Female Ass-Kickers Articles | Original Articles on Fanpop

22

Vulnerability does not diminish a character's strength

posted by Mermaid-Tail

I recently read an article that said Joss Whedon is not a feminist writer because he often shows his female characters emotionally vulnerable (it was phrased in a more patronising way, but that was the gist) and I didn't get it. For those who don't watch his shows he is known to show ALL his characters at times like that, not just the women. He focuses heavily on loss, tragedy and overcoming adversity, and I just don't understand why in shows that have every character facing vulnerability, pain and weakness it's un-feminist that some of those characters are women. I actually think the person...

6

Unlikely Heroines: Bethany Sloane

posted by Cinders

Bethany Sloane, played by Linda Fiorentino

Not-Your-Average Role Model

When I think "female ass-kicker," Bethany Sloane is not the first person who comes to mind. She's not physically as strong as Buffy Summers or River Tam. She's not intellectually as strong as Temperence Brennan or Hermione Granger. She's just a normal, lapsed Catholic who works at an abortion clinic.

In fact, the only thing that makes Bethany Sloane even the least bit extraordinary is the fact that she is the last blood relative of Jesus Christ.

That, in itself, shouldn't qualify her for membership in the "strong women" club. A person's lineage and situation doesn't...

23

From Ada To Zelda-- A History of Tough Girls in Video Games

posted by Cinders

The Women of Resident Evil

I have realized in my life that there aren't that many hard-core female gamers out there. I wouldn't even describe myself as a hardcore gamer, although I might come close. Regardless, a feminist can't help but appreciate the steps the video game world has taken in order to elevate the status of women. And some may argue that, since the target audience of video games is men, the fact that women are portrayed with brains AND brawn in them is twice as progressive as the portrayal of tough women in movies and television, whose gender audience is often split down the middle, or targeted at women....

2

A Strange Review of Strange Empire

posted by DarkSarcasm

I recently finished a show called Strange Empire, and I'm not really sure how I felt about it. The following rambling trying to disguise itself as a review is my attempt at sorting out my feelings.

I was in the middle of iconning a Western-ish series and needed background noise (something to half-watch while I edited stuff). I'd already gone through all the Western movies Netflix had that interested me, so I decided to start a show called Strange Empire that had been on my watch-this-eventually list for ages. It fit my Western requirement, looked like it was about badass women, so why not?

It's......

1

Most kickass women in Disney

posted by MaleficentJolie

Disney had its share of awesome women and not-so-cool women, correct? Ironically, they got shit for the way they portrayed women. I'm pretty sure you've read ButtercupthePPG's article about Disney. Her posts were like something an angry teenager would say! Anyways, I would now mention the most awesome women in Disney.

Let's start with Mulan. I'm pretty sure it was based on some folklore and a historical event in China that happened so long ago. Mulan started off in the movie as an unconfident girl trying to bring honor to her family.

No matter how hard she tried, she would mess up. Anybody...

Thanks for inserting yourselves into our movie posters, boys!

posted by DarkSarcasm

Girls! Girls! Girls!

You know what I love? Movies about women who kick ass. It doesn't have to be physical. I just want to watch awesome ladies being awesome, or doing awesome things. (That was my final use of the word "awesome", so stop thinking about making this into a drinking game.)

You know what I hate? Rebranding. Or, to be specific, since this rant will focus on movie posters: Posters for female-driven movies that go out of their way to appeal to a male audience. (Because GOD FORBID a BOY watches a movie about GIRLS!) This poster issue is what I refer to as Bro-ifying. (Is that a word? Whatever, it is now.)...

2

Badass female cartoon characters- from Blossom to Wonder Woman

posted by buttercupthePPG

Blossom from PPG- Even though she is not a tomboy, she is still tough. And, she's pretty calm even in the face of a situation (except for the time when she worries about failing on a test.) I like her for that- being calm and not showing fear. Even though she is unconfident at times, she can still kick butt. But, she has some drawbacks to herself that I dislike about her- she can be a bit childish or immature, and she is quick to argue with her tomboyish sister. Another drawback is, she is very bossy.
Buttercup- She is an early badass in the PPG series, but softened a bit when being accused...

1

Zelda being the damsel in distress

posted by buttercupthePPG

Yeah, I played TLOZ long ago, now I hate that game because the series always make Zelda look fucking weak and make Link too strong. Why can't Zelda ever toughen up and fight back?! She is just too cowardly to fight back, and she has no courage just because she is fucking girly and has that stupid triforce of wisdom! I hate the series because it's way too male dominated! Any girl who plays the series is a lesbian! And any boy who plays the game will be way too overprotective of their female relatives, friends, or even girlfriends!

19

Common issues with strong female characters

posted by Mermaid-Tail

Three issues I wish were less common with strong female characters.

1 She's a strong female star...unlike the rest of her whiny gender
I've seen a fair few strong female characters who hang mainly with boys. Not a problem, until it's revealed she so does because she doesn't have the patience for the giggling, boy obsessed simpletons that make up the rest of the female population. This is, to me, a dangerous one, because on the surface it's feminist, the tough tomboy who can cut it with the lads, but it's actually fairly sexist. It's not representing a world where women have the potential to be...

5

Katniss Everdeen: The Girl On Fire

posted by SwarlsBarkley

Image Credit: a-lanna @ Deviantart.com

Born into a post-apocalyptic dystopia, Katniss Everdeen became an adult at the tender age of 11. After losing her father to a mining accident and her mother to a resultant diblitating depression, young Katniss is forced to step up and become the sole provider for her family in a world where every day is already tinged with want and poverty. But Kat is a survivor.

Recalling happier days spent with her father, she teaches herself to master archery, trains herself to forage for edible plants, and allies herself with an older boy to learn how to set snares. Even though hunting is illegal, by age...

31

Why have weak women become cool?

posted by candrani

Shows like Buffy were pioneers of powerfull yet realistic females but since it ended we've taken a huge step back. Weak women are officially in vouge and strong women are yesterday's news.
In this article I'm going to use 2 popular franchises as examples but the problem is widely spread, these examples are just 2 of many. The one's I'll be using are two very popular franchises for young women. Harry Potter and Twilight.
1st Harry Potter. No, I don't care the main character is a boy. It's the way the women behave in the book. They burst into tears every 5 minutes. You could argue they were under...

5

Missy's Top 10 Female Ass-Kickers of 2015

posted by misanthrope86

2015 has been a pretty lady-ful year, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourite ass-kicking ladies that have warmed my heart and shattered my soul in 2015.

Female Ass-Kicker of the Year

Malala Yousafzai

I guess in this club we tend to focus on the fictional ladies that kick some ass, but I wanted to acknowledge the real-life women who question, educate and inspire on a daily basis. Malala Yousafzai is definitely one of those women. She is remarkable as she discusses the importance of everything from the importance of access to education to the dangers of anti-Islamic rhetoric. I want...

3

Resident evil darkside Chronicles!

posted by BeautifulMiss

STAY AWAY!!!

LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE!!!! Well...first of all we have a perfect remake of residen evil 2 and codeveronica! What the game features is characters like Ada Wong,Leon s kennedy,Claire Redfield,Steve Burnside,Albert wesker,Sherry birkin,Chris Redfield,And Jill Valentine!!! What a coincidence right? But what I can't figure out is who is that new mystery character in the game?
And does she have something to do with leon!
Well lets start off with Ada Wong. She is a very beautiful woman who came to find her boyfriend, but wait!? How does she come to find her boyfriend, and fall inlove with leon right...

5

Lilly Rush: In A Man's World

posted by Cinders

Since Mermaid-Tail's pick about link inspired a near-article length response from me, I decided to celebrate some of the lesser-appreciated strong women in television, movies and literature.

As mentioned on the pick, I watch several crime shows, and love several of the women on these shows, partly because detectives and cops are, to this day, considered a "man's job," and it's awesome to see the actresses really representing how brilliant women can be in these jobs-- just as brilliant as men! This includes the popular Olivia Benson of link, and even the criminalists Sara Sidle and Catherine...

11

Bella Swan: Damsel In Distress?

posted by Bella_Swan3

I used to be a die-hard Twilight fan. (see my username. Damn I wish I'd chosen ANYTHING else sometimes.)

I still like the book in small doses now, and I even write fanfiction for it, but now I've looked critically at SMeyer's characters, and I think I realize what people are talking about when they say Bella Swan is a Mary Sue.

As a person who has seen it from both sides, I'd like to say that maybe Twilight fans didn't see Bella like that to begin with because she has so many "flaws".

I'm not really a mega-supporter of Bella's neediness. And I even, admittedly, wonder why she took Edward back after New Moon. Normal people with lives and better things to do would say, "Hell no am I taking you back. You left me crying in a forest, and you think I'll just come running back to you? You wanna commit suicide, go right ahead while I get the popcorn."

I still like Twilight. But maybe Bella Swan was kind of 2-Dimensional.

3

DarkSarcasm's Top 10 Female Ass-Kickers of 2016

posted by DarkSarcasm

Okay, it's actually 13, but what kind of monster makes a list of 13?! ;)

There are a few mild spoilers in here. If you're not caught up on a show or haven't seen a movie yet and would like to remain in the dark, just nod, pretend you agree with the awesomeness of the pictured ass-kicker, and skip to the next one.

#10 - Eleanor Shellstrop [Kristen Bell; The Good Place, Season 1]
Eleanor is a bad person who died a horribly embarrassing death and ended up in The Good Place by mistake. Seriously, she's a bad person. Eleanor sucks. She tries to blend in at The Good Place by pretending to be one...

4

What Makes A Female Ass-Kicker

posted by Isabellagirl033

Hey guys!

What does the word female ass-kickers mean to you? Ass-kickers come in all shapes and sizes. There are the crazy ones like Harley Quinn or the quirky ones like Nymphandora Tonks. Many of us think that female ass-kickers can only be tough fighting machines like Sarah Conner and Ellen Ripley or Carol Peletier when in fact, physical strength is not the only strength. Determination is a strength and intelligence is a strength. Female ass-kickers are strong women and that counts physically as well as emotionally.

Sure enough, I've noticed that the people on this club are open-minded to...

15

Where are all the female werewolves?

posted by Mermaid-Tail

No matter how long I thought, I just couldn't think of a good way to start this, so I'll just get into it. Where are all the female werewolves? Not something I noticed until recently, but of all the commonly done monsters, that must be the one with the least females. Even in the rare cases of female werewolves they never seem to be important characters, or even characters we are supposed to like. Off the top of my head the only example of a female werewolf protagonist I can remember is from the Ginger snaps movies.

Is it a sexist issue? Of the more established monsters in our culture, werewolves...

4

You're a real mother f... igure! (Or: DarkSarcasm's Top 10 Ass-Kicking TV Moms)

posted by DarkSarcasm

Wasting time on an introduction when there are 10 kick-ass moms in need of appreciation? That's not a very good use of anyone's time!

#9 & #10 - Hilda & Zelda Spellman (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
Played by Caroline Rhea & Beth Broderick, 1996-2003
When Sabrina's witch powers began to manifest, she came to live with her aunts Hilda and Zelda. Hilda was wild, fun, and slightly insane. Zelda was smart, studious, and always knew what to do. They were the perfect balance of personalities, and they did a great job raising Sabrina together. Zelda kept Sabrina on track in school,...

13

Disney is against female empowerment

posted by Bella_Swan3

Please note that this is merely my perception on this. You can have your opinion, I'll have mine.

We all know the modern Disney stars are completely whacked and are SO not role models. But what about the old school Disney?

The Little Mermaid. Ariel clearly states that she's sixteen in the first film. The second movie claims to be ten years later, the perfect age for Melody, her daughter. Is Disney promoting teenage pregnancy? Promoting underage marriage? And the supposed "love" she felt was only worship lust, hardly the basis for a healthy relationship. What message does this send to young girls,...