Best Female Depictions of Women in

Movies and Television

By: Grace MacDougall, Maya Rios, Peyton Guise, and Ginnie Hester
Mulan
By: Maya Rios

The Disney Princess movie Mulan was released June 5, 1998. The movie takes place in
patriarchal China. Mulan lives in a small village where a war is taking place. She is judged by the people
in her town because she isnt like the other girls. She doesnt want to wear all the makeup, dress fancy
and get married because she felt there was more to her life than just getting married to please her family.
She becomes a little lost but knows what she has to do in order to help her old father who was
drafted in the war. She decides to put her life on the line to save her father. She dresses up like a guy and
took her fathers warrior outfit to be a soldier and defend against the Huns. Although the captain and
Mulan get together in the end, the story's plot line does not revolve around a romantic relationship where
the prince has to save the girl and they live happily ever after, this shows little girls and boys that being in
a relationship is not all that matters. Mulan faces many problems throughout the story including the fact
that she has to work a little bit harder than everyone else and she has to make tough decisions to hide that
she is a women.
Her character is smart and clever and an altogether a great role model for girls. Mulan is also
more realistic than most of the disney princess in that she is clumsy, forgetful, has attitude and doesnt
always do the right thing-- like when she wrote a cheat sheet for herself so she wouldnt forget things
when she was with the matchmaker. Mulan also messes up quite a few times in the story which most
disney princess dont do. When Mulan accidentally revealed that she was a girl there was a bit of
confusion and some people were upset but she proved that it didn't matter if you were a girl or a boy you
can still accomplish great things.
Mulan is one of the most underrated princess movie. She was awarded a medal to show her
family and a sword to show the world by the emperor. Compared to the other disney princess movies
mulan is a great inspiration for little girls. Mulan teaches them to stay true to their hearts and that you
dont have to be a man to do amazing things.
Ruby Rose
By: Peyton Guise

http://orange-is-the-new-black.wikia.com/wiki/Stella_Carlin

When the name Ruby Rose is mentioned, most people think of her character, Stella Carlin, from
the infamous show Orange is the New Black. In the show, Ruby Rose plays an outspoken inmate that
immigrated from Australia to America and was arrested for drug trafficking. Although her actions in the
show do not reflect a good role model, Rubys overall character is. She is independent, sarcastic,
humorous, and a fighter. The show proves that a good girl image is not necessary to be a good
character. She believes in herself and treats herself with respect, but doesnt make the best decisions
throughout the show.
Rubys character, Stella Carlin, is actually a very accurate representation of her in the real world.
Ruby is a model for Maybelline, and has been seen in a self-produced short film, Break Free, about her
gender fluidity. She is still that outspoken, independent, humorous character in the real world - minus the
bad decisions.
This Australian beauty has an appearance that most models do not have or find feminine. Ruby
Rose is covered in tattoos, piercings, and has a short, shaved hairstyle. She flaunts her appearance and
shows the world that masculinity can be seen as beautiful; just like the typical skinny girls in magazines
are.
Rose is also open about something that is discouraged by many in Australia; her sexuality. she
has ignited a new confidence in the LGBTQ+ community, and is now seen as an inspiration to many men
and women throughout the world struggling with sexuality and gender identity. I, myself, see her as an
inspiration. She has sparked my confidence with my sexuality, appearance, and overall self respect. And I
am not the only one who sees Ruby Rose as a role model. Roses social media sites are flooded with
compliments and stories of how shes helped them.
Ruby Rose is exactly what society needs to see amongst the women in Hollywood; a strong
female depiction.

Jane Foster
By: Grace MacDougall
 Jane Foster is another brilliantly portrayed character created by Hollywood in the Thor movies.
To start off, the way this character looks is not the normal or stereotypical look of a female. She tends to
wear darker colors in her clothing and most of the time her clothes cover her body appropriately. One of
the outfits she wore in Thor: The Dark World consists of a faded dark green-gray jacket with a green and
blue plaid three-quarter length shirt underneath it. She also wears dark gray jeans. Her clothes dont hug
her body tightly like most other female Hollywood roles. Her clothes demonstrate that she is not afraid to
get her hands dirty.
Jane Foster doesn't fight in the movies shes in, but that doesnt make her a weak character. She
makes up for that with her brains and bravery. According to Molly Jean Doran, Jane has three degrees and
is very interested in astronomy and physics. Though her character it extremely smart she is not a queen of
isolation, like most smart characters can be. She is also an immensely brave character because she doesnt
fear Thor when he first comes to Earth-- she is intrigued by him.
For instance, in Thor: The Dark World, Jane is extremely furious that she has steam coming out
of her ears because she is taken prisoner in Asgard, Thors home planet, but she never sheds a single tear.
She never shows any weakness as do most female roles nowadays. She stands tall and proud even though
everyone around her is ten times as powerful as she is. She lets nothing stand in her way, even when Loki
is vexing her as she is beginning to escape Asgard. All she does is look him dead in the eyes and slap him
across the face, all fear seeming to escape her. When Jane Foster has a plan in mind she stops at nothing
until she gets it done. She has the brains of a scientist, but the heart of a warrior.
The character of Jane Foster is a great role model as well. She inspires young women to pursue
their interests in science. Rachel Nuwer wrote an article about ten high school girls who went to
Hollywood and met the cast of Thor: The Dark World along with female scientists. They encouraged
women to have more professions in STEM or science fields. This shows just how much of an impact Jane
Foster makes on young females today.
Sure, Jane Fosters main role in the Thor movies is Thors love interest, but all her science
contributions throughout the movies can help overlook it.

Judy Hopps
By: Ginnie Hester

Judy Hopps is a rabbit and one of the many children of her carrot farmer parents. She grew up in
the small town of Bunnyburrow, and was constantly reminded of how she would never make it as a police
officer, which is her dream job. Through hard work, studying, unrelenting optimism and effort, she
graduated from the Zootopia police academy at the top of her class. While she could not complete tasks
and follow instructions as they were intended -- such as climbing a frigid ice wall on a training course
with her physical capabilities alone--, she was able to come up with creative and on-the-spot solutions so
she could keep up with everyone else. In the same example with the ice wall, she utilized her
surroundings and the positions and sizes of the other trainees to complete the exercise. No matter what,
she always gave everything her all, and didnt let what anyone said regarding her species and/or physique
stop her.
Her character, being physically small and the first ever rabbit police officer in Zootopian history,
is often cast aside as useless and/or helpless. The fact that she is female also touches upon the issue of
women in the police force- meaning women who are actually police officers or in the police department,
and not just there for an opportunity to wear a revealing police officer outfit (as seen in numerous
live-action films). Judy is a strong, positive female role model for todays girls and women.
An important characteristic that Judy demonstrates is her unrelenting determination, but her
ability to make sacrifices and tough decisions. An example of her ability to make tough decisions and
sacrifices is when she decided to give up her police badge upon deciding that she didnt deserve the
positive recognition she was receiving for finding the fourteen missing mammals. Her ability to think on
her feet is one of the more defining features for her character. When injured while being pursued by
Mayor Bellwether and her ram underlings, Judy and Nick act quickly and improvise when things
suddenly go south.
Overall, Judy Hopps is one of the better and more positive female role models for numerous
reasons: she doesnt give up, she stands up for what she thinks is right, she has confidence in herself, and
finally, she has flaws and knows that she isnt perfect. There are many depictions of female characters in
Hollywood films, both popular and unpopular, that arent able to do even that.