Strong Female Characters (TM)
S3E9: STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS! Because it's bullshit that only the boys get to do cool things. Rae talks about how representation of strong female characters is important and powerful for women and girls; for her specifically, seeing female fighters, tomboys, and women with masculine skills/interests has been crucial for her identity as a queer woman. Josué & Rae explore several examples of positive, mixed, and negative representation throughout different anime series and categories, as well as a few standout non-anime series, and examine several common writing/character tropes frequently used with female characters. Josué declares further reflection on My Hero Academia is forbidden.
(Producer Rae's note: turns out there are a handful of Shonen's with female main characters- the ones I could find are Soul Eater, Kill la Kill, Undead Unluck, Dandadan, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure part 6: Stone Ocean, A Certain Scientific Railgun, Slayers, and Claymore. Frieren: Beyond Journey's end is technically classified as a Shonen due to being published in a Shonen magazine, but there seems to be a lot of debate around this. Know of others? Let us know!)
Themes/Topics Discussed:
(Producer Rae's note: turns out there are a handful of Shonen's with female main characters- the ones I could find are Soul Eater, Kill la Kill, Undead Unluck, Dandadan, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure part 6: Stone Ocean, A Certain Scientific Railgun, Slayers, and Claymore. Frieren: Beyond Journey's end is technically classified as a Shonen due to being published in a Shonen magazine, but there seems to be a lot of debate around this. Know of others? Let us know!)
Themes/Topics Discussed:
- Cultural representation
- Death
- Difficult emotions
- Family
- Finding Oneself/Identity Development
- Leadership
- LGBT Issues
- Love
- Power struggle
- Problem Solving
- Resilience
- Standing up for others
- Strong female role models
- Standing up for oneself
- Misogyny
- Wish fulfillment
- Female character/writing tropes
Relatable Experiences:
- Diverse female representation in media
- Gender roles and expectations for women
- Queer gender expressions such as tomboys and masc women
- Parentified daughters
- Strength from physical abilities/acuity
- Strength from mental or emotional abilities/acuity
- Acceptance
- Clarity/Understanding
- Disability
- Fighting
Anime/Characters Mentioned:
- Shonen (anime/manga category)
- Shojo (anime/manga category)
- Seinen (anime/manga category)
- Winry Rockbell (Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
- Nami (One Piece)
- Robin (One Piece)
- One Piece: Fan Letter
- Witch Hat Atelier
- Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
- Attack on Titan
- Berserk
- Vinland Saga
- Monster
- Ghost in the Shell
- Dragon Ball/Z/Super
- Goku (Dragon Ball/Z/Super)
- Bulma (Dragon Ball/Z/Super)
- Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball/Z/Super)
- Master Roshi (Dragon Ball/Z/Super)
- Android 18 (Dragon Ball/Z/Super)
- Videl (Dragon Ball/Z/Super)
- Naruto/Shippuden/Boruto
- Sakura (Naruto/Shippuden/Boruto)
- Team Seven (Naruto/Shippuden/Boruto)
- Tsunade (Naruto/Shippuden/Boruto)
- Sarada (Boruto)
- Tenya Iida (My Hero Academia)
- Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)
- Kamille Bidan (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)
- Caulifla (Dragon Ball Super)
- Kale (Dragon Ball Super)
- Katsuki Bakugo (My Hero Academia)
- Ochaco Uraraka (My Hero Academia)
- Sailor Moon (series)
- Sailor Moon/Usagi (character)
- The Sailor Scouts (Sailor Moon)
- The Outer Sailor Scouts (Sailors Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) (Sailor Moon)
Non-Anime Media Mentioned:
- If She Can See It, She Can Be It (non-profit organization founded by Gina Davis)
- Star Trek: Voyager & Captain Janeway
- Battlestar Galactica & Starbuck
- Doctor Who & the 13th Doctor
- Untitled live action Naruto project
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Katara (A:TLA)
- Aang & Katara's relationship (A:TLA)
- "Sydney Sweeny-led Mobile Suit Gundam movie" (Upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam live action film)
- Toph Beifong (A:TLA)
- Korra (The Legend of Korra)
- Asami Sato (The Legend of Korra)
- Conan: The Barbarian
- Hercules (character/archetype)
Contact Us:
- Join the discussion on the GT Forum at https://forum.geektherapy.org/ and connect with the Geek Therapy Network through the links at https://geektherapy.org/.
- Check out our other shows on the GT Network: https://network.geektherapy.org/
- Join us in the Geek Therapy Discord
- Follow Geek Therapy on Bluesky: @GeekTherapy.bsky.social
Conversation Starters:
Who are your favorite strong female characters? Which female characters have had the biggest impact on you? Who is your go-to example to use in clinical work?
[These show notes were proudly written with NO AI by a real human.]
