As a kid, I fell in love with movies where the female characters were so insignificant that if they got eaten by zombies in the opening credits, the plot would continue on like nothing ever happened. I guess I thought it was completely normal for Hollywood to shun diverse and strong female characters. My role model was always Princess Jasmine, but it really should have been Aladdin.

But then, I met Claire Underwood via Netflix's "House of Cards." Within the span of five seasons, Claire Underwood inspired me to never settle for First Lady when all it takes to reach the Oval Office is a little elbow grease.

Claire Underwood is everything I want to be as a young woman: mature, strong-willed, professional, wise, formidable. She is the star of the show, in my opinion. In just five seasons, the once-invisible wife of a Congressman transforms herself into President of the United States.

She talks business with the boys. She plays with people's hearts and breaks them when she's done. She drafts legislation and negotiates with foreign leaders. She commands people, and they don't question her. She's the face of the modern woman, and she's finally unleashed her power.

Thank you, Netflix, for celebrating the beautiful and diverse creature that is the woman. Thank you for producing a show where not one single female character is emotionally predictable or dependent upon a man. It's so refreshing to identify with a female character who doesn't speak the language of glitter and shoes, but instead dominates politics and doesn't back down without a fight.

This one character means everything to me as a woman. Because of Claire Underwood, I realized that there is no reason for women to sit on the bench when it comes to the media products we consume daily.

Women should be out there on the playing field with baseball gloves in hand and black tape under their eyes, playing against the guys. And we should be cheering them on.

Thank you, women of Netflix, for reminding me that as a woman, I am powerful, valuable, and strong too.

My dream is to see a total makeover of the television and film industries as we know them today. My dream is to one day watch TV shows that feature predominantly female casts with interesting plot lines about female presidents, female business executives, and happy, successful, independent women.

My dream is to raise my children a world where women aren't confined to the Betty Crocker homemaker ideal of the 1950's. My dream starts with changing the culture of our media.

My dream is to see women liberated from the ridiculously bland and one-sided stereotypes we see in media today.

Thank you, Netflix, for giving me a glimpse of my dream.

I hope I never have to watch another fairy princess movie in my lifetime. I would rather watch nothing but Stranger Things (with its rock-star female cast of Eleven, Mad Max, Nancy, and Joyce Beyers) for the rest of my life than watch another movie with a misrepresented female character.

I'm tired of feeling ashamed of the weak and uninteresting women we watch on TV. It disappoints me that, as a society, we are still O.K. with these ridiculous and constricting gender roles. Men aren't the only physically strong beings on this earth.

Women aren't the only creatures that experience deep emotions. Every person is born with the potential to be powerful, kind, strong, caring, empathetic, and successful, so why doesn't our media reflect that?

At least Netflix is moving in the right direction.