100 Kick-Ass Female Characters: #41
41. Amelia “Amy” Gardner, as seen on The West Wing, portrayed by Mary-Louise Parker
The West Wing is some of the best television ever written (especially the first 4 seasons) and it is also one of the few shows I've ever watched where the women are not just as equally well-written as the men but are, in fact, oftentimes written better. CJ Cregg, Donna Moss, and Abbey Bartlett are all fully-formed, flawed, and fabulous characters, but my heart will always belong to Amy Gardner.
In The West Wing 'verse, we are introduced to Amy as the director of the Women's Leadership Coalition. The administration is courting Amy for her support on women's issues, and Amy soon finds herself dating Josh Lyman again. Now, Amy's strength is not as a love interest; none of the romantic relationships on the show were ever particularly well-written because they are not the point, partly because this is a show about politics and partly because these are not characters who have time for rich personal lives. No, what makes Amy such a great character is that, at her core, Amy is an unapologetic feminist and, when her beliefs clash with the White Houses's, she leaves. She is not able to do what Sam, Toby, Josh, CJ, and even Leo have to do from time to time, which is recite the White House's position and act supportive. Amy wants to fight for her beliefs, not the beliefs of others to further their political career.
Politics is an unbearably tough arena for women; even if you can get elected, you're under constant scrutiny. And, as recently demonstrated with Congress dragging their feet about reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, "women's issues" are often the first to get thrown under the bus in the political realm. As far as women in government go, the United States is ranked 68th out of 134 in terms of women representatives; Rwanda has the highest rate of female representation in politics with almost 50% of the seats in the Lower House being filled by women. To emphasize just how messed up the rates of US women in government is, here's a few countries which have more female representatives than we do: Tajikistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uganda.
Please think about that for a moment. When you're done being horrified, continue reading.
Women make up 16% of representatives and we're 50.8% of the population. Amy doesn't like that, she doesn't want to accept that, and she wants to actively work to make sure that the US government not just acknowledges but works to make the lives of women better.
And if I have to explain why that is kick-ass, this is probably not the journal for you.
The West Wing is some of the best television ever written (especially the first 4 seasons) and it is also one of the few shows I've ever watched where the women are not just as equally well-written as the men but are, in fact, oftentimes written better. CJ Cregg, Donna Moss, and Abbey Bartlett are all fully-formed, flawed, and fabulous characters, but my heart will always belong to Amy Gardner.
In The West Wing 'verse, we are introduced to Amy as the director of the Women's Leadership Coalition. The administration is courting Amy for her support on women's issues, and Amy soon finds herself dating Josh Lyman again. Now, Amy's strength is not as a love interest; none of the romantic relationships on the show were ever particularly well-written because they are not the point, partly because this is a show about politics and partly because these are not characters who have time for rich personal lives. No, what makes Amy such a great character is that, at her core, Amy is an unapologetic feminist and, when her beliefs clash with the White Houses's, she leaves. She is not able to do what Sam, Toby, Josh, CJ, and even Leo have to do from time to time, which is recite the White House's position and act supportive. Amy wants to fight for her beliefs, not the beliefs of others to further their political career.
Politics is an unbearably tough arena for women; even if you can get elected, you're under constant scrutiny. And, as recently demonstrated with Congress dragging their feet about reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, "women's issues" are often the first to get thrown under the bus in the political realm. As far as women in government go, the United States is ranked 68th out of 134 in terms of women representatives; Rwanda has the highest rate of female representation in politics with almost 50% of the seats in the Lower House being filled by women. To emphasize just how messed up the rates of US women in government is, here's a few countries which have more female representatives than we do: Tajikistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uganda.
Please think about that for a moment. When you're done being horrified, continue reading.
Women make up 16% of representatives and we're 50.8% of the population. Amy doesn't like that, she doesn't want to accept that, and she wants to actively work to make sure that the US government not just acknowledges but works to make the lives of women better.
And if I have to explain why that is kick-ass, this is probably not the journal for you.