Female Role Models in Popular Culture Part Four: Celebrities

We’ve had TV, we’ve had music, and we’ve had film.  Now it’s time for the celebrities…

In her lifetime, Audrey Hepburn was malnourished because of the war, divorced twice, had several miscarriages and was cheated on.  But you never heard about any of that.  All you ever heard about was her film and charity work.  Not only that, but she refused to let film crews come with her on her charity work, because she didn’t want them filming her – she was doing it for the kids, not for herself.  If that’s not a role model, I don’t know what is.

Jennifer Aniston’s love life – and career – have been everywhere in the sixteen years since Friends first came on to our screens.  She’s been bullied by people (referring to her as “Manniston”), she’s had career success, and career failure, but, no matter what, she always remains positive and continues to work hard.

In a world that still doesn’t think that women can be funny, Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo proved everyone wrong when they wrote Bridesmaids.  Not only was the film the funniest of 2011, but it was also a huge success with critics, winning several awards and an Oscar for best original screenplay.

She’s not Twiggy, and she knows it, but she doesn’t care.  She has curves, and she seriously works them to her advantage.  She’s proof that you don’t have to be a size eight to be attractive.

Love them or hate them, they’ve got a good thing going, and they’re taking advantage of it.  They’ve got several TV shows going, perfumes, fashion lines, shops, and endorsements all over the place.  They may be fame whores but they know how to make money, and the family is led by matriarch Kris Jenner.

When she invented Harry Potter, she created something from nothing.  That nothing has made her billions of pounds, and she’s now one of the richest women in the world, and is worth more than the queen.  Not bad for a single mum from Gloucestershire who wrote most of it in a cafe in Glasgow whilst being an unemployed teacher on jobseeker’s allowance.

She’s also the poster girl for persistence.  Harry Potter was rejected by numerous agents and publishers, but she had faith in it, and kept at it until someone saw the magic in Harry and gave them both a chance.

Definitely not bad.

Reese Witherspoon not only raises two children – with a third on the way – but she also works with Avon to campaign and spread the word against domestic violence, and she doesn’t go on and on about her private life like some celebrities.  It’s her private life, no one else’s.  There are also very few occasions where she hasn’t looked less than fabulous on the red carpet, or even just out with her kids.

She does stand up comedy (something that’s deemed a “man’s thing”), she writes, she plays violin, she acts, she sings, and she games. She created web series The Guild with the help of some friends back in 2008, and it quickly became one of the most popular web series ever. It’s almost all written by Day, and she also plays the main character, Codex. The show has won several awards and gained critical acclaim. She now has her own production company, Geek and Sundry, dedicated to the “indie geek culture”.

Photo Credits:
Aniston Center
Christina-Hendricks.net

Last Updated: 29/09/12