<P> Leia has been the subject of feminist analysis . Mark Edlitz wrote for The Huffington Post in 2010 that "Leia is an exemplary personification of female empowerment ." David Bushman, television curator at the Paley Center for Media, said in 2012, "From the male perspective...Princess Leia was a very creditable character for her time--not perfect, but certainly defiant, assertive, and strong ." Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post wrote in 2015, "Leia wasn't just the first great heroine of science fiction and fantasy to capture my imagination . She was one of the first characters I encountered whose power came from her political conviction and acumen ." In her 2007 article "Feminism and the Force: Empowerment and Disillusionment in a Galaxy Far, Far Away", Diana Dominguez cited Leia as a welcome change from the previous portrayals of women in film and TV . She wrote: </P> <P> Here was a woman who could play like and with the boys, but who didn't have to become one of the boys and who could, if and when she wanted to, show she liked the boys, a woman who is outspoken, unashamed, and, most importantly, unpunished for being so . She isn't a flirty sex - pot, tossing her hair around seductively to distract the enemy...She doesn't play the role of "Maternal caretaker", although she does display caring and compassion, or "the sweet innocent damsel" who stands passively by while the men do all the work, but does step aside to let them do what they're good at when it is wise to do so...Leia is a hero without losing her gendered status; she does not have to play the cute, helpless sex kitten or become sexless and androgynous to get what she wants . She can be strong, sassy, outspoken, bossy, and bitchy, and still be respected and seen as feminine . </P> <P> Rosenberg writes that, though at first Luke is an apolitical innocent in search of adventure and Han is a detached opportunist in search of money, both are "influenced by Leia's passion (and) take their places as full participants in the Rebellion". She notes, "Everyone else eventually comes around to Leia's view of the world ." Leia herself, singularly dedicated to her political movement against the Empire, "finds a partner in Han, acknowledging that personal happiness can help her sustain her commitment to building a better galactic order". Rosenberg cites "Leia's willingness to see the best in him, and Han's desire to live up to her belief in him" as a foundation of their relationship, also pointing out his attempts to make her recognize that she has needs like anyone else and should acknowledge that she needs him . </P> <P> In their 2012 essay "Lightsabers, Political Arenas, and Marriages", Ray Merlock and Kathy Merlock Jackson cite Leia as the successor of earlier science fiction heroines Wilma Deering of Buck Rogers and Dale Arden of Flash Gordon, and the embodiment of "a new stage in the ongoing presentation of the fairy - tale princess in jeopardy". Writing that "after Leia, no longer would princesses be passive and salvaged simply with a kiss," they note the reflection of the character in later Disney Princess animated films and in woman warriors such as Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise and Xena of the adventure TV series Xena: Warrior Princess . A.O. Scott of The New York Times described Leia as "a foremother of Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen and of countless latter - day Disney princesses . She also foretold the recent, somewhat belated feminist turn in the Star Wars cycle itself". </P>

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