Is there a female hero revolution in the works? Over the past few years, “strong female character” has become a desired label on tv shows, in movies and in books. It seems now that it’s finally becoming commonplace and rarely needs to be said. Yet there is still the need for the Bectal test (and, even better, the sexy lamp test, thanks to Kelly Sue DeConnick) and progress is slow. But I think it’s getting somewhere and partly that’s due to an increased female fan base (because women can be geeks too!) and a more open-minded media industry. Things are finally catching up to the real world!

It’s not like female heroes have been nonexistent over the years. It’s just that they’ve typically been in the background and not center stage. They’ve been supporting or adjacent characters, like Batgirl, Supergirl, members of X-Men or Avengers. Even Wonder Woman, who’s considered to be a member of DC’s trinity (with Batman and Superman) hasn’t had the big-screen play that her male counterparts have. But finally, after so many inexcusable years of floundering, she’s appearing in a DC movie.

But that’s not all. The female hero seems to be just about everywhere these days. Over the past couple of  years there’s been a big increase in female heroes in comics, gaining popularity and fan base. From Mz Marvel and Captain Marvel to Squirrel Girl and Batgirl, even entire teams like the new A-Force. And it’s not stopping anytime soon, as Marvel’s “all new” line-up includes Kate Bishop taking over as the primary Hawkeye, Kitty Pryde as the new Star-Lord and even Hellcat getting her own series. And there’s even more “girl power” in the smaller publisher/indie world, including the incredibly popular titles Bitch Planet and Saga.

As for television, it’s difficult to find shows that don’t have strong female characters now and scifi/fantasy/comic-inspired programming is no different. You have the Project Leda clones on Orphan Black, Abby Mills on Sleepy Hollow, Dutch on Killjoys. Then there are the super heroes, a genre that seems to be quickly taking over network television. Arrow has done a great job with the likes of Canary, Nyssa and now Speedy (The Flash really needs to get on the ball with stronger females though). Then you have the new shows Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow (featuring Canary and Hawkgirl). And Netflix is on the ball as well, with Jessica Jones starting up this fall.

The interesting piece of all of this is, regardless of how long and loudly they make the same argument, the executives (and others) who claim that female-led properties aren’t money-makers are just plain wrong. Sure, female geeks are more loud and proud than ever and want to see representation in the media they enjoy and are spending their money accordingly. But these titles and properties wouldn’t be thriving and developing as they are if men weren’t in the audience too. And it’s not just the T&A factor either – good stories are good stories and will attract readers and viewers across the spectrum.