Bonus Entry No. 1: Carly Corinthos, General Hospital

Forget her made-man husband. Laura Wright’s Mafia donna has the lady equivalent of the stones to not only run the Mob, run it better and more ruthlessly than any muscle-bound goon.
Forget her made-man husband. Laura Wright’s Mafia donna has the lady equivalent of the stones to not only run the Mob, run it better and more ruthlessly than any muscle-bound goon.
The transgender Forrester Creations model was more than just another pretty face, Karla Mosley’s alter ego was the face of change, a righteous challenge to outdated definitions of gender.
Daytime no longer tells aspirational stories like the one that made a star of Victoria Rowell. She took Dru from being an illiterate street kid to a sophisticated mover and shaker who could still throw down with the best of ’em.
Susan Flannery’s Forrester matriarch could’ve topped this whole list, as indomitable as she was. If only she hadn’t had a vindictive streak that was wider than the stripes in the fashion dynasty’s fall 2007 line.
Confident enough to want but never need the company of a man, Elizabeth Hubbard’s Oakdale alter ego would’ve ranked higher on this list, too, had it not been for her willingness to connive. (Yes, we dock points for that!)
A testament to an unflappable can-do attitude, Debbi Morgan’s teen mom-turned-doctor spoke volumes about not only her determination and resilience but all women’s limitless potential.
Though Rebecca Herbst’s widowed nurse is as flawed as any of us, she always at very least means to do the right thing. And in daytime, let’s be real, the high road is generally the one less travelled!
“Holding Out for a Hero” may have been the theme song of Kristian Alfonso’s on-screen husband, but it might as well have been hers: She needed rescuing about as much as we do a wine refill. (Although, come to think of it… )
Not just a brilliant M.D. in her heyday, a trailblazer, Elizabeth Hubbard’s strong-minded character refused to fall victim to the sexist double standard that permeated Hope Memorial Hospital.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but you know you’ve got it going on when, as Deidre Hall’s large-living shrink did, even a demon wants to possess you.
You probably expected to see Erica Kane on this list. But for our money, the fiercer female — and better role model — was Mary Fickett’s working mom with the courage to publicly protest the Vietnam War. (BTW, this pic is from 1957’s Man on Fire; the ABC soap never let Fickett go this glam.)
Don’t look at where Genie Francis’ iconic alter ego began, as a tempestuous tween. Gaze instead at what she’s become, a beacon of righteousness in a town as synonymous with sin as Sodom and Gomorrah.