Whether you unabashedly consider yourself a feminist or you align with some feminist ideologies, it’s refreshing to see similar feminist role models represented in films and television. Granted, feminism isn’t consolidated to just actively striving for other peoples’ rights. In fact, at times, feminism can be self-serving and borderline (or overtly) selfish. Animated, and unanimated characters alike, can be characterized as a feminist if they fight for their own rights or others’ rights, empower others (including the viewers), combat injustices, and/or they outwardly or internally dispute problematic gender norms, tropes, stereotypes or gender roles. Though we have a ton of feminist characters to look up to on-screen and their actor counterparts, our favorite animated series and movies have given us some badass feminists to look up to.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a feminist, there are a few of animated characters that can give you some major inspiration to become your own version of an empowering icon, so you can advocate for human rights in every sense of the term. (Because even if you don’t identify as a feminist, you should still want to fight for and protect human rights.)
1. Lana Cane (Archer)
While Archer might seem like just a raunchy animated series about a borderline team of dysfunctional spies (and it kind of is), Lana Cane is the empowering feminist and activist that we hoped we'd grow up to be. Despite dealing with the often sexist and misogynistic protagonist, Archer, Lana still showed she was a powerful woman who literally kicks ass.
Even before she became a trained assassin and secret agent, Lana was a passionate activist who fearlessly supported animal rights causes. Seriously, she fought for the cruelty-free movement while she had a gun pointed to her head. It’s hard to be more iconic than an independent BA like Lana, but we can only hope to try.
2. Elastigirl (The Incredibles, Incredibles 2)
Seriously, somehow Elastigirl manages to be a modern mom in the 1960s and use her powers to fight crime. Even before she redefined superhero family roles in Incredibles 2, Helen Parr (i.e., Elastigirl) was independently using her elastic powers to save cities well before she met Mr. Incredible.
Even in her role as a super mom, she teaches her children critical lessons about what it means to be a superhero beyond just the super abilities.
3. Penny Proud (The Proud Family)
Overall, feminism is a family affair for the Proud family: however, Penny Proud is the feminist that every young woman aspired to be at least at one point in their teenage years or adulthood. Despite her father’s consistent attempts to keep Penny from dating, Penny executes her own personal freedom and still pursues her crushes. Beyond her teenage crushes, Penny rebuttals her father’s traditional parental methods and continues to grow emotionally and mentally, despite her father’s wishing to prevent her from growing up.
In addition to her personal independence, Penny rigorously pursued her career goals (specifically her blossoming singing and writing career). After all, growing up in the face of family and professional adversity isn’t exclusive to personal goals—and Penny is far from a one-dimensional character (even her animated illustrations are literally two-dimensional).
4. Gwen Stacy (Ultimate Spider-Man)
Gwen Stacy was a prominent arachnid-themed superhuman in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man. Although Gwen has a less-than (to put it nicely) feminist demise in The Amazing Spider-Man comic books (#121)—seeing as she became a woman in a refrigerator a became a dispensable character solely to fuel Spider-Man’s character development and plot—she was ~finally~ revived in the comics and comic-syndicated animated tv shows to be more than just a superhero’s girlfriend or damsel in distress.
Instead of just being the studious sidekick, Gwen was rebirthed in an alternate universe (because DC Comics doesn’t have a monopoly on multiverses) as Spider-Gwen, otherwise known as freaking Spider-Woman. Aside from showing viewers in her multiple appearances in various video games and animated series, Spider-Gwen shows audiences that superhero SOs can become their own literal (or metaphorical) superheroes.
But Gwen isn’t done being a feminist icon because she’ll team up with Miles Morales again in the near future, this time in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which swings into theaters on December 14.
5. Jodie Landon (Daria)
Although the titular character Daria is undeniably a feminist icon, Jodie Landon was the intersectional feminist that broke the show’s fourth wall to fight the marginalization of being a black woman of color both in an animated series and in the real, non-fiction world. Jodie’s snide retort might just seem like mere snark, but her side-commentary is critical commentary about how people of color were and still are reduced to side characters and comic relief.
In a discussion with Daria, Jodie also comments on the pressures of being a black role model. Jodie is an extremely studious, skilled and talented student, yet she’s still one of very few POC in the show’s history—which shows that Jodie’s commentary on these pressures hit the show on a meta-level.
6. Turanga Leela (Futurama)
Leela is an unequivocal eco-feminist, who fights for the rights of all species, animals, races and people. Though she moonlights as an alien, Leela is actually a mutant who fights (and eventually succeeds in her fight) for equal rights for mutants, who used to be exiled to the sewers of the future society—which is a vital metaphor for how modern society mistreats and excludes people with disabilities.
And Leela continually saves Fry and leads Planet Express to their deliveries and various escapes, which shows that Leela isn’t just an independent animated woman—she’s a powerful leader.
7. Kim Possible (Kim Possible)
Kim taught us that it’s possible to be feminine—in both the traditional and non-traditional sense—and fight for justice. Seriously, Kim Possible was one of the most influential non-superpowered animated characters, and she wasn’t a sidekick, she was the lead hero. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the whole sitch with Kim or her titular animated series.
The main baddie of the series was also a physically, mentally and meta-powered(ly) woman. Not to mention, Kim’s mom was a BA scientist who was one of the Possible family’s breadwinners—which shows that the inspiring feminist ideologies run in the family.
8. Helga (Hey Arnold)
Helga might seem like a tertiary character who just supported the football-head’s story arc with her stalkery antics. However, Helga challenges beauty standards and gender norms, which was critical for young viewers in the '90s and still applicable to our nostalgic feminist-selves.
Aside from donning her gorgeous unibrow, Helga dispelled typical feminine norms, which became especially apparent in the episode when she got a makeover and actively talked about how f*cked up it is that women are just expected to look or dress a certain way.
9. Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
When she isn’t fighting for her family, her tribe or the world, Katara is using her water-bending finesse to show us that you can be a physically and emotionally strong fighter, while accepting and embracing every facet of your emotions. Katara even uses her voice to speak out against sexist dialogue from other characters, especially from her brother Sokka.
The older version of Katara even acts as a mentor to preceding avatar in The Legend of Korra, which obviously shows that animated feminist characters are just as important to fellow animated characters as they are to us. Granted, Avatar: The Last Airbender is filled with exemplary feminist icons—from Toph to Azula. The spinoff animated series, The Legend of Korra, even stars a tenacious woman avatar, who’s a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and falls in love with another woman.
10. Violet (The Incredibles, Incredibles 2)
In addition to her superpower mother, Violet is a coy feminist character. Though Violet might not be attending rallies in the Incredibles franchise, she uses her super abilities to physically save her family in the first film and continues to use her powers to support her family.
Still, this list barely scuffs the surface of the plethora of feminist animated character who molded our perpetually evolving identities. From Bumble Bee (Teen Titans) to Charlotte Pickles (Rugrats), we can still learn a lot about these multitudes of characters who helped impact the future of feminism (even outside their animated realms). Now that we’re adults (or at least we claim to be), we can really start to appreciate the full extent of these BA characters.
