10 Empowering Women Characters from Popular TV Shows and Movies

Although each of these characters have different personalities and empowering traits, these women all have one thing in common: they are all unapologetically themselves. Cheers to these wonderful and inspiring ladies who have graced my Netflix account.

1. Liz Lemon, 30 Rock (Tina Fey)

Liz Lemon, lead comedy writer on a sketch show for NBC, is career driven, pushy, and hilarious. She teaches viewers to embrace their nerdiness (especially through Star Wars references), and that in the end, the girl doesn’t have to get with the guy. Love isn’t necessarily the main motivation for women characters, as seen through her platonic relationship with boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). 

2. Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation (Amy Poehler)

Leslie Knope gets it done. She’s the perfect embodiment of the cliché: fall down seven times stand up eight. As a local and eventual national female politician, she is constantly shut down by colleagues and citizens for her ideas and work throughout the show, but never gives up and manages to push through. She is incredibly hard working and loves color coded binders and waffles. 

3.Caroline Forbes, The Vampire Diaries (Candice King)

  Caroline, 18 year old blonde cheerleader turned vampire, shows viewers that one can be bubbly and intelligent at the same time. The valedictorian of the senior class can also win beauty pageants. She has many dimensions and layers, including being loyal, strong, smart, positive, and fierce. She never backs down from a fight, whether it be a political argument with a classmate or against a supernatural creature. In later seasons she also manages being a mom and having a badass broadcast journalism job. 

4. Blair Waldorf, Gossip Girl (Leighton Meester)

 Blair is the ultimate queen. Although she comes off harsh and mean at times, she doesn’t let anything or anyone stand in the way of what she wants. She’s competitive in every aspect of her life, including academically, and won’t stop at anything to get on top. Her style always remains preppy and classy, and she knows her self worth. Also, her confidence lands her an ivy league education. Not too shabby. 

5. Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy (Ellen Pompeo)

 It’s hard not to give spoilers, but Meredith Grey is able to have it all: love, a family, and a bomb career in surgery. (Not to mention she eventually owns a portion of the hospital.) She is the definition of strong. Her perseverance throughout the show has never failed, and she perfectly balances maintaining healthy relationships with her coworkers while still basically being their boss. 

6. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter (Emma Watson)

Love love LOVE a girl who isn’t afraid of her intelligence. Hermione is so confident of herself and manages to shine in everything she does. Her smarts often save her friends when they are in need, and she shows women that intellect should be celebrated. If someone doesn’t appreciate your brain, then you shouldn’t be wasting your time. 

7. Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones’ Diary (Renée Zellweger)

Speaking specifically for the first movie, Bridget Jones is a bit of a hot mess, but manages to stay extremely sarcastic and witty. There’s something so human and perfect about her being a little bit lost in life. It’s okay not to have everything figured out. There are times when you’ll be down on yourself, but it’s important to pick yourself up, because it will turn out all right in the end. After all, does anyone really know what their doing or where they’re going with their lives 100% of the time?

8.Belle, Beauty and the Beast (Paige O’Hara/Emma Watson)

  There is so much appreciation for an independent Disney princess. Belle is the perfect combination of the head and the heart. She is proud of her intelligence in a world where that trait’s not really accepted in women, and also opens her heart up to love. She sees people for who they are on the inside, and not just their superficial looks.

9. Peggy Olson, Mad Men (Elisabeth Moss)

Just looking at her transition between the first few seasons, Peggy goes from being a secretary at an advertising firm to a copy writer. In the 1960s, this was very hard to do, as the men in the office are very keen on objectifying women for their looks only. She didn’t even bat an eyelash at the men and knew she was above them. She became very successful, despite the historical odds.

10.  Jess Day, New Girl (Zooey Deschanel)

No matter what the situation, Jess is always herself. She never alters her personality for anyone. She also shows that not fitting in is completely acceptable; she is still happy with herself at the end of the day. Also, being a little bit immature is completely okay. It’s totally acceptable to step out of your adult self every once in a while and enjoy life with a fun and naive point of view. 

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