![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Since several recent essays on metafandom started me thinking about it:
Female characters I adore:
Rose Vitrac/January/(Sefton ^_~)
Because she manages to be a dedicated scientist even though she has to buy her books at secondhand shops and grade other teacher’s exams for money in order to make ends meet. Because she claims to disdain melodrama and gothic novels, but has “The Monk” practically memorized. Because women who can read Aristophanes in the original Greek are hot. And because she’s a survivor of sexual abuse who’s actually survived, instead of wallowing in her victimhood or being magically cured of her trauma by the glowing light of some guy’s cock. She also refuses to confine herself to the “proper” pursuits of a nineteenth century woman without being anachronistically feminist about it. Rose doesn’t want to take down the patriarchy, stick it to the Man, or walk around in trousers because skirts are “oppressive”—she just wants to be able to perform chemistry experiments and teach teenage girls Latin. And carry on a semi-canonical polyamorous relationship with a doctor and a violin player, but that’s beside the point.
Margaret “Hotlips” Hoolihan
I swear, it has nothing to do with how hot she looks in a black tank top. Margaret is every bit as tough as the men of the 4077—actually, she’s arguably tougher than just about everyone except Colonel Potter. She (and her nurses, but they don’t get as much screen time) stays and does her job without stereotypical “female” hysterics even when bombs are falling all around her. She stands up for herself, won’t take any crap from anyone, and is completely comfortable with her own sexuality (which we all know involves whips and fluffy handcuffs and tying Frank to the camp bed) without being a slut or a “designated love interest.” Yeah, she can be a bitch, she can be narrow minded and opinionated, she sucks up to anybody with power, and she rubbed Frank’s nose in her engagement to the point of petty cruelty, but unlike, say, Frank, she’s passionate about her job and capable of realizing when she’s in the wrong. Come on, how often do you get a woman representing the “macho, jingoistic army guy” stereotype?
Kaylee
Most of my Firefly love is reserved for Mal (with slightly smaller helping of love for Wash and Jayne), but Kaylee’s also a favorite of mine. She’s neither a geek girl like Rose nor a military-type like Margaret, but like Rose, she’s determinedly loyal to her adopted family, and like Margaret, she’s completely confident in a traditionally male role (mechanic), and comfortable with her sexuality. And she savours all of the little pleasures of life with an uncomplicated joy that’s just adorable to watch.
Elizabeth Swann
Because she fangirls pirates, looks great in British Royal Marine drag, and is both more ruthless than Will and more practical than Jack. She manages to fill the classic “damsel in distress” role without swooning, screaming, hand-wringing, claiming not to need a man’s help, or making stupid mistakes that require bailing out by male characters, and she’s willing to marry a man she doesn’t love in order to save the man she does.
Amanda Carpenter
It goes beyond mere admiration of her cleavage, I swear. It has more to do with the way she uses said cleavage to make people do what she wants. She’s manipulative, amoral, and has been known to discourage old boyfriends by hiring thugs to cut their fingers off, but she also offers beds in her hotel to injured miners and gets angry over narrow-mindedness and injustice. And, like several other members of this list, she’s comfortable with her sexuality—if in a rather more ruthless and mercenary way than Margaret and Kaylee, since she’ll sleep with people in order to attain a goal. And she cheats at poker.
Elisa Maza
Although in her case, the “female” part of “female character” is incidental. I think you could change her name to Elis Maza and I’d feel exactly the same about her—-she just pings me as gender-neutral for some reason. I love Elisa not because she’s a well-developed female character, but because she’s a well developed cop character. She’s tough, dedicated to her job, protective to the point of being slightly over-protective of her friends, and prone to flying off the handle and doing rash, “fuck the rule book”-type things when confronted with bureaucratic opposition. She’s the typical “tough cop” hero, (an archetype I’ve always liked), but with long, pretty black hair. She’s like Starsky and Hutch if they merged into a single entity and grew breasts. She even has a red and white classic car ^_^.
Fox Reynard/Xanatos
How can you not love a tv-action-star-turned-cat-burglar who’s also a devoted mommy? She’s gloriously, gleefully amoral, breaks the law without fluttering an eyelash, had her name legally changed to “Fox Reynard” and got a foxhead tattoo to match it, can kick box and fly a helicopter, clearly loves her fiancé/eventual husband not in spite of the fact that he’s a corporate mob-boss, but because of it, and is willing to pick up a bazooka to defend her infant son. And when her husband’s illegal schemes land her in prison, she sits there in her ugly orange jumpsuit and proclaims that the whole thing was worth it because it was fun.
Marguerite Blakeney
What’s not to love? She’s snarky, arrogant, can do the spyhatty thing with the best of them, does not suffer fools gladly, and has a wide streak of romantic melodrama that I can’t help liking (“I must warn my husband of this impending danger, even if all I accomplish is to die with him!!!!!”) because it’s so much fun to read. And she can cut people dead at the Prince of Wales’ garden party or resist interrogation by the French secret police without ever losing her composure.
Rogue
Because she’s one of the first female superheroes I ran across, and definitely the first southern female one. Because she wears a leather bomber jacket (or used to). Because she speaks her mind even when she probably shouldn’t, is one of the few X-Men who isn’t afraid of getting her hands (metaphorically) dirty, does denial almost as well as Buffy does but without the boyfriend abuse (well, she did leave him to die in the Antarctic, but she didn’t beat him unconscious first, which is a plus), and has emotional intimacy issues that rival those of a Joss Whedon character. And it’s pretty much canon that she’s the most stacked mutant in the Marvell-verse. And she pretty much redeemed herself for the “leave boyfriend to die” episode when she took a sword through the chest to try and save him. And because, really, don’t we all wish we could make Gambit our bitch, too?
Catherine Morland
Because she’s a squeeing, over-enthusiastic fangirl, something I can relate with completely. She’s like a slightly older Anne of Green Gables, but without the orphan past or the ability to make everybody love her. I was tempted to pepper this list with Austen heroines, but felt I ought to settle on one, and Catherine is definitely my favorite of the bunch. Who in fandom hasn’t shared her passionate desire to know what’s behind the back veil? (Well, her veil was in The Mysteries of Udolpho rather than OotP, but my point stands).
Female characters I adore:
Rose Vitrac/January/(Sefton ^_~)
Because she manages to be a dedicated scientist even though she has to buy her books at secondhand shops and grade other teacher’s exams for money in order to make ends meet. Because she claims to disdain melodrama and gothic novels, but has “The Monk” practically memorized. Because women who can read Aristophanes in the original Greek are hot. And because she’s a survivor of sexual abuse who’s actually survived, instead of wallowing in her victimhood or being magically cured of her trauma by the glowing light of some guy’s cock. She also refuses to confine herself to the “proper” pursuits of a nineteenth century woman without being anachronistically feminist about it. Rose doesn’t want to take down the patriarchy, stick it to the Man, or walk around in trousers because skirts are “oppressive”—she just wants to be able to perform chemistry experiments and teach teenage girls Latin. And carry on a semi-canonical polyamorous relationship with a doctor and a violin player, but that’s beside the point.
Margaret “Hotlips” Hoolihan
I swear, it has nothing to do with how hot she looks in a black tank top. Margaret is every bit as tough as the men of the 4077—actually, she’s arguably tougher than just about everyone except Colonel Potter. She (and her nurses, but they don’t get as much screen time) stays and does her job without stereotypical “female” hysterics even when bombs are falling all around her. She stands up for herself, won’t take any crap from anyone, and is completely comfortable with her own sexuality (which we all know involves whips and fluffy handcuffs and tying Frank to the camp bed) without being a slut or a “designated love interest.” Yeah, she can be a bitch, she can be narrow minded and opinionated, she sucks up to anybody with power, and she rubbed Frank’s nose in her engagement to the point of petty cruelty, but unlike, say, Frank, she’s passionate about her job and capable of realizing when she’s in the wrong. Come on, how often do you get a woman representing the “macho, jingoistic army guy” stereotype?
Kaylee
Most of my Firefly love is reserved for Mal (with slightly smaller helping of love for Wash and Jayne), but Kaylee’s also a favorite of mine. She’s neither a geek girl like Rose nor a military-type like Margaret, but like Rose, she’s determinedly loyal to her adopted family, and like Margaret, she’s completely confident in a traditionally male role (mechanic), and comfortable with her sexuality. And she savours all of the little pleasures of life with an uncomplicated joy that’s just adorable to watch.
Elizabeth Swann
Because she fangirls pirates, looks great in British Royal Marine drag, and is both more ruthless than Will and more practical than Jack. She manages to fill the classic “damsel in distress” role without swooning, screaming, hand-wringing, claiming not to need a man’s help, or making stupid mistakes that require bailing out by male characters, and she’s willing to marry a man she doesn’t love in order to save the man she does.
Amanda Carpenter
It goes beyond mere admiration of her cleavage, I swear. It has more to do with the way she uses said cleavage to make people do what she wants. She’s manipulative, amoral, and has been known to discourage old boyfriends by hiring thugs to cut their fingers off, but she also offers beds in her hotel to injured miners and gets angry over narrow-mindedness and injustice. And, like several other members of this list, she’s comfortable with her sexuality—if in a rather more ruthless and mercenary way than Margaret and Kaylee, since she’ll sleep with people in order to attain a goal. And she cheats at poker.
Elisa Maza
Although in her case, the “female” part of “female character” is incidental. I think you could change her name to Elis Maza and I’d feel exactly the same about her—-she just pings me as gender-neutral for some reason. I love Elisa not because she’s a well-developed female character, but because she’s a well developed cop character. She’s tough, dedicated to her job, protective to the point of being slightly over-protective of her friends, and prone to flying off the handle and doing rash, “fuck the rule book”-type things when confronted with bureaucratic opposition. She’s the typical “tough cop” hero, (an archetype I’ve always liked), but with long, pretty black hair. She’s like Starsky and Hutch if they merged into a single entity and grew breasts. She even has a red and white classic car ^_^.
Fox Reynard/Xanatos
How can you not love a tv-action-star-turned-cat-burglar who’s also a devoted mommy? She’s gloriously, gleefully amoral, breaks the law without fluttering an eyelash, had her name legally changed to “Fox Reynard” and got a foxhead tattoo to match it, can kick box and fly a helicopter, clearly loves her fiancé/eventual husband not in spite of the fact that he’s a corporate mob-boss, but because of it, and is willing to pick up a bazooka to defend her infant son. And when her husband’s illegal schemes land her in prison, she sits there in her ugly orange jumpsuit and proclaims that the whole thing was worth it because it was fun.
Marguerite Blakeney
What’s not to love? She’s snarky, arrogant, can do the spyhatty thing with the best of them, does not suffer fools gladly, and has a wide streak of romantic melodrama that I can’t help liking (“I must warn my husband of this impending danger, even if all I accomplish is to die with him!!!!!”) because it’s so much fun to read. And she can cut people dead at the Prince of Wales’ garden party or resist interrogation by the French secret police without ever losing her composure.
Rogue
Because she’s one of the first female superheroes I ran across, and definitely the first southern female one. Because she wears a leather bomber jacket (or used to). Because she speaks her mind even when she probably shouldn’t, is one of the few X-Men who isn’t afraid of getting her hands (metaphorically) dirty, does denial almost as well as Buffy does but without the boyfriend abuse (well, she did leave him to die in the Antarctic, but she didn’t beat him unconscious first, which is a plus), and has emotional intimacy issues that rival those of a Joss Whedon character. And it’s pretty much canon that she’s the most stacked mutant in the Marvell-verse. And she pretty much redeemed herself for the “leave boyfriend to die” episode when she took a sword through the chest to try and save him. And because, really, don’t we all wish we could make Gambit our bitch, too?
Catherine Morland
Because she’s a squeeing, over-enthusiastic fangirl, something I can relate with completely. She’s like a slightly older Anne of Green Gables, but without the orphan past or the ability to make everybody love her. I was tempted to pepper this list with Austen heroines, but felt I ought to settle on one, and Catherine is definitely my favorite of the bunch. Who in fandom hasn’t shared her passionate desire to know what’s behind the back veil? (Well, her veil was in The Mysteries of Udolpho rather than OotP, but my point stands).
From:
Rogue