As I am sitting here, yet again, single on Valentine’s Day, I was thinking about movies that follow a story of empowering women. There are definitely a lot to choose from because women are very powerful people in this world who are not afraid to take a stand when need be. 

I am going to list two of my favorite female empowering movies that I have seen, loved, and come to appreciate.

Starting off with one of my favorites, Legally Blonde starring Reese Witherspoon. Reese plays rich, blonde, sorority president Elle Woods, who is dating her longtime boyfriend, Warner. Elle and Warner go on a date early into the movie where she thinks he is going to propose to her. As Warner is giving his speech saying how he wants to be serious in life and not joke around anymore, he states that he wants to break things off with her and go to law school at Harvard. An upset Elle cries hysterically at the fancy restaurant and gets stares from tables across the place. Warner says that Elle had a bad salad and is upset about that. Soon after, Elle leaves the restaurant on foot and starts walking back to her sorority house. Warner finds her, says she will ruin her designer shoes if she continues to walk. She gets in his car and heads home. 

Elle is upset that she is now single and sits in her room for some time before finally going to get a manicure from her local salon. While she is there with her friends, she reads in the paper that Warner’s brother is marrying a lawyer and realizes that is the type of girl Warner wants to marry. Elle proceeds to apply for Harvard Law School so she can attend and try to rebuild her relationship with Warner. 

Though somewhat ditsy and unprofessional, Elle’s admission video catches the attention of the acceptance committee and she lands a spot in Harvard Law. As she starts school there, she attends classes and welcome groups to learn more about her peers and campus. She runs into Warner in the hallway and he asks her what she is doing here, she states that she goes here and he is shocked. He asks her “You got into Harvard Law?” and her famous comeback she says, “What? Like it’s hard?” YES WHAT A QUEEN!

As time progresses, we find out that Warner is already engaged to another woman, Vivian Kensington, who is played by Selma Blair. This makes Elle upset and she now wants to try hard in law school, especially after Vivian embarrasses her multiple times. 

Elle, Warner, and Vivian all receive an offer to participate in an internship for one of their professors where they are covering a case of a young woman accused of killing her older husband for insurance money. Turns out the young woman is someone Elle knows from a workout video/class she participated in. Professor Callahan likes Elle, not for her work ethic but for her looks so she gets good treatment from him while Vivian is treated like garbage, having to go get coffee for him. 

Elle finds out about Brooke Taylor-Windham’s alibi and has sworn not to tell, as she is respecting the bonds of sisterhood. Professor Callahan is upset that Elle won’t say anything but knows she is right and that Brooke is innocent. Professor Callahan does not believe that there is an alibi and thinks that Brooke is guilty. Brooke can sense this and she fires him and hires Elle to become her lawyer.

As Elle is waiting for a drink of water at a water fountain, Enrique, who is Brooke’s pool boy, tells Elle to stop tapping her Prada shoes at him. This gives Elle an edge because she figures that no straight man would know that the shoes are designer, but a gay man would. So as Elle is questioning Enrique, he says he and Brooke were involved with one another and that his current boyfriend is just a friend. This upsets his boyfriend and he storms out of the courtroom. Eventually, Elle cross examines Brooke’s stepdaughter Chutney, who has very curly hair and an attitude. As Elle is cross examining, Chutney states that she had gotten a perm that day and then went home to shower and wash her hair. This gets Elle’s attention because she knows the rules of a perm are to not wet your hair after a certain period of time after a perm. This gets Chutney to admit to killing her own father because she thought it was Brooke walking through the door.

This immediately shows the female empowerment of Elle and Brooke and how they stuck together to get to the end of the trial. Throughout the whole movie, Elle never lets something get to her because she knows how worthy she is. She shows that you can do absolutely anything you put your mind to and that you do not need a man to help you through it, she did this all on her own and only got there because she worked hard for it and went out of her way to find the answers.

She also proves that you should not judge someone based on appearances because that is exactly what everyone does when they see her, a beautiful person with blonde hair, and blondes have a “dumb” personality reputation. (I can say this because I am a blonde and know the experience.) You can go on to achieve anything and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

The other movie that I love that shows female empowerment is A League of Their Own starring Geena Davis as Dottie. Dottie is married to a man in the military and lives with her parents on their farm. One day, Ernie, played by Jon Lovitz, comes up to Dottie and says he wants her to try out for the professional All-Women Baseball League. Dottie says she wants to bring her sister with her if she goes to tryouts because her little sister, Kit (Lori Petty), is a great catcher and has a great arm. Ernie agrees that Kit can tag along only if Dottie comes. 

As the pair of sisters leave for tryouts in Chicago, they stop off to recruit another player, Marla. Now, Marla may not be the most attractive female in the movie (due to her character not being based on looks) but she is one of the best players. Due to her looks, Ernie does not want her to try out but Dottie and Kit say they will go home if she does not get the chance to go. This makes Ernie upset and he lets Marla go to tryouts. 

Once they arrive in Chicago, they are surrounded by a bunch of women who are great baseball players. Once tryouts are over, they get placed on a team and start the season. Dottie, Kit, and Marla are all on the Rockford Peaches. 

The coach of the Rockford Peaches is no other than Jimmy Dugan, played by Tom Hanks. Coach Dugan is not a fan of women in baseball but accepts the job because there is nothing else for him. He states that women should not be in baseball because it is not a female sport. The Rockford Peaches go to show that women can play whatever sport they want. The Rockford Peaches end up going to the World Series but end up losing to the Racine Belles, the team that Kit got traded to.

The women on the teams are by themselves without family or loved ones but manage to pull it together because it is for something they love. The movie was set to be based around the time of World War II where women were basically suppose to stay at home and take care of the things around there, but these women thought differently and went out and did something for themselves and did not follow the typical stereotypes that came along with being a women in that day and age. 

Women can do absolutely anything they put their heart and soul into and this movie goes to show that. Just because something, like baseball, is considered for a man, that does not mean it is just for men. Women can play baseball. Women can play football. Women can play whatever sport they want and do whatever they want. 

I know there are a lot of other women empowerment movies such as Hidden Figures, Little Women, He Named Me Malala, and so much more. So if you ever need to feel good about being a woman and need some empowerment, just watch one of these movies and you will feel great about being female.