Which of these female warriors do you most deeply connect with?

Budō Inochi reader Sara writes:

I dream of being both fierce and compassionate – a real-life warrior goddess. But I don’t have any high-ranking women in my dojo to look up to as role models at this moment in time, unfortunately.

Could you suggest a few characters from films, books etc who capture this essence?

This article is an answer to Sara’s question . . .

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Firstly Sara, all your role models don’t have to be female. If you know a man who embodies the fierceness, strength and goodness you seek, then take what you can from him and appropriate it for yourself.

But at the same time – of course you desire female role models; it’s only natural. And if you don’t have any in your real life, then books and movies (fiction or non-fiction) can be a powerful place to start. At the same time, never stop looking for real-life strong, compassionate women to inspire you, whether at work, in the dojo or elsewhere – they are everywhere!

In the meantime – here are some of my favourite archetypal female warriors. Which one speaks most strongly to you . . . ?

NB: If you’re a man reading this, there’s no reason you yourself can’t connect with any of these warriors, just as countless female martial arts practitioners model ourselves on exceptional male as well as female teachers, fighters and fictional or mythological figures . . .

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1. WONDER WOMAN

Who is Wonder Woman?

Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, Diana meets an American pilot who tells her about the massive conflict that’s raging in the outside world. Convinced that she can stop the threat, Diana leaves her home for the first time. Fighting alongside men in a war to end all wars, she finally discovers her full powers and true destiny.

– Official movie advert from 2017

Is Wonder Woman your archetype?

You may identify with Diana if any of the following are true:

You’re physically strong and powerful, and proud of it – a true Amazon.

You aspire to be strong, good and beautiful both inside and outside.

You’ve learned to fight from other women, or wish you had access to such training.

Many women found these scenes from the film almost unbearably moving:

You’re a high achiever.

Diana is competent, intelligent – and by far the best fighter in the group.

You fiercely defend your principles, and are not scared to stand up for what’s right.

If you’re a fighter by nature, whose strong values also include compassion, justice, love and kindness, Wonder Woman may be your perfect role model! One of the most iconic scenes in the movie is where Diana goes over the top of the trench, and runs across No Man’s Land deflecting bullets with her gauntlets. As Kristy Burmeister writes:

If a few brave people are willing to come up out of the trench, and take all the fire, all those people standing behind them can come up with them, without taking such a big risk.

When one person is willing to sacrifice their safety and security to move forward, we can all move forward.

You remain hopeful and idealistic about the world, notwithstanding your realistic understanding of human nature.

The movie ends with a voiceover from Diana; no longer the naive young woman who believed all humans were good:

I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their mind and learned that inside every one of them there will always be both. A choice each must make for themselves. Something no hero will ever defeat.

And now I know that only love can truly save the world. So I stay, I fight and I give for the world I know can be. This is my mission now. Forever.

You’re pretty much oblivious to gender norms and society’s expectations of men and women.

When Diana arrives in a London, she just assumes that everyone fights, and presumes that a corset must be some kind of armour – and is baffled when she learns that it’s a device to hold a woman’s tummy in. When Steve talks about the men who can end the war, Diana spontaneously says: “I am the man who can”.

2. ATALANTA

Who was Atalanta?

Atalanta was a a character in Greek mythology, and there are several versions of her legend. Some say that her father wanted a son, and left her as a baby on a mountaintop to die. Atalanta was then cared for by bears, until a group of male hunters found and raised her, and taught her to fight and hunt.

Atalanta was fierce, and outstandingly skilled in running, hunting and martial ways. The Bibliotheca says she wrestled and defeated Peleus at the funeral games for Pelias.

She maintained her chastity (although some say she later married), and killed two centaurs who tried to rape her.

Is Atalanta your archetype?

You may feel a connection with Atalanta if you recognise any of the following traits in yourself:

You’re extraordinarily resilient, with the ability to thrive despite a disadvantaged start in life.

You’re what’s sometimes termed a “psychological virgin” – a woman who may or may not be in a relationship, but who is fundamentally self-contained and doesn’t actually “need” to be with someone.

Malissa Smith (Girlboxing) suggests that figures such as Atalanta, Artemis and the Amazons could represent a kind of “third way” between maleness and femaleness; or between girlhood and motherhood.

In this in-between space these young women are depicted as small breasted and virginal, thus creating an otherness between maleness and femaleness […] The status of these figures makes them free to hunt and even pursue martial enactments of maleness, however, the price of doing so is to remain pre-sexual.

[…] The myth of Atalanta is a perfect embodiment of this ideal. Atalanta enacts warriorness […] but can only do so as long as she remains a virgin.

You’ve been cared for and taught to fight by a trustable group of men – either in a martial arts context, or in other domains.

Jean Shinoda Bolen calls Atalanta the archetype of women who successfully enter occupations and professions that had traditionally been male strongholds – women who [are] at ease with men as friends and equals.

You overcame a lonely or difficult childhood.

Bolen suggests that women who had poor or absent parenting, and who “raised themselves” in many ways, nourished by nature, animals, solitude or books (for example) might also identify with Atalanta.

3. Ayla (Clan of the Cave Bear)

Who is Ayla?

CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR, Daryl Hannah, 1986, (c)Warner Bros

Ayla is an orphaned Cro-Magnon girl adopted into a Neanderthal band, far more primitive than her own race. While she loves her adopted family and tries hard to fit in, she struggles to accept some aspects of Clan life, particularly the principle that women are subservient to men. She also stands out for being so physically different from the Clan members.

Ayla secretly teaches herself to hunt, although women are forbidden to touch weapons or hunt, on pain of death. When she uses her skills to kill a hyena which has seized a Clan baby (the animal is out of range for all the male hunters), her secret is out.

Some members call for her death, but the Clan’s leader Brun is wise and fair. He puts her through a demanding trial to satisfy her detractors, at the end of which she is initiated, and formally acknowledged as the Woman who Hunts.

Ayla also trains hard in the healing arts and becomes the Clan’s Medicine Woman, renowned even beyond the Clan for her knowledge and skills. This makes her the highest-ranked female in her group.

Is Ayla your archetype?

The character of Ayla may appeal to you if any of the following ring true:

You doubt your femininity at times, because you’re constantly getting the implicit or explicit message that you’re not a “proper” or “normal” woman.

While Ayla’s intelligence, skills and bravery earn her respect, they come at a cost. The clan suspect that she’s not a normal biological woman, and may be some kind of male-female hybrid.

No man in the tribe finds her attractive or wishes to mate with her; her son is only conceived when the future leader (Broud) forcibly “relieves his needs” with her, as a way to hurt and humiliate her.

You are bravely and unselfishly driven to care for others and play a responsible role in society.

At a large Clan Gathering, a sacrificial Cave Bear (three times the height of a man) runs riot, snaps the spine of a young hunter and drops him into the crowd of spear-wielding men frantically trying to overpower the bear. Ayla amazes everyone by forcing her way through the wild crowd to rescue him, and dragging him to safety.

She then treats his injuries as medicine woman, and saves his life. This event marks the turning point when she gains acceptance and respect from all ten clans, despite visibly being such an outsider.

You ignore social rules about how women “should” be, and single-mindedly pursue your own self-actualisation even if this feels lonely at times. You also know how good it can feel to walk this different path

She didn’t know there was freedom in her step, an unconscious carry over from roaming the forests and fields; pride in her bearing from learning a difficult skill […] and a growing self-confidence in her mien. (p.165)

Ayla had changed. As her hunting skill grew, she developed an assurance and a sinewy grace unknown to Clan women. She had the silent walk of an experienced hunter, a tight muscular control of her young body, a confidence in her own reflexes, and a far-seeing look in her eye. (pp.210-11)

You want to “have it all”, and develop both your masculine and feminine traits to the highest possible degree. Although Ayla adores hunting, she also enjoys many aspects of being a woman, including motherhood.

The good news by the way, is that in later books, Ayla meets people of her own race; she enjoys their natural acceptance and companionship, and realises that she’s not the freak of nature she’s always believed herself to be.

Choosing Ayla as your role model may also show your age to some extent 😉 Younger people very likely haven’t even heard of the COTCB books, but if you were a teenage girl in the eighties, you’ll know how popular they were at that time!

4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Who is Buffy?

Buffy is a Slayer, one in a long line of young women chosen for a specific mission: to seek out and destroy vampires, demons and other forces of darkness. Unlike her predecessors, Buffy establishes a group of supportive friends who aids her in her battles with evil, including Willow, Xander and Cordelia. Her battles with evil are frequent, since Sunnydale, where Buffy and friends live, sits atop a gateway to the realm of the demons.

– Official publicity text

Is Buffy your archetype?

You may feel inspired by Buffy if:

You aren’t especially aggressive, competitive or ambitious. You seek to serve and protect others, but you don’t seek attention, and think it’s important to preserve your day-to-day “ordinary” life.

Buffy is a reluctant hero, who really only wants to be an ordinary girl, but comes over time to accept her role as the Slayer, and its heavy responsibilities.

As far as possible, Buffy refuses to sacrifice her ordinary life for her supernatural destiny. She operates as part of a team with her friends the Scooby Gang, and has maintained several romantic relationships.

You think you’re nothing special – and maybe get this message from some of those around you – but you have the potential nonetheless to grow into a force to be reckoned with.

Writer Joss Whedon apparently based Buffy on the idea of some woman who seems to be completely insignificant who turns out to be extraordinary […] The very first mission statement of the show was the joy of female power: having it, using it, sharing it.

5. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)

Note: this is based on the book trilogy, not the movies.

Who is Katniss?

Katniss and her family come from District 12, a coal-mining district that is the poorest and least populated district in the dystopian fictional autocratic nation of Panem. In the course of the first book, The Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to replace her sister, Primrose “Prim” Everdeen, after she is reaped (chosen) to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. Katniss […] joins up with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark. The pair compete in the Games together. Katniss uses her knowledge of hunting and archery to survive, and the two become the victors after defying the Capitol’s attempt to force one to kill the other.

Throughout the next two novels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Katniss becomes a galvanizing symbol of rebellion against the oppressive Capitol.

– Wikipedia

Is Katniss your archetype?

You may identify with Katniss if any of the following describe you:

You’re living with emotional scars from traumatic past events.

Katniss’s young life is full of horrible events, and part of the books’ power is how they realistically show the indelible, post-traumatic impact on her and other survivors of the Games.

You’re often labelled as “emotionally unavailable”.

This is one of Katniss’s key traits, along with her self sufficiency. If you’re a fiercely self-contained, perhaps somewhat guarded individual, you may recognise yourself in Katniss.

You couldn’t care less about gender norms.

The Hunger Games stories are notable for their gender neutrality. Like Ayla, Katniss hunts to feed her family – but unlike Ayla, no one even notices that she’s a woman doing this, let alone objects. Within the Hunger Games themselves, twelve boys and twelve girls are all pitted against each other as equal opponents.

So if you’re someone who doesn’t particularly care about (or even notice) the gender stereotypes you’re “supposed” to confirm to, then Katniss could be the one you identify with.

You care about equality and social justice for all.

“Women’s empowerment” is important; but intersectional feminists understand that it’s too simplistic a notion in itself, when men and women can have vastly different privileges and barriers depending on their sexuality, economic status, ethnicity, faith or belief, and so on.

Some people see Katniss as a feminist icon, but she isn’t really – indeed, gender-based oppression isn’t actually an issue in Panem. The oppression is class-based. Katniss cares about social justice, and is disturbed by the inequalities she sees across the districts. She puts her life at risk to inspire and lead a revolution, which she hopes will lead to greater fairness and equality.

6. Kali (Hindu Goddess)

Who is Kali

Kali is the Hindu goddess (or Devi) of death, time, and doomsday and is often associated with sexuality and violence but is also considered a strong mother-figure and symbolic of motherly-love. Kali also embodies shakti – feminine energy, creativity and fertility – and is an incarnation of Parvati, wife of the great Hindu god Shiva.

She is most often represented in art as a fearful fighting figure with a necklace of heads, skirt of arms, lolling tongue, and brandishing a knife dripping with blood.

– Mark Cartwright

Is Kali your archetype?

The image of Kali may resonate with you if the following hold true:

You crave connection and integration with your own dark side

Hindu psychoanalyst Ashok Bedi writes

Kali trampling Shiva. Chromolithograph by R. Varma. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

We experience her as a paradox within our psyche. She is the bloodthirsty goddess, yet she infuses new passion and hope for change in our life. She is dark, yet she paves the way for the light in our personality to shine through the dark clouds of difficult situations. She embodies the complexio oppositorum – the union of the opposites in our personality.

– The Moonlit Path p158

You’re feeling lost.

China Galland describes how she found comfort and healing in connecting to Kali at a very low point in her own life:

Kali’s tongue is long because she’s a purifier, there is nothing she’s afraid to touch, even with her tongue. To have her approach you, her mouth open, her tongue hanging out, her terrible laugh, is horrifying, if you see her coming. But often, you can’t. You don’t know she’s there until your life is falling apart, being stripped away, and you’re trying to desperately hold on but everything you touch falls away, down to the last tooth in your mouth.

First the darkness of her open maw – then comes her tongue, long, clean, licking everything off you, taking it away, cutting through and destroying your illusions. She will purify your life, free you, if you recognize her, with gratitude.

– The Bond Between Women p111

You’re seeking psychological growth as a positive resolution to a traumatic experience.

Ashok Bedi sees Kali as the archetype of those who seek to transmute trauma into personal growth. He explains that:

The dreams in the trauma victims reveal this battle between the emerging ego and the dark, demonic Kali. In this matrix, a third position, a new synthesis, constellates, in which the individual’s personality comes up with a novel way of dealing with life.

– The Moonlit Path, p164

But be careful to avoid cultural appropriation . . .

We need to be careful when considering Kali. Kali is not a fun, fantasy “character” like some of the others on this list; she’s a Hindu deity.

Jason Pitzl-Waters explains:

With Hinduism, we often see Gods and Goddesses appropriated to give an “exotic” feel to a product, and in a religious sense when someone wants to worship a Hindu deity, but believes that their personal interpretation and experience of the deity is all that matters, and use pop cultural knowledge to essentialize these deities (i.e. Ganesha is reduced to a “remover of obstacles,” or Lakshmi becomes a “money goddess”).

[…] You don’t have to be Hindu to worship Hindu deities, but you do have to have respect for Hindu traditions and culture if you decide to become a devotee of a particular deity.

[If] you feel drawn to a Hindu deity, it’s important to learn the ways in which that deity is worshipped, so that you can be respectful to the tradition from which it comes.

When we look at the Goddess Kali, for instance, one might see a terrifying Goddess of death and destruction. In fact, many in the Pagan community misconstrue and appropriate Kali as a Crone Goddess, emphasize Her as destroyer even while acknowledging Her role as creator, or essentialize Her as a Goddess of transformation. But this would be a terrible misconception of this Goddess who embodies but is also beyond Maiden, Mother and Crone (in fact, She is nothing less than Infinite Being), who is understood as benevolent and loving in West Bengal, where some of Her most famous temples are, as well as in Kerala, Assam, Bihar, and elsewhere throughout India.

7. The Virgin Mary

Who is Mary?

Unlike the other names on this list, Mary is generally acknowledged to have been a real, living person. She was a 1st-century BC Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth, and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran (Wikipedia)

Is Mary your archetype?

Note: Just as with Kali, we need to remember that Mary’s image is sacred to many people, and it can be viewed as disrespectful and hurtful to appropriate her image mindlessly.

All of the warriors in this article can be open to your own projections, but perhaps none more so than Mary. We know so little about her; indeed she only speaks four times in the Bible – mainly in single sentences

Therefore, the way she is seen and venerated is pretty much all based on assumption and projection; and she takes many forms and names around the world. Professor S. Brent Plate explains:

She can be all things to all people, light- or dark-skinned, rich or poor. She has been appropriated by dozens of different interest groups, including Mexican farmworkers, feminists and anti-abortion activists

Our focus here is on female warrior archetypes and Mary’s image has often been used to justify and inspire both violence and resistance to violence. Pictured above for example is a Virgin of Guadalupe pistol grip

And here’s a Russian icon showing Mary as both a mother and a warrior.

Mary has also been adopted as

a symbol of national identity to a powerful image for feminist identity among women living in Mexico and the American Southwest […] a superhero in the eyes of Mexican-American women of the American Southwest, known as Chicanas, and Mexican women artists.

– Kookita’s Thoughts (blog)

Kookita highlights Esther Hernandez’s etching La Virgen de Guadalupe Defendiendo los Derechos de los Xicanos(1975) (below), which depicts Mary as

a karate black-belt kicking at an invisible oppressor […] The veil and dress worn by the traditional image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is traded for an athletic uniform. Her traditional demure pose is replaced with a strong karate kick to the side. […] [Hernández] depicts a strong, active Virgin of Guadalupe who is ready to take on traditional conventions and patriarchy like a superhero takes on the evils of the world.

Chloe Surage explains

[…] The image mobilizes and empowers Chicana women, and goes beyond the traditional protective image of La Virgen de Guadalupe to a explore a space in which women are encouraged to take a stance against oppression in order to protect and defend the rights of their people. The passive position and downward gaze of the original Virgen de Guadalupe is replaced with an image of strength and directness […] Hernandez transforms La Virgen de Guadalupe into an image of women’s and Chicana empowerment that provides a role model for those seeking to resist oppression and defend their human rights.

Art and La Virgin de Guadalupe: Towards Social Transformation, pp42-3

And Esther Hernández says of her own picture:

I have always been taught that I am God, that God is inside of me. So in that way, the Virgin is inside of me. I think my notion of transforming the Virgin is sort of like that – that is me, I am the Virgin. We are all gods, we are all goddesses. The light is not just in heaven, but it’s on earth. And we are living it.

As a universal symbol of maternal love, as well as of suffering and sacrifice, Mary is often the touchstone of our longing for meaning, a more accessible link to the supernatural than formal church teachings. Her mantle offers both security and protection.

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Conclusion

Which of these amazing female warriors did you most connect with? They are all very different, and you will surely feel a personal connection to one or more of them, depending on your personality, preferences and life experience.

Whether you’re feeling a lack of real-life female warrior role models like Sara, or whether this is no issue for you, I hope you’ve found this useful and interesting – perhaps to prompt deeper thoughts about who you really are, and what motivates your martial arts study . . .

References

Auel, Jean M. (1980). The Clan of the Cave Bear; Earth’s Children. Reprint, Hodder & Stoughton, 2010.

Bedi, Ashok. “Kali – The Dark Goddess”. In The Moonlit Path; Reflections on the Dark Feminine, edited by Fred Gustafson. Nicolas Hays, 2003, pp. 157-179.

Burmeister, Kristy. (2017). “Wonder Woman: Let’s Talk About That No Man’s Land Scene”. Retrieved from: http://www.kristyburmeister.com/wonder-woman-lets-talk-about-that-no-mans-land-scene/

Cartwright, Mark. (2013). “Kali”. Retrieved from: https://www.ancient.eu/Kali/

Collins, Suzanne. (2008). The Hunger Games. Scholastic.

Ester Hernández in her own words. (n.d.). In Latinopia [online]. Retrieved from http://latinopia.com/latino-art/ester-hernandez/

Galland, China. (1998). The Bond Between Women; A Journey to Fierce Compassion. Riverhead Books.

Girlboxing. (2012). “Women have always fought”. Retrieved from: https://girlboxing.org/2012/04/17/women-have-always-fought/

Kookita. (n.d.). “The Virgin of Guadalupe: an Image of a Superhero for Chicana Artists”. Retrieved from: http://kookitasthoughts.blogspot.com/p/virgin-of-guadalupe.html

Pitzl-Waters, Jason. (2010). Hinduism, Indo-Paganism, and Cultural Appropriation. Retrieved from: https://wildhunt.org/2010/06/hinduism-indo-paganism-and-cultural-appropriation.html

Shinoda Bolen, Jean. (2014). Artemis; The Indomitable Spirit in Everywoman. Conari Press.

Surage, Chloe. (2011). “Art and La Virgin de Guadalupe: Towards Social Transformation” – Undergraduate Honors Theses, University of Colorado, Boulder. Retrieved from: https://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1886&context=honr_theses

Winston, Kimberley. (2015). “There really is ‘something about (Virgin) Mary'”. Retrieved from http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3345139&itype=CMSID