TV shows with empowering female characters

Nowadays it’s all too common to turn on the TV and see only 2-D, stereotypical, female characters – from the popular mean girl who gets everything handed to her, to the “girl-next-door” lead who can do no wrong.

However, these are the shows who stand out from the crowd and portray realistic, complex, multi-faceted characters.

Orange is the New Black 

This Netflix original premiered in 2013 and became a near-instant success, and the hype is well deserved. It follows an upper-middle class white woman who was sentenced to 15 months in prison for an offense committed 10 years earlier. What makes the show so great, though, is how it portrays the large group of female inmates. The characters are all unique, with backstories that explain how they came to be the people that they are. With such a large and strong female cast, it’s impossible not to find a character to relate to.

Freaks and Geeks

Freaks and Geeks is always mentioned when discussing shows that were ended before their time, as it was canceled after one season. Despite this, it is one of the most honest portrayals of American teenage life on TV. It follows the main character Lindsay as she deals with growing up, rebellion, boys, and college – but nothing ever turns out perfectly as it usually does on TV.

Game of Thrones

I’ve watched a lot of TV in my life, but I have never seen a show with so many nuanced female characters. From an evil queen with a love for her children so strong she’d burn down cities, to a sweet young girl turned killing machine- over the course of six seasons the characters develop so much and we learn so much about them that it’s hard not to find something to like, or at least respect, in each one (even Cersei).

Scandal

Scandal’s Olivia Pope is just one of the many strong female characters created by Shonda Rhimes. Pope serves as a great example of the female antihero: she’s a strong, independent, relatable protagonist but she’s nowhere near perfect. Her morals could easily be called into question at times, specifically when she’s sleeping with the married President, but her flaws just make her all the more complex and all the more realistic.

Girls

Lena Dunham created Girls back in 2012, taking inspiration for the characters from her own life. The show follows it’s four main characters as they deal with the trials and tribulations that come with being a young woman in New York City. The show deals with problems that many women will face in their lifetime, including abortion, sexual harassment, and just learning to be independent.

Grey’s Anatomy

Another show created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy is filled with strong and complex female characters. From driven and independent Christina Yang to religious and cheery April Kepner, the female characters are all extremely unique. They represent many different races and sexualities and have completely different personalities, but every woman is similar in that they are strong, intelligent, and imperfect.