I always wanted to be Jessie Spano...

No, I'm serious. I watched Saved by the Bell all the time as a kid, and I even had the dolls. When my sisters fought over who would get the Kelly doll it didn't matter to me because I wanted the Jessie doll. I was reading on Jezebel and Community Feministing that people actually think that Jessie Spano hurt feminism, but I have to disagree. The argument is sound; she wasn't the most popular girl in school and did date the epitome of sexism on the show.

However, I point you to the episode "Cut Day" where Jessie breaks up with Slater for the understanding environmentalist...one for the activists. Or the episode "Model Students" where Jessie is the voice of reason after the female characters' privacy is violated by the male students. Not to mention the episodes where she fights "the man" over dating auctions and female wrestlers (even though she threw her sister under the bus for a moment in that one, but she is just a high school character).

I'm not going to lie; I was riddled with insecurity and self-doubt in junior high and high school, but I have never been afraid or ashamed to be a feminist. I attributed a lot of that to Jessie Spano being on of my heroes as a kid. Sure she wasn't the most popular girl in class, but neither was I. She was however, the most intelligent and had trouble balancing it with leading an active normal life...and that I get.

Anyway, she didn't do too bad for herself either. I mean yeah she dated Slater, but she made out with Zack Morris too!!! I direct your attention to episode "Snow White and the Seven Dorks."

I looked up all the episodes on TV.Com.