In times not too long ago, women were being depicted as the weak, submissive character whose main purpose was simply to fall in love, be captured, and then get saved by the big, strong man. Thanks to modern film series such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, and TV series such as "Arrow" and "The Flash," the woman who can not only save herself, but also intellectually solve her own problems is becoming an accepted reality.
'Star Wars'
When one thinks of a strong woman in Star Wars, the first person who comes to mind will likely be Princess Leia Organa.
Why wouldn't they? Not only is she good with a blaster and able save her own skin, but she is more than capable, and holds her own even among strong male characters like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.
She is not the woman I am looking for, though. No, the woman I wish to talk about is Mon Mothma, leader of the Rebel Alliance. It was her quiet strength, and determined leadership in the face of so much loss right from the start that helped them succeed in the end. While it is nice to see a list of women who are able to physically go toe-to-toe with their male counterparts, in real life, there is more than one type of kick-butt woman.
CW's 'Arrow'
For a more weekly glimpse at an intellectually strong woman, one has to look no further than CW's hit show "Arrow," which has just completed its fifth season as of May 24 of this year.
What a doozy it was.
What is important, however, is that this is a show that continually highlights the brilliantly skillful Felicity Smoak. She is a character who started off on the show as an extremely humble IT woman with a penchant for foot-in-mouth syndrome that quickly rose to being the one everybody went to for technical advice.
If someone or something needs to be found, she is the person you want. As cliche as it is, if she can't find it, then it is not meant to be found. With the way this show has her character set up, the fact that she is a woman is completely irrelevant.
Closing
With the above as positive and successful examples, one has to wonder why more companies aren't incorporating this into their own storylines.
By doing this, it gives girls and women of all ages someone to look up to and aspire to be, even if they won't be leading a rebellion or crime fighting organization anytime soon. The medium of film and television both have a global reach, and it gives ladies everywhere permission to be as smart and intellectually strong as they please. In movies and TV shows such as these, they are shown that it is alright -- acceptable even -- to be just as good as the boys (if not better) when it comes to using their brains. We women can do so much more than simply kick butt.
