Feminist Sci-fi and fantasty tv shows, movies, and books.

[AtroposHeart]

Know any good ones

[EyeQueue]

Anything by Sheri S. Tepper, Marge Piercy, Octavia Butler, and Margaret Atwood's sci-fi stuff.

I particularly like Tepper's Gibbons Decline and Fall, Beauty, Plague of Angels and Singer from the Sea.

There's also a cool "cyberpunk" trilogy with a strong female character: Crashcourse, Clipjoint and Psykosis.

I love Butler's Parable of the Sowers series.

I think the tv series Once Upon a Time qualifies as feminist fantasy.

ETA: titles

[Deleted07]

Here are some of my favourites, of what I would assume is feminist TV Shows because they featured strong female leads, that aren't necessarily tied to men, although do have their romances still!

Older Shows -

Xena; Warrior Princess

Buffy; the Vampire Slayer

More recently

- Sanctuary (Dr Helen Magnus - Amanda Tapping = HOT!)

Rizzoli and Isles (if you like Cop Drama, bit of comedy too)

Movies - Can't go past Resident Evil and Underworld.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head! I'm looking forward to seeing everyones replies, good question! :-)

[AVENues]

Yeah, Xena was badass.

Actually, I watched the series Road to Avonlea. I found many independent, strong women in the series. There was Aunt Hattie, the teacher, now she was quite a piece of work, in a good way, then there was the shop owner lady who ran an entire shop alone in that small town back those days and visited India - alone. There was Aunt Janet who got locked up in prison for standing up for women's rights while having a baby. And of course, there was little Sarah, who meant business even as a child and did not take cr*p from anyone and never let anyone crush her spirit. Then, to my surprise there was Felicity, who as a child thought she was supposed to grow up to be a housewife, then later on as she had grown up had become pretty mature, she even confronted his father and supported his brother with his dream of having a tea house and told his father to leave the farm to her little sister and break traditions. She also wanted and got education. It's especially inspiring since the story took place back at the turn of the past century.

[samithemage]

I always loved Farscape (especially in the early seasons) for strong female characters. I loved Aeryn kicking John's butt in the Premiere. The thing I loved most about the show was that all of the characters were deeply flawed, but deeply wonderful.

[RandomTrivia]

Any of Tamora Pierce's books, although they're mostly aimed at a teen/pre-teen reader, they all have good female characters. Tamora also co-founded a website called Sheroes Central that discusses female heroes (real and fictional).

Along with Buffy, most of Joss Whedon's series have some kick-ass women. I missed Dollhouse (due to my FOX boycott) and most of Angel, but Firefly has Zoe and River for the obvious kick-ass, and even Inara and Kaylee don't take a lot of crap from anyone.

Robin McKinley's books, especially The Hero and The Crown, and The Blue Sword.

Mercedes Lackey's (mostly fantasy) tend to have pretty good women characters. I'm mostly familiar with the Valdemar books - Tarma & Kethry might give Xena a challenge in the kick-ass women categories. Although Xena would probably get bonus points for the outfit. :)

Anne McCaffrey has a lot of female characters (Lessa, Menolla, Moreta), but some people have issues with various things (patriarchy, rapey-ness if that's a word). Now, the Pern books written by her son Todd are full of female characters, but they bug me for a few reasons that don't need exploring right now.

Stargate SG-1 had Samantha Carter and Claudia Black's character whose name I'm blanking on. Just ignore Carter's cringeworthy speech about ovaries (I think they took that out of the special-edition DVD).

Older series - Commander Ivanova on Babylon 5.

"Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me."

There are more, but it's late.

[lilith]

Tanith Lee is good for old school scifi/ fantasy from a feminist perspective, as are Marion Zimmer Bradley's retellings of the Camelot and King Arthur.

[Bethella]

Claudia Black's character in Stargate was Vala Mal Doran.

[shedemei]

Older series - Commander Ivanova on Babylon 5.

I love B5 but there are a few cringe-worthy scenes. The worst was Susan having sex "human style." Ivanova's character was over-the-top frequently.

The first Na'Toth and Delenn were pretty good, though.

I can't find clips of Na'Toth but here's the ultimate Delenn.

2mURWOwkFPM

[RandomTrivia]

I love B5 but there are a few cringe-worthy scenes. The worst was Susan having sex "human style." Ivanova's character was over-the-top frequently.

The first Na'Toth and Delenn were pretty good, though.

I can't find clips of Na'Toth but here's the ultimate Delenn.

2mURWOwkFPM

I really need to get my DVDs out and watch the whole series again. I was working occasional evenings when it was originally on, and missed enough episodes of season 3 (I think) that things got a little confusing, and as interconnected as the episodes were, I know I missed some references along the way. There were a few clunker scenes, but there were also some pretty thought-provoking ones, especially a couple of episodes with Dr Franklin about medical ethics. And the fact that JMS wrote so many of the episodes without frying his brain is pretty impressive. :) Lennier was one of my favorite characters, and Vir. And as far as feminist characters, Delenn was not someone to cross, as I recall.

[JoanHolloway]

I'm not a huge scifi/fantasy fan, but check out Lost Girl: it's a campy Canadian urban fantasy show about a succubus. It can be problematic at times, but it does feature two strong female protagonists and treats bisexuality in a fairly realistic manner.

[sparkles]

For movies, my number one is the original Alien. I quit watching Aliens halfway through and never saw the others, but in the original Ripley is kick ass. Intelligent, strong, resourceful, no nonsense. Fantastic character and then Ridley Scott reduced her to just another sex object with the gratuitous crotch shot of her climbing into her space suit towards the end--something that still pisses me off, even more than the full body shot of the alien which managed to reduce this largely unseen menace to an action figure. But it's still one of my favorite movies, mainly for Ripley.

[Lillybee]

Teppler's Gibbons Decline and Fall really deserves a thread of it's own. That book is awesome.

[fauxmenno]

As far as books go, I really like the Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix. The protagonists are all really strong female characters. Also, When Women Were Warriors by Catherine M. Wilson is a good series.

[Soldier of the One]

Octavia Butler and 'He, She, It' by Marge Piercy (iirc).

Edited: obvious duh, given my avatar: Battlestar Galactica and Caprica!

[EyeQueue]

Octavia Butler and 'He, She, It' by Marge Piercy (iirc).

Edited: obvious duh, given my avatar: Battlestar Galactica and Caprica!

You're right--that was Piercy. Awesome book.

[ElphabaGalinda]

I'm not a huge scifi/fantasy fan, but check out Lost Girl: it's a campy Canadian urban fantasy show about a succubus. It can be problematic at times, but it does feature two strong female protagonists and treats bisexuality in a fairly realistic manner.

I've met Anna Silk who plays Bo, she's awesome! Second the recommendation of this show. Once Upon a Time is another awesome one I'd recommend, and Buffy is always awesome.

[AuntCloud]

Joan Vinge's "Snow Queen" and "Summer Queen". Have Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon been mentioned?

[duplessis3]

Yeah, and MZB's Darkover series is great.

Misfits (on Hulu) has a very strong female character, Kelly. Played by Lauren Sorcha - she won the BAFTA for it. There's a lot of sex and crudeness but I find it hilarious.

Battlestar Gallatica fills the bill too, I think.

[Shoobydoo]

Has anyone mentioned Terry Pratchett yet?

Out of his books, the witches of Lancre books (Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Maskerade, and Carpe Jugulum) and the Tiffany Aching books (Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight, though I haven't read that last one myself) all have wonderful, strong female main characters. Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax are probably my favorite characters out of the whole Discworld universe.

If you're into YA books, I absolutely adore Zahrah the Windseeker. It's a fantasy novel based on Nigerian myth and legend.

I'll have to look into some of the other things people have suggested here.

edited for riffles

[duplessis3]

I meant to mention Terry Pratchett! All of his women are strong! And the witches are my favorites too!

[KitCatCadillac]

Charles De Lint writes some really fantastic and complex female characters. And many of his books are fantasy set in the present day, which can be a delightful change of pace from all the medival/LOTR style settings you often see.

[Shoobydoo]

I meant to mention Terry Pratchett! All of his women are strong! And the witches are my favorites too!

Oh, I forgot Susan! She's really only got a couple books, though. She's in Soul Music, Hogfather, and Thief of Time. Those ones also heavily feature Death, who is a lovely character. :D

ETA: Monstrous Regiment is another Discworld novel with a strong leading lady, but that one features characters with only on novel. It's one of the grimmer Discworld books, but still quite good.

Sgt Angua, Duchess Sybil, etc are also pretty strong women, but the books aren't ABOUT them, per se.

[Mice]

I also like Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series for YA. I got my kid Wee Free Men for Christmas.

Another series that I love is the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. Great women characters - especially Cordelia.

[AuntCloud]

Has anyone mentioned Terry Pratchett yet?

Out of his books, the witches of Lancre books (Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Maskerade, and Carpe Jugulum) and the Tiffany Aching books (Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight, though I haven't read that last one myself) all have wonderful, strong female main characters. Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax are probably my favorite characters out of the whole Discworld universe.

If you're into YA books, I absolutely adore Zahrah the Windseeker. It's a fantasy novel based on Nigerian myth and legend.

I'll have to look into some of the other things people have suggested here.

edited for riffles

How could I forget?! fantastic doesn't begin to describe Sir Pratchett's talent. And these books definitely show strong female characters. Also, I was surprised to find out Greebo is a real world in Brit slang.