Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith as Jill Monroe, Sabrina Duncan and Kelly Garrett in Charlie’s Angels.
It doesn’t always happen the way it does in the movies but if only, right? Let’s take a moment to appreciate some of our favorite film heroines who, while fictitious, inspire us to take charge and run the show. These characters are leaders, unflappable, tough as nails, with survivor instinct and, like their real-life counterparts have some flaws (that’s what makes us interesting and human). Also important to note: they are not mean girls. Instead of submitting to less-than-ideal circumstances and becoming the victim, they take control of the narrative, overcome obstacles and emerge victorious. Think Harvard-crashing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Or Working Girl’s Tess McGill. That amazingly unholy 9-5 trio: Judy, Violet and Doralee (played with delicious vigor by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, respectively). When their sexist bully of a boss is laid up in the hospital and they step in, the office runs smoothly for a change. Erin Brockovitch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scarlett O’Hara…the list goes on and on. Don’t forget about Charlies’s Angels – that was a girl gang that embraced ambition with teamwork. We suspect that our list will get people talking — possibly up-in-arms. That’s good. That’s the point.
Our top 10 film and television heroines, in no particular order, below:
Erin Brockovitch, Erin Brockovitch
Diana Christensen, Network
Elle Woods, Legally Blonde
Buffy, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Scarlett O’Hara, Gone With The Wind
Violet, Doralee and Judy, 9-5
Tess McGill, Working Girl
Marge Gudnerson, Fargo
Lisa Simpson, The Simpsons
Ellen Ripley, Alien

Faye Dunaway at Diana Christensen in Network.

Melanie Griffith as Tess McGill in Working Girl.

Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovitch in Erin Brockovitch.

Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde.
More about #EmbraceAmbition & the Tory Burch Foundation:
In 2009, Tory launched the Tory Burch Foundation which provides access to capital, education and digital resources to empower women entrepreneurs. Learn more about the Foundation and #EmbraceAmbition here.

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