Feminism has been around for decades. It brought about legal equality for women, fair education and career opportunities, and more recently degenerated into complaints of "man spreading" and trigger warnings.
Lets take a few steps back from the atrocity that is third-wave feminism and take a look at some heroines that exemplify what it means to be a truly empowered woman.
- Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
"How despicably I have acted!" she cried; "I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my vanity in useless or blameable mistrust! How humiliating is this discovery! Yet, how just a humiliation! Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind! But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never knew myself."
Elizabeth didn't shy away from a little self-examination. She was reasonable, and rational, enough to determine her own culpability in a situation.
2. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
“It’s people like you, Ron, who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they’re too lazy to —”
“Books! And cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery and — oh Harry — be careful!”
“The truth is that you don’t think a girl would have been clever enough!”
Honestly, where would Harry and Ron be without Hermione? Hermione Granger is brave, smart, ambitious and passionate while retaining dignity and poise.
3. Janie Crawford, Their Eyes Were Watching God
“Why must Joe be so mad with her for making him look small when he did it to her all the time?”
“But you wasn’t satisfied wid me de way Ah was. Naw! Mah own mind had tuh be squeezed and crowded out tuh make room for yours in me.”
Few can read Their Eyes Were Watching God without being in awe of Janie's strength and resilience. From abusive relationships to being outcast from society, Janie finds an inner strength and confidence in herself to overcome it all.
4. Alice, Alice in Wonderland
“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Fantasy and imagination go a long way, and nobody knows this better than Alice. This unconventional and strange heroine inspires all of us to take and dream bigger, no matter what people may think.
5. Belle, Beauty and the Beast
“I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. / I want it more than I can tell. / And for once it might be grand / To have someone understand / I want so much more than they've got planned…”
Belle is one of the most revolutionary and feministic Disney Princess. Turning down an offer of marriage from a gorgeous, and utterly "brainless", oaf, Belle risked her life to save her Father's and in turn, taming the Beast. She has set an example of grace, intelligence, and strength for young girls everywhere.
6. Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre
"Whenever I marry," she continued, after a pause which none interrupted, "I am resolved my husband shall not be a rival, but a foil to me. I will suffer no competitor near the throne; I shall exact an undivided homage: his devotions shall not be shared between me and the shape he sees in his mirror.”
A "plain" governess, Jane Eyre captures the heart of the elusive Mr. Rochester's, however, she discovers his dark secrets too late. Jane Eyre is widely considered the first literary heroine to encapsulate authentic feminist ideals.
7. Scarlett O’Hara, Gone with the Wind
"As God as my witness. As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill as God as my witness I'll never be hungry again."
Scarlett O'Hara encapsulates all the strength and resilience of a southern belle. Starting as a spoiled, superficial heiress, O'Hara forced to overcome difficulty and suffering as war tears apart her world. With a fiery temperament and no fear to speak her mind, Scarlett defies the odds and becomes an example of the true strength in femininity.
8. Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing
“A dear happiness to women! They would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God and my cold blood, I am of your humor for that. I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”
In a time where marriage is a woman's greatest achievement, Beatrice refuses to succumb to the pressure, which takes guts. Holding her ground, and her independence, Beatrice uses wit and intelligence to speak her mind and carve her own path.
9. Jo March, Little Women
"You laugh at me when I say I want to be a lady, but I mean a true gentlewoman in mind and manners, and I try to do it as far as I know how. I can't explain exactly, but I want to be above the little meannesses and follies and faults that spoil so many women."
Hot-tempered and opinionated, Jo March uses her love for literature to forge her own path to independence. She uses her skills as a writer to take control of her life instead of succumbing to the pressure to marry. Like most women though, Jo does end up falling in love and learns to balance her love of independence with the love of her life. Jo March proves that marriage isn't to be feared, but to be viewed as a chance for men and women to stand united.
10. Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank
“I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.”
Anne Frank, though just 16 when she died, has had a profound impact on the world. Her simple words and observations speak of the strength and irrepressibility of the human spirit. Frank's words and legacy have endured the years and continue to inspire love and unity.
