Time for the third installment of that silly meme I found while wasting time on Tumblr recently. As I mentioned last time, I chopped it up into bite-sized bits, because who really wants to read 5000 words on my pseudo-feminist rantings?
      No one. That’s who.
      ANYway… moving on to the ladies!

1. Favorite mother/daughter relationship The fact that I’m struggling so hard with this one goes to show how rare it is to find a healthy, loving, mother-daughter relationship in media these days. Lots of murder, cheating, sex, pill-popping, drama… but not the kind of relationship I want to celebrate or emulate. I can think of a dozen father-son or father-daughter ones – but it seems like most Moms in TV/Movies/Books are fuck-ups or worse. Katniss’ mom. I might go with the slightly dysfunctional but pretty funny Jessica Day & Joan Day dynamic (from “New Girl”, portrayed by Zoey Deschanel and Jamie Lee Curtis). Not quite right, but also mostly awesome.
2. Favorite ladies who parallel each other Elizabeth Jennings & ???, from “The Americans” and “???”, as portrayed by Keri Russell & ???. I really thought I had this one nailed. Elizabeth Jennings is a Russian-born spy living an American life as a KGB spy in DC in the early 80s. She was raised up a good, Mother-land-loving girl, subjected to conditioning, training (including rape as an instrument of instruction, grr), and then sent off to be married to a fellow spy. I thought for sure I could point to another female character with a similar story. But as I sat here racking my brain, all the options I thought of were lame and not really parallel at all. Sydney Barstow wasn’t really living the same kind of lie. Neither was Nikita. Nor any of the other dozen of female spies I could name. But rather than waste anymore of my time… I ask you – what character in literature, film, or television would say is a parallel for Elizabeth Jennings?
3. Favorite ladies who are also nemeses Cailet Rille & Glenin Feiran (and Sarra Liwellen, sort of), “Exiles” by Melanie Rawn. So, spoiler alerts, I fucking love Melanie Rawn. Hah. But these two are sisters by blood, enemies by their magical training, and destined to go head-to-head by their contrary natures. Glenin is one of those abominably flawed characters – evil to the “right” way of thinking, yet understandable and reasonable in almost all of her dealings. She is the epitome of Lawful Evil™ and she is a perfect example of how sinister and insidious LE can really be. Everything in its place. Any snags in the pattern, excised from the weave. Order, order, order. Sarra is closer to Chaotic Good™ (especially thanks to her Minstrel lover) in that her political aspirations and goals are highly radical and non-traditional. She wants to break the chain and free people from rigid social mores (simplifying her character, yes, but it fits for this little tirade). The third sister, Cailet, struggles between the two extremes. She sees worth, yes, in the pretty little patterns of the Malerrisi, but also recognizes them for the “evil” that they are – whomever controls the loom controls the world, with no free will, no personal choice, nothing. It is hard to give up your freedom, but at the same time, sometimes giving up your choices is a blessed relief. When things in the novels come to a head at the end of Book 3, for all that Cailet still holds out the tiniest glimmer of hope for her sister, they are indeed nemeses to the core. And I love them all.
4. Favorite secondary lady character Lauren Zizes, “Glee”, as portrayed by Ashley Fink. She started out as a bit of a caricature, a fat-girl stereotype on the fringe of the Glee-kids’ universe. But then the writers invited her to the party and she really got to be…interesting. A fat chick, with confidence? A fat chick who ate her candy bar unashamed and knew her worth and wasn’t going to take shit from anyone. A fat chick who was deemed desirable (even if reluctantly so) and who got a semi-tender love story. A fat chick who parlayed her physicality into wrestling championships, who used her brain to mastermind various ‘geekery’, who schooled a playboy into working for the privilege of being with her. Boo-yah, Lauren Zizes, you are many things I wish I had been as a fat teenager. Like the Vicar of Dibley (Dawn French, I love you), Lauren Zizes is full of self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem. And while I definitely would go back in time and tell myself NOT to be a fat teen, if I had to stay fat, I would want to learn to love myself the way Lauren does.
5. Favorite underrated lady character Lydia Martin, “Teen Wolf”, as portrayed by Holland Roden. Okay, so this means admitting that Mark & I watch (and enjoy) an MTV TV show. “Teen Wolf” is fun, it is. Attractive young people, supernatural powers, death & mayhem. What’s not to like? But there is surprising depth in the relationships there, and even though the girls’ skirts are ALWAYS way too short, there is more than meets the eye. Lydia gets the short shrift in a lot of ways. She’s this brilliant (like, crazy smart) teen queen who uses boys for sex and fun, and has way too many walls for most people to bother even trying to knock down. But she loves her BFF fiercely, uses a biting wit to put people in their place, and is apparently so some of Banshee-like creature, deep down. She’s flawed and not your typical heroine, and that’s why I like her. As you can tell, I like imperfect characters. In a show about a teenage dude who gets turned into a werewolf, Lydia is often glossed over. Scott & his BFF, Stiles, get most of the attention. Scott’s former girlfriend, the daughter of a werewolf hunting clan, Alison, is also super important. Heck – Scott’s mom, a nurse; Stiles’ dad, the sheriff; the dude that bit Scott; and Scott’s new girlfriend, Kira, all seem to get more attention from the writers and more screen-time to boot. But Holland Roden lights up the screen, stealing scenes, and her character is less of a… stereotype (and yet, definitely a bunch of tropes rolled into one teeny skirt) than many others. I hope Season Four features her heavily.
6. Favorite nonhuman lady character Rhiallis-Ondrash Corweir, “Untitled” by Me. Yeah, I’m cheating again. But right now, as I sit here thinking about how excited I am to write about her, I cannot think of any other awesome non-human female. Which is dumb, because I love Sci-Fi and I love Fantasy and both are rife with non-humans. I love Tali, in Mass Effect, but not enough to name her my favorite. I adored Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan and Chiana from Farscape, but they’re not really like… my favorite favorites either. So I will cheat and stick to Rhiallis, because right this second – she is.

Note: Image is “Lip-sticks” by (Irum) from SXC.hu