Strong women are hard to find – at least, they are in movies and TV. The roles offered to women in mainstream entertainment tend to fall into an alarmingly narrow range: victim, wet dream, and killer bitch, with a long-suffering wife or girlfriend thrown occasionally into the mix. These parts are not only far from aspirational, they have little or nothing to do with the realities of the women who watch them.

Now, here’s the good news. Though they’re not easy to come by, great female characters do exist: tough, smart, funny, complicated women, who give normal girls something to shoot for, or at least allow us to indulge in some quality couch time without sacrificing our souls to the dark altar of the Chick Flick.

Here, a roundup of recent favorites.

4. Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars – the sharp, sarcastic teen detective at the center of the WB’s much-beloved (and cancelled) series by the same name – triumphed over her show’s painfully cute premise to become one of the best female characters in recent years, due in large part to a fantastic performance by Kristin Bell. The writing didn’t hurt, either; Veronica worked several startlingly dark cases, including her own date rape, but she was never portrayed as a victim, and the show’s witty, self-aware dialogue kept it from dissolving into melodrama. Read More »

Of course I’m all for doing whatever makes you happy. If not having sex makes you happy, then by all means keep on not having sex. But you probably shouldn’t waste your time convincing me to join you in not having sex; after all, I don’t try to convince you to have sex.

In a recent New York Times article titled “Students of Virginity,” about college students who choose to abstain from sex, one founder of the Harvard abstinence club said, “We wanted to make abstinence look fun; interesting.” OK, I understand how abstaining from sex can be safer than actually having sex. But abstinence is fun? I wasn’t aware.

Choosing to abstain from sex until marriage is a personal choice you make, and I’m not quite sure I understand the need for abstainers to work on convincing others that their way is best. On Valentine’s Day 2007, members of the True Love Revolution sent out valentines to freshman girls saying, “Why wait? Because you’re worth it.” Read More »

Today, April 2, eighteen beautiful Angolan women will gather in Luanda to compete in a very special pageant. They will hail from the eighteen diverse provinces of Angola yet are sure to have at least one commonality—they have all been maimed in landmine accidents. Even more unique, the winner takes home a prosthetic leg from a leading Orthopedic clinic.

Several of the contestants are profiled on the pageant’s website. Their stories speak for themselves.

Miss BENGUELA: An unemployed 32 year old widow and mother of three. She sells tomatoes when she can get them. Her landmine accident occurred while she was tending fields—at the age of eight.

Miss BIÉ: A 30 year old unemployed single mother of four who dreams of being a nurse. While tending fields at the age of 15 a landmine exploded.

Miss CUANDO CUBANGO: A 30 year old single mother of two who dreams of becoming an economist. A landmine went off while she was tending fields at the age of twelve.

Miss CUANZA SUL: A 25 year old who ran into a landmine while escaping an attack from soldiers at the age of 15. She dreams of becoming a nurse. Read More »