As I’m sure you all know, it’s not easy finding strong, realistic female characters in fiction all the time and while everything I’ve chosen may not be perfect, I’d like to give some suggestions for those of you looking for some satisfying fiction (and some non-fiction). Some of these I chose based on the thought-provoking messages dealing with gender while others simply presented strong female characters. As for the non-fiction, I listed a couple of books dealing directly with feminism and a number of books about women in history that I found inspiring. If I have done a more thorough review of something on the list, I will put a link to that review on the page (there aren’t many right now). Finally, because I’m always looking for more stories of strong women, this list will certainly grow (I’m positive I’m forgetting a ton as well). On that note, if you have any suggestions for me to look into, I’d love to hear them and will try to read/watch it when I can. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
Fiction Books
- Abhorsen trilogy (by Garth Nix)
- The Bartimaeus Trilogy (by Jonathan Stroud)
- A Doll House (Henrik Ibsen)
- Fire (by Kristin Cashore)
- The Golden Compass (by Philip Pullman)
- Graceling (by Kristin Cashore)
- Harry Potter series (by J.K. Rowling)
- In the Night Garden (by Catherynne M. Valente)
- Moribito series (by Nahoko Uehashi)
- The Orphan’s Tale (by Catherynne M. Valente)
- Pride & Prejudice (by Jane Austen)
- Seraphina (by Rachel Hartman)
- Song of the Lioness series (by Tamora Pierce)
- Thief Errant series (by Elizabeth C. Bunce)
- The Twelve Kingdoms series (by Fuyumi Ono)
- The Yellow Wallpaper (by Charlotte Perkins Gilman)
Non-Fiction Books
- America’s Women (by Gail Collins)
- Elizabeth I (by Anne Somerset)
- Enlightened Sexism (by Susan J. Douglas)
- Half the Sky
- The Mysterious Life of Private Thompson (by Laura Leedy Gansler)
- When Everything Changed (by Gail Collins)
Manga
- 7SEEDS
- All My Darling Daughters
- A Drunken Dream and Other Stories
- Basara
- Cheese in the Trap (Korean Webcomic)
- Emma
- Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly
- Nana
- Natsume’s Book of Friends
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
- Ooku: the Inner Chambers
- Otomen
- Paradise Kiss
- Sailor Moon
- Skip Beat!
Anime
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- The Beast Player Erin (streaming legally on Crunchyroll)
- Chihayafuyu (streaming legally on Crunchyroll)
- Cross Game (streaming legally on Vizanime)
- The Legend of Korra (some episodes streaming legally on Nick)
- Nana (streaming legally on Hulu)
- Natsume’s Book of Friends (streaming legally on Crunchyroll)
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
- The Twelve Kingdoms
- Revolutionary Girl Utena (some episodes streaming legally on Youtube)
- The Rose of Versailles (streaming legally on Crunchyroll)
- Usagi Drop (streaming legally on Crunchyroll)
- Wandering Son (streaming legally on Crunchyroll) (NEW)
- Yona of the Dawn (streaming legally on Crunchyroll)
Movies
Most of stories and animes you recommended here among my favorites and the main reason is precisely because the female characters feel real and well-rounded. I’m gonna give some of the other stories you mentioned here a try, like the “Mysterious Life of Private Thompson” and the Abhorsen Triology.
To repay you, I’ve listed a few manga, books, and movies that have female characters which feel like real people, people who go on their own adventures instead of taking a supporting role (or who exists primarily as a love interest):
Cheese in Trap (a korean manhwa)
Don’t be fooled by the premise. Hong Sul is a hard-working, independent, and perceptive female college student. The other characters and the twists and turns of it’s plot makes it one of a kind. Read the review for the manhwa here to get more of a feel of what it’s about, with candid shots as a bonus: http://himonotales.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/fall-in-the-cheese-trap/#more-972
The Fierce Wife, a Taiwanese drama, is the story of a wife whose husband cheats on her and how that affects everyone about them. The story is about the wife’s journey from being a doormat to an independent woman. What I love most about this story and what makes me recommend it, is the wife’s strength of character; she grows from the experience in an interesting way, not allowing anger and resentment to take over her whole life. The cheaters are not one-dimensional villains, but real people whose motivations, thoughts, and feelings we can understand.
My final recommendation is the Dark Materials Series by Phillip Pullman. The series first book is the “Golden Compass” which is seen as controversial for many reasons and whose movie came out around the time Chronicles of Narnia did, with not as much success. The movies don’t do the movies justice though, and there is more to the story than it’s thoughts on religion. Lyra is among one of my favorite heroines since I was a little kid. She’s clever, thinks on her feet, is a little too fond on lying, and goes on an epic adventure to save the world. Only, she doesn’t realize that is what she’s doing; the only reason she went on an adventure with armored bears, witches, and a ship of gypsies as support was to save her friend, Roger, and later to keep her promise to him.
I really love your site! I’ve been reading it for awhile now, but this is my first comment. Thanks again for your reccs.
Thank you so much for the recommendations and the support. I always enjoy hearing from readers — it motivates me to write more! Anyway, these series sound like they’re right up my alley and I’ve put these series on my list of things to read. I hope you enjoy some of the other stories I recommended!
I’m sure that there are others I could think of, but the most female-positive thing I’ve seen lately is an anime called Bodacious Space Pirates. From the title, it sounds pretty weird, but it’s actually awesome. It’s something that manages to be stereotypically anime-schoolgirl cutesy, and also pretty badass, starting right from the opening theme. I haven’t seen all of it just yet, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about it from people who have. Anyway, I just thought I’d tell you about it 😛
Have you ever read the manga “Otoyomegatari?” I think it has great female characters, and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous, as well. I really enjoy the story, too; I find it gripping and engaging, while still feeling realistic and down-to-earth.
As for history, Catherine the Great, by Robert Massie, is a good biography of the tsarina. I just wish I could find a good book about Maria Theresa of Austria, as well. You might also like to look up include Boudica, from Britain, for a lesser known example of a female leader.
How about Saiunkoku Monogatari? First episode and I’m already loving the story’s strong heroine Shurei.
Good suggestion! I actually watched the first season some time ago and really enjoyed it. Shurei is definitely a competent heroine and a nice change from the trend of a helpless female character with multiple love interests there to save her. I completely forgot about it, but I’d like to watch the second season and see how the rest of the story plays out. Thanks for reminding me!
Ah, might I also suggest “9”, directed by Shane Acker as a worthy notice?
7 is the only female character of the 9 protagonists in the movie. She’s not only one of the most physically capable of the characters (rivaled only by 8, who is actually physically larger than her so there is a sense of realism to be spoken for in that regard; he’s also about twenty times less clever than she is as well) but she is extremely strong willed, motherly to the others, and ready to defend the others to the death. Never once was she shown to be slowed down by romance, and even though she was captured once, 8 was also captured, so it was more like a scenario to see how the other characters could cope without their warriors, using their wits to rescue them.
Overall I thought it was absolutely fantastic, and I’d recommend it.
Thanks for the recommendation! I had heard this movie was good, but I never got around to seeing it. I’m extra curious now that you’ve told me about the characters a bit.
What about the anime/manga Shingeki no kyojin/Attack on titan? 3:
Definitely! I’m excited to see where the series goes in the future!
You should write about Gintama sometime. I believe I read someone that you watch it? Besides having really interesting female characters, the series also does great things with the male characters in terms of gender stereotypes.
Also, you should at least check out Ookiku Furikabutte (Big Windup) which is a baseball show with a great female character as the coach. The manga artist/writer is also female and was a sports psychologist or something.
Lots of great series on this list, and a lot of fiction that I have been meaning to check out for a long time coming (I’m looking at you Utena!)
You mentioned a couple of novels by Catherynne M. Valente (they’ve been sitting on my shelves for about a year now waiting to be devoured), but have you also looked into her Fairyland series? I seriously enjoy how they turn the Persephone mythology inside out (more than once) to explore gender dynamics in children’s fantasy series. September easily squeaked into my list of favourite protagonists in children’s literature.
I haven’t heard of her Fairyland series, but it sounds great! I really enjoyed her take on One Thousand and One Nights so, I’m curious about how she tackles this mythology. As you said, Valente is great at flipping classic stories (and the gender dynamics in them) on their heads.
I read a review on Attack on Titan, and the reviewer listed up some simple but intersetign gender things that SnK does right.
Perhaps, this checklist is good idea to spread, to use as a guide? For example, taking a look at a backround characters and stockcharacters to see if there only one gender or equal prosent of all genders (unless the setting is in for example a nun closter), was something I never thought of before reading that review.
http://nenena.dreamwidth.org/362097.html
hello! Interesting blog you have, I enjoyed reading through a few posts. Given that you seem to enjoy reviewing manga / anime, I thought you might want to check out the works of manga by Makimura Satoru. She writes josei manga, and the themes generally deal with Japanese women fighting to establish a career of some sort in Japanese society, often hand in hand with a romance. I find her work to be intriguing and honest if a bit soft-handed in the way it portrays (mature, career age) women in Japan; in particular her story “Real Clothes” goes right for the conflict between choosing the romance vs the successful career. It’s very good reading and I think you’d enjoy it. Cheers!
Thank you very much for reading and for the recommendations! I don’t think I’ve read any of Makimura Satoru’s manga before, but they sound really intriguing, and perfect material for a blog post! I’ll see if I can get my hands on some of her work.
This is a great list! If you don’t mind, I have a couple others that I think you might like.
MANGA/ANIME
1) Fullmetal Alchemist – the main protagonists are male but there are so many strong female characters that aren’t overly sexualized.
2) Gokusen
3) Soul Eater
4) Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit – there’s an anime adaptation that is amazing in pretty much every aspect.
5) Pretty much any Miyazaki movie
FICTION BOOKS
1) Sammy Keyes series by Wendelin van Draanen – this is definitely more for kids but it was one of my childhood favorites
2) Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley – another childhood favorite
3) Hex Hall series and Rebel Belle series by Rachel Hawkins
4) Immortals quartet by Tamora Pierce
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, but thanks for providing such a great list!
Did you read/watch Magi? It’s shounen series with really cool and varied female characters (some suffers flanderisation from fandom like Kougyouku – I’d really recommend not reading comments about her, because sexism is up to eleven) that are more than damsels or love interests (one also features imho one of greatest female villain in the genre).
Besides (later on) it’s centred more on politics than fighting (sadly, like in real life, most princesses are used in political marriages than independent rule.
There are demerits (some characters have kind of sexist outlook, but it comes from how the world is constructed – most countries imitate ones from real life) and main character is child pervert and his assault are always played for laugh (sadly this is common trope in manga).
Nevertheless I recommend you to read it yourself.
Hi, I’ve stumbled across your blog when I was searching for Cheese In The Trap’s review. I’m currently watching the drama. But I haven’t read the manhwa. However, after reading so many positive reviews about the manhwa, with the persuasion of my friend who considered herself as those into Korean drama, I gave the drama a try and it turned out to be very interesting. As a university student, the drama is quite relatable and nails the struggles and adventures of a bunch of university students while inserting romantic moments without being too cheesy (at least for now).
Honestly, it’s quite refreshing watching a Korean drama where the female lead is quite realistic. So, after a dose of two episodes, I looked up again on the internet to find some reviews and comments about the drama or the manhwa, I don’t know why I do this, but maybe to get into the feel of the hype/premise of this show. And eventually, I found your post, ‘Captured by Cheese In The Trap’. All I have to say is that, I like your writing and your opinion on the story.
From then on, I began clicking on your other posts about anime and manga relating to discussions of over-sexualized/stereotyped female characters as well as strong female characters portrayed in those media. I enjoy reading your views and the way you ‘dissect’ some of my favourite anime/manga.
In the meantime, I was wondering if you have ever read or watched Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun/ Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun? The genre is rom-com but I believe it’s heavy on the comedy spectrum. And the female characters generally defy the gender stereotype. Infact, I can say almost all of those characters defy stereotypes.
Basically, the story is about a guy named Nozaki who is actually a popular Shoujo Mangaka (See? A guy doing shoujo genre) who misinterpreted Sakura Chiyo’s confession as a fan of his shoujo manga(s). And in the end, Chiyo ended up helping him create manga that generally focuses on cliche female leads, romances and good-looking male characters. Along the way, they tried to turn everyday situations they observed and try to fit them into the cliche shoujo scope. In addition, they also gain help and examples from their eccentric friends to create cheesy plots to publish the manga.
All in all, it’s a very entertaining story. I wonder if you could give the show a try or if you have watched or read them, I would like to hear your views on it. Till then, I’ve just subscribed to easily read more of your posts. Looking forward to hear more of you ‘Gagging on Sexism’!