Every girl needs a little extra motivation once in awhile, especially when getting back to the daily grind at the beginning of the week. What better way to get it than from looking to the fellow strong, smart women in your life... and on your TV or movie screen.
So if you're feeling down or just need a bit of inspiration, get encouragement from the following women. They may be fictional, but they're still great role models to look to for female empowerment.
1. Leslie Knope
Leslie is the most confident, dedicated, passionate, and hardworking character that television has ever seen. And even better, she always motivates those around her, especially women. Now go kick Monday's butt, you poetic and noble land-mermaid.
2. Peggy Olsen
Peggy put up with seven whole seasons of infuriatingly sexist coworkers and came out on top. Look at that stride.
3. Ilana and Abbi
I'm pretty sure "Broad City" Ilana and Abbi are almost exactly the same as the real Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, so even more power to these two. Friendship goals, all the way.
4. Lorelei Gilmore
She raised a daughter all by herself at age 16 and did everything she had to do to provide her with the best life possible. Plus her pop culture references and sarcastic humor are on point.5. Princess Mia
Princess Mia is most definitely the most relatable royal out there, and totally comes into her own in the sequel. All of Genova (and all of us) are very lucky to have her.
6. Cher Horowitz
Cher may not be the most relatable woman on this list with her posh Beverly Hills lifestyle, but you can't say that she doesn't know her self-worth or that she doesn't always have her heart in the right place.
7. Liz Lemon
Liz is the head writer of her own sketch comedy show, and she manages to successfully run the show for seven seasons, all while going head-to-head with boss Jack Donaghy and eventually becoming a working mom to twins. She's powerful, smart, real and rocks a Princess Leia costume.
8. Linda Belcher
Linda is an amazing mom to three insane kids and a supportive wife to husband Bob. She also definitely knows how to have the most fun out of everyone on the show.
9. Buffy Summers
Buffy saves the entire world a million times over and literally beats death -- and at the beginning of the series, she's only a high schooler. If she slays supernatural forces and gets through school at the same time, so can you.
10. The Bride
There are a lot of badass women in the "Kill Bill" series, but The Bride is the only morally good one. She also proves to be the ultimate badass by the end of the series, killing all the men and women who took her child away from her.
11. Elle Woods
Elle is the personification of hard work paying off. She studies her butt off to get into Harvard Law, then slays the game and wins a major court case, even though almost everyone around her doubted her and she had just gone through an awful break-up.
12. Lana Winters
Lana starts out as a dedicated journalist willing to do anything for her job and ends up being not only a renowned reporter but also a thriving survivor of some of the most brutal events imaginable.
13. Princess Leia
Move over Luke and Han, because Princess Leia is actually the biggest hero of "Star Wars." She's also the queen of insults.
14. Hermione Granger
Hermione throws the nerd stereotype in the trash and proves to girls everywhere that being the smartest person in the room is actually really cool. She's also the only one to punch Malfoy in the face, even though everyone wanted to.
15. Lizzie McGuire
Lizzie may just seem like your average teenager, especially compared to everyone else on the list, but she is incredibly kind and fiercely loyal to her friends and family. And the first time she ever sang in public was literally a huge international concert in the freaking Colosseum. That takes a lot of guts.
16. Jessica Jones
Jessica has a lot of issues, but at the end of the day, she's still an awesome superhero who's just trying her best after having dealt with a ton of trauma throughout her life.
17. Rachel Green
Rachel could have lived an easy life of relying on her family's money, but she chose to leave it all behind in order to reinvent herself as an independent woman. She starts the show as a waitress and ends up working her way up in the fashion world, no easy field to break into, especially in New York.
18. Mulan
Do not even try to argue that there is a better Disney princess than Mulan. She joins the freaking army during a time of war in order to save her father's life. Oh yeah, and women aren't allowed in the military, so she has to prove to everyone that she's just as strong as all the men. And then she becomes the strongest person there, saves all of China and manages to turn her misogynist friends in the army into hardcore feminists who support her.
19. Trinity
Neo gets all the glory, but Trinity is just as strong and powerful as he is and is the one who actually influences a lot of what he does to save the world. She also pulls off black leather better than anyone else.
20. Jess Day
Jess is one of the sweetest characters on television, always willing to do anything for the people she loves and make the best of any situation, even if it's walking in on your long term boyfriend cheating on you. She's an awesome teacher, a great friend and incredibly relatable for young women.
21. The Clovers
Gabrielle Union is the real star of "Bring It On," and she and the Clovers are the best characters. They're hardworking, strong and overcome every obstacle in their way, including other teams cheating and not having enough money to go to nationals. They totally deserved to win in the end.
22. Furiosa
Furiosa is one of the best action heroes in recent history, including both men and women. She outshines Max with her toughness and selflessness and is totally deserving of her own upcoming spinoff.
23. Ellen Ripley
Move over Will Smith, because Ellen Ripley is actually the greatest alien fighter in the galaxy. She takes charge of her crew in every dire situation and outsmarts the aliens at every turn.
24. Sarah Connor
Sarah starts off as a damsel in distress but turns into a war machine hell-bent on protecting her son. She lets no person or cyborg ever get in her way.
25. Mindy Lahiri
Mindy is smart and successful OB/GYN. She's great at her job and never lets anyone push her around. And she has an amazing fashion sense.
26. Pam Beesly Halpert
Pam is one of the nicest people alive, fictional or not. There is a possibility that al-Qaeda really wouldn't hate her if they got to know her. She also morphs from a low-level, timid secretary to a saleswoman and then office administrator who is sure of herself and can handle the antics of Dunder Mifflin.
27. Miranda Priestly
The definition of a boss is Miranda Priestly. She may be incredibly intimidating and often times mean, but she needed to be that way to become the editor-in-chief of one of the biggest fashion magazines in the world. She is completely confident in herself and would never let anyone even dream of pushing her around.
28. Daenerys Targaryen
"Game of Thrones" is filled with strong and inspiring women, but Daenerys comes out on top as the best character in the entire series. Looking at her now, you can barely remember that in the first episode, she was a timid young girl being abused by her brother. Bow down to the Mother of Dragons.
29. Katniss Everdeen
Katniss is strong and selfless. She starts out living in poverty and misery and quickly ends up becoming a champion of the most disturbing reality show of all time as well as a resistance leader — all before turning 20.
30. Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars goes through a lot in life, including her best friend being murdered, being raped and then laughed at by police, her mother abandoning her, and her high school ostracizing her. Yet Veronica never ceases to amaze by staying strong throughout it all, solving crimes with her phenomenal detective skills, and shutting down her critics with her sarcastic comebacks.
This list only touches on a few amazing fictional females, so if your favorite inspirational woman isn't on the list, let me know in the comments.
