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The 20 most female empowering TV moments of 2012

December means egg nog and holiday carols and presents and a lot of uncomfortable conversations with Republican family members. But it also means end of year lists! So before you’re forced to get drunk and shout at your Uncle Larry about the legitimacy of President Obama’s birth certificate, join us as we take a look back at 20 of our favorite female empowering moments of TV in 2012.

Leslie Knope is elected to the Pawnee City Council (Parks and Recreation) Unabashed feminist and all-around perfect person Leslie Knope finally achieved her dream of becoming an elected official this year. We teared up with her when she cast her ballot for herself. We were afraid she might lose – sitcoms are notoriously terrified of shaking things up too much, after all – but her boyfriend/campaign manager was so sure of her victory that he didn’t even write a concession speech.

Peggy Olson leaves Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (Mad Men) When Peggy Olson finally climbed her way to the top of the ad biz, not even Don Draper had the good grace to give her a high five, but this year, she finally found her footing in asking for what she deserves. (She even managed to take all the cash in Roger’s pockets one night when he begged her to work late.) But Peggy realized she was never going to get the support she deserved from the boys at SCDP, so she took a courageous leap and decided to become her own Don Draper at another agency.

Rachel Maddow hosts election night coverage on MSNBC It was a balm to our weary souls to watch a gaggle of loud, opinionated men gather around Rachel Maddow and wait for her to call upon them to speak their minds. In four short years, she has risen to the top of the liberal punditry chain. Openly queer, openly here. Get used to it.

Paige McCullers Batmans the Batman out of “A” (Pretty Little Liars) Spencer Hastings spent half a season accusing Paige of being the omnipresent ghost ninja who is trying to ruin the lives of every Little Liar. So it was sweet vindication when Paige turned out not only to be innocent, but also to be the kind of girl who would swoop in and save Spencer’s from sure death on a Halloween train ride of doom. Even the PLL writers have started calling her “Batman.”

Rayna James tells a gaggle of rich music industry boss-men to kiss her (perfect) ass (Nashville) Nashville still has a lot of kinks to work out – including the tiresome catfighting between Rayna and Juliette – but we sure have enjoyed watching Rayna refuse to bow to the whims of the rich dudes in suits who are trying to control her life. We especially loved the moment in the pilot when the head of her record label told her he needed a decision about a proposition that would derail her career, and she said, “Well, you can kiss my decision as it’s walking out the door.”

Daenerys Targaryen rescues her dragons, basks in the glow of their deadly fire (Game of Thrones) It’s not easy being a lady in Westeros and Essos, but it helps when you’ve got a couple of dragon pups at your beck and call. Unfortunately, Daenerys’ babies were stolen by a wicked warlock who tried to imprison her when she came to rescue them. But the joke was on him, because when mama says, “Dracarys,” mama means “dragonfire.” And that’s how Pyat Pree burned to death in his own dungeon.

Michonne gets her revenge on the Governor (The Walking Dead) Even a Katana and some badass combat skills aren’t enough to ensure survival in a zombie apocalypse, especially when the Governor sends assassins after you because he doesn’t like your style. But Michonne not only thwarted the Governor’s assassins when they came for her head, she took the Governor’s actual eyeball as payback.

Emma Swan defeats a giant (Once Upon a Time) It’s no secret that Emma Swan is a badass. (Chainsaw, anyone? Apple trees?) But she brought it big time this year when she escaped from the (literal) clutches of a giant all by her (tiny) self. We worried Hook was going to be her knight in shining armor, but it turned out she didn’t need him at all.

The women of the Olympics do their thing Nothing got out girl-power fists bumping this year like watching the world’s most elite female athletes compete in the London Olympics. Go, world!

The Troubletones reunite for a glorious moment (Glee) The all-female alternate glee club was one of our favorite things to ever happen on the show we love to hate. Sadly, it was short lived and the ladies ended up back in New Directions where insufferable men-child continued to be the order of the day. But for just a minute at Nationals, they reunited on stage for a smokin’ rendition of “Edge of Glory” that had us cheering out loud.

Emily Fields scores her first kill, gets the girl (Pretty Little Liars) Everyone in Rosewood expected Emily to fall apart after her second girlfriend in as many years was axe-murdered, and while she did have one drunken night (of a thousand nights), she ultimately got her revenge on the killer. And she also grabbed Paige McCullers and commanded her not to look away, because Emily Fields is brave enough to love with her whole heart (again and again).

Britta Perry is not a whore, but she did the math, and if she were, she’d be the super classy kind that gets flown to Dubai to stay in an underwater hotel. (Community) Community has always taken the piss out of Britta for being an ardent but naive feminist. This year, she softened a bit around the edges as she pulled the philosophies of feminism out of the ether and began to reconcile them with the real world. Yet she was as tough and anti-patriarchal as ever. She also refused to be slut-shamed just because she likes sex.

Candy Crowley owns the second presidential debate The first presidential debate of 2012 was an absolute free-for-all as the candidates ran all over Jim Lehrer, refusing to answer his questions and talking over each other and their time limits. So it was a welcome surprise to watch CNN’s chief political correspondent handle the candidates in the second debate. She fact-checked on the spot with her brain, called them out for telling lies, forced them to stay on-question and under-time, and won the respect of everyone watching around the world.

Arizona Robbins gets back up (Grey’s Anatomy) After a plane crash that left her nearly dead in the wild for four days, and also left her without a leg, Arizona Robbins became a surly, self-pitying mess – but only for a minute or two. After Bailey helped her remember how important her work is, and Callie helped her remember how important her family is, Arizona accepted her new differently-abled body and explained simply to her wife, “I got back up.”

Ol’ Bo Blue Eyes does a number on Garuda (Lost Girl) Even in 2012, American TV is a little squirrely about centering its shows around women, especially women superheroes. So it’s a good thing we have Canada. They have given us a female heroine for the ages in Bo Dennis, and this year, she was more powerful than ever when she saved the whole world from the ultimate baddie Garuda.

Liz Lemon proves third-wave feminists right, has it all (30 Rock) One of the long-running jokes of 30 Rock has been how Liz Lemon is deluding herself into thinking that a woman can balance a successful career with a successful romantic relationship with a family, but in the final season, Liz finally has it all. Well, almost. Her wedding was one for the sitcom record books. After protesting wedding culture and the whole idea of princess brides, she confessed to Chris that it’s actually what she wanted. Of course, he already knew. And a Princess Leia wedding it was.

Alicia realizes she’s been caught in a game of self-defeating sexist paranoia, deals with it like a champ (The Good Wife) Woman-on-woman hate in the cutthroat world of big city law is all too common. And Alicia fell into the trap when Lockhart & Gardner hired a pretty blonde thing named Caitlin to share some of Alicia’s load. She got swept away in a river of paranoia, convincing herself that Caitlin was after her job. In the end, Caitlin really just wanted to start a family, and Alicia realized how the male-driven narrative of lady-hate had bamboozled her brain. She apologized and realized she should be helping women like Caitlin, not icing them out.

Joan kicks her rape-y husband to the curb (Mad Men) Joan Holloway’s husband has been universally despised since his first appearance at SCDP. But Joan married him anyway because she’s a pragmatist who decided he was her best shot at having the life she’d always dreamed of. She finally tired of his horribleness this year and kicked him out of the house, but not before reminding him that he’d raped her once, on the floor of Don Draper’s office.

Betty McRae leads a Canadian riot with a suggestion box (Bomb Girls) When Gladys tried to introduce a suggestions box (in the form of a literal hat box) at Victory Munitions, she was met with derision from the male factory workers and fear of ridicule from the female factory workers. The men suggested she make them some dinner. So Betty took matters into her own hands, writing down a suggestion and stomping to the box in front of everyone and dropping it inside. And then she led the other women to do the same.

Arya Stark schools Tywin Lannister on death (Game of Thrones) Arya Stark outsmarted hordes of men this year on Game of Thrones, passing herself off as a boy for half the season, working her way into the employ of the Lannisters, and even tricking an assassin into granting her more than three wishes and her freedom to boot. (He even offered to take her and train her up as an assassin he was so impressed with her.) But her most chilling badassery came when, after listing the rumors about her brother’s invincibility to Tywin Lannister, she looked him right in the eye and said, “Anyone can be killed.”

What was your favorite female empowering moment of 2012 TV?

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