Top Ten 90s Women We Love

Posted at 5:00 AM Nov 25, 2009

By Andrea Grimes

If you're wearing your harem pants and your Doc Martens and gently cradling your My So-Called Life DVD's, I probably don't have to tell you: the 90s are back. On the off chance you've missed the latest retro boat, however, be now educated: the 90s are back. Crank up the R.E.M. and the Bikini Kill and get ready for this nostalgic list of 90s women we love--inspired, of course, by the 90s Woman blog.

10. Roseanne (and her laugh)

We're talking the character, not the actual stand-up comic--though the 90s loved her, too. Tackling issues (you know, turn-this-chair-around-and-rap-with-you-issues) like abortion, class, race, sexuality in her working class Illinois home, Roseanne's reality-bites matriarch was a welcome relief to years of June Cleaver-emulating television moms.

9. Fiona Apple

I won't pretend to know I actually identified with Criminal when it came out during my seventh grade year, but I did know it said something slightly more powerful about sex and relationships than, say, "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls. Whether she was railing against the system on the system's favorite entertainment network (MTV) or talking openly about her own rape, Apple rocked the mouthy, open and yet vulnerable persona of the 90s woman.

8. Kim Deal

How cool?

7. Claire Danes

Visually, Romeo + Juliet was about the edgiest thing a lot of 80s babies had ever seen when it came out. Glowing crosses! Hawaiian shirts! Sexy parties! And a fabulous teenaged Claire Danes, who got to make out with Leo in an angel costume. An angel costume that spawned a thousand Halloween angel costumes.

6. Bridget Fonda

She of some singular singly-titled films of the 90s (Single White Female, Singles), Bridget Fonda eschewed her famous acting roots (well, except for that pesky last name) and struck out on her own to become one of the most notable faces of the decade. Pass that around, would you, Bridge?