26 Fantastically Feminist Female TV Characters from 2017
7. Olivia Moore (iZombie)
Dr. Olivia Moore is a zombie. As such, she takes on the personality of every brain she eats.
This provides the platform for incredible performances by Rose McIver who plays Liv. Each episode takes Liv to a new brain and a new take on her personality.
On iZombie Season 3 Episode 9, “Twenty Sided, Die,” Liv takes on the personality of a Dungeons & Dragons game leader, and the result is snort out loud funny. Liv’s comedic bits are only enhanced by the more serious and tender moments she shares when she’s enriching and supporting her friendships.
8. Issa Dee (Insecure)
Issa continues to give a stunning depiction of an blundering and beautiful millennial woman of color on Insecure. Insecure Season 2 provides an intimate and intense look at Issa and her best friends as they navigate dating, friendships, financial security, and their careers.
Even when she’s making the most mistakes, Issa from Insecure is a beacon of what a genuine life looks like.
9. Elena Alvarez (One Day at a Time)
Elena Alvarez on One Day at a Time has the coming out story and representation that so many LBGTQ teens need to have in their lives. She is true to herself and doesn’t apologize for it, something that a lot of us probably need to work on.
Elena’s relationship with Penelope and Lydia also showcases how a parent can balance being a friend and a leader in the household by embracing honesty. Penelope in particular shares openly with her daughter about her difficulties and fears.
This mitigates any distance between daughter and mother. As a result, Elena can be free to struggle through the more challenging stages of her life, knowing she doesn’t need to be perfect, just herself.
10. Ophelia Mayer (Sweet/Vicious)
Green-haired Ophelia Mayer uses her bold intellect and computer savviness to match her partner Jules’s physical skills. Together they become vigilantes on their college campus, taking out rapists so young women and men are no longer constant subjects of their assaults.
Ophelia finds that she has more in common than she anticipated with her bubbly blonde pal. Ophelia is savagely snarky, but she also has a surprising amount of moral backbone.
In a touching moment during the first, and disappointingly, only, season of Sweet/Vicious, Ophelia wishes that she could take on the victimization that Jules’s experienced.
Her wish to carry her friend’s burden and to shield her from the heavy consequences of sexual violence is an important story to tell. Especially in a year that brought us an ever-growing amount of sexual assault revelations, Ophelia is a character who is representing the experiences of many women in 2017.
11. Gabriela Dawson (Chicago Fire)
Gabriela Dawson’s tenacity and confidence earns her a spot on this list. Already during Chicago Fire Season 6, she’s risked her own life to save others, and done so in the most impossible of situations.
Dawson has been through so much to do the job she loves and have the man she loves. She never lets someone tell her she can’t do something.
12. Ruth Wilder (GLOW)
Ruth Wilder is a neurotic, attention-seeking, mousy woman who manages, because of the keen aptitude of actress Alison Brie, to win you over by the middle of the first season of GLOW.
Ruth is relentless in pursuing her passion to perform. Even when she has made terrible mistakes in her personal life, including sleeping with her best friend’s husband, she manages to look in the mirror and persist in making it.
Ruth’s tenacity is irresistible, especially when she is clearly willing to put the GLOW show before her own desire for the spotlight.
In an unforgettable scene, Ruth actually acts out both sides of an intense wrestling match to convince her former best friend to get back in the ring. She oozes desperation, but the way that Brie plays the character, we end up respecting and loving her.
All the female characters on GLOW deserve a spot on this list. Ruth Wilder represents the power, grit, and strength that the GLOW women bring to the screen.
Janelle Ureta
Janelle Ureta is equal parts Veronica Mars, Raven Reyes, and Rebecca Bunch, but she aspires to add some Tammy Taylor to the mix. An attorney turned teacher, Janelle believes in the power of a well-told story. She is currently exploring how to tell short stories, 140 characters or less, on twitter. She loves to talk about TV, and right now she can't shut up about Timeless, Dear White People, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The 100, or Younger.