She-Ra Celebrates 25 Years of Being a Female Superhero

At SheHeroes one of our main goals is highlighting the achievements of amazing and inspiring women. Especially when those achievements have been made in fields that generally don’t see a lot of women in them. It’s important for young girls to be exposed to women in such fields so that they understand that they too can pursue careers in those fields.

But there is one area that lacks women more than almost any other that we, along with many other organizations trying to inspire girls, almost never focus on. And that is the field of superheroes.

I don’t mean sidekicks or friends of male superheroes (Batgirl or Supergirl) but female superheroes who are the star of their own cartoon and do not need help from a male counterpart to the save the day.

The thought struck me as I read an article about the 25th anniversary of one of the only female superhero characters ever to grace the Saturday morning cartoon arena, She-Ra.

For girls my age (30s) She-Ra was a staple during our cartoon watching years. Some may argue She-Ra was scantily dressed and complain that her castle and everything associated with She-Ra was doused in pink. But the fact is the little girls watching She-Ra (as well as those of us who watched Wonder Woman) were not seeing a woman sexualized. We were not seeing a weak pink princess. We were seeing a woman with power.

A woman who did not need a man to own her power and was strong enough to defend her kingdom and the people in it for the good of the world all by herself.

You see the draw to superheroes for young boys is simple. In a world where young boys don’t always have control they can turn to their favorite superhero to see average men become superheroes. They can watch the very black and white battles of good and evil, where good always wins. And it’s empowering for young boys. Incredibly empowering in fact.

Girls need that sense of empowerment as well. That’s why She-Ra had such a huge effect on the girls who grew up with her. They watched her raise her sword to the sky and declare herself Princess of Power. And she could do anything. And that very simple imprint was stamped into the mind of every girl who saw that.

That idea that they too could be powerful. That they did not need to be saved, but instead could be the one to step up and save the world. And most importantly that the power they possessed allowed them the ability to do anything.

In celebration of She-Ra’s 25th anniversary the series is now available online and on DVD. Since girls today have no female superhero to watch I highly suggest introducing this character to your own daughter and allowing her to experience her first real woman superhero.

For The Honor Of Grayskull! I AM SHE-RA!!!"

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