I would love to see yours. Just a brief request.
December 25th, 2009 at 3:11 am
Haha, I am so fucking jazzed about the fact that Spinelli is on your list!
December 25th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Tabitha: Thank you for your words! I agree wholeheartedly with your open-minded definition of role models.
Sam J: I still haven’t started reading that…
Sarah D: Oh man, I just started making one! Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Natalie Maines are all on it. The rest are possibly not fit for internet consumption.
Chris: SPINELLI = WIN.
December 25th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
THANK YOU TABITHA.
NO THANKS TO YOU ATHENA. So leave your stupid comments in your ass (I would say pocket, but let’s face it, your ass has a lot more room)!
December 25th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
p.s. Spinelli is a travesty of characterization, possibly even more so than the other ludicrous stereotypes that embody the animated abortion that is Recess.
oh yeah I’m on a roll
December 26th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Dylan – I will still be your friend on Facebook, but we are not friends now.
May 19th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
I’m gonna keep adding to this list whenever I think of someone.
* Margot Tenenbaum
* Fairuza Balk (as anything)
* Catherine Keener (as anything)
May 19th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
* Natasha Lyonne (for “But I’m a Cheerleader”, “Die, Mommie, Die!”, “Everyone Says I Love You”, etc.)
* Clea Duvall (for “But I’m a Cheerleader”, etc.)
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:14 pm
* Janis Ian from Mean Girls
October 28th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
* Lily Tomlin
* Lili Taylor
* Tracey Ullman
June 21st, 2011 at 7:03 pm
* Michelle Rodriguez. In a number of things, but especially Girlfight
June 21st, 2011 at 8:22 pm
* Veronica Mars
June 21st, 2011 at 8:23 pm
* Tina Majorino, in a number of things, but especially Big Love and Veronica Mars
* Chloë Sevigny as Nicki in Big Love
August 1st, 2011 at 5:09 pm
355
Three. Fifty. Five.
THREE FIFTY FIVE!!!
August 1st, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Trinity from the Matrix.
La Femme Nikita as played by Anne Parillaud in the Luc Besson film.
October 27th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Tara from True Blood. (Ignore the fact that the show goes sharply downhill after a couple seasons.)
October 27th, 2011 at 11:26 am
Glenn Close as Patty Hewes in Damages (Again, ignore the show’s swift decline after Season 1.)
January 31st, 2012 at 11:41 am
Sarah Lund in Forbrydelsen!!!!