History Main / BreakingTheGlassCeiling

* In ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'', "Broken Nose" Jiang became the only female Red Pole in the Sun On Yee. She didn't so much prove herself to her male rivals as kill enough of them that they stopped arguing (which is a ''kind'' of proof, true).

* Zig-Zagged in''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'': Steve Rogers in the beginning of the movie is disqualified from joining the Army due to being undersized (short and severely underweight) and suffering from Asthma along with other health problems, despite this he disagrees with the military's medical rules and believes that despite his disabilities he should have as much of a right and obligation to serve like any other man of his time and going as far as applying at numerous recruitment centres in hope of getting a different response from the 1940's equivalent to MEPS. During one fateful night when he was about to apply yet again (this time lying on his medical history questionnaire) Steve gets noticed by War Department scientist Dr Abraham Erskine who grants him a waiver after being impressed by his strong moral character and recruits him for a special Army recruit intake run by the newly formed Strategic Scientific Reserve with the purpose of deciding who will become the candidate for their Super-Soldier procedure. Steve despite being handicapped and not initially taken seriously by program coordinator Colonel Phillips (and being outright bullied by the physically larger recruit Hodge), does unexpectedly well during his physically demanding training and proves himself more morally righteous than all the other larger and healthier recruits when he was prepared to give his life to save everyone from a (fake) grenade thrown by Phillips at the recruits during a PT session, which leads him to be selected to receive the Super-Solder serum. After receiving the serum Steve Rogers becomes Captain America and ultimately goes from a mocked Army reject to an inspirational war hero thats admired by everyone. Though what makes Steve Rogers case interesting is that after breaking the glass ceiling, he is rewarded by undergoing a procedure that removed the immutable characteristics that handicapped his career prospects to begin with (basically turning him into a superior version of an large and healthy man) rather than being fully embraced by the Army in his original form.

* In ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'', [[spoiler: Inez Stubbs becomes the first black female to win Miss Teenage Hairspray, thus integrating the Corny Collins Show]].

* Heavily downplayed with the Black faction in ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'', despite appearances (and how audience reception would have it) with the Greens being the HeirClubForMen. While the point of the faction is ensuring Rhaenyra's succession (and the support of the previously spurned claimant, Princess Rhaenys) does give off the impression that they carry this belief, their main claim to legitimacy is the consistently-feudal value of ''absolute primogeniture'', i.e. the eldest child succeeds regardless of gender. It does help of course that Rhaenyra's succession was established by public royal decree.

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* In ''LightNovel/TheStoryOfSaiunkoku'', Shuurei wants to become a government administrator, but the required Imperial Examinations can only be taken by men. She has a roundabout route of achieving this goal, becoming a consort (and unofficial tutor and advisor) to the Emperor first.
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* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Subverted with Rhaenyra Targaryen, who ''de facto'' reigned as queen of the Seven Kingdoms for half a year during a civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. She insisted to reign because her father had designated her as heir, defying a custom made by her great-grandfather that women were unable to inherit. Instead of opening doors for women to sit on the Iron Throne, [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom all she did was convincing everyone further that women are incapable of ruling the Seven Kingdoms]], because her disastrous reign turned off a lot of nobles from the idea that a queen can rule over them. The stigma continues to haunt the realm ever since, as multiple female candidates to the Iron Throne were rejected because of their gender alone. And Rhaenyra herself is branded an usurper for "stealing" the birthright of her half-brother Aegon II (for instance, Westerosi history books, which ordered eras by the monarchs reigning, deemed Aegon as the only king who sat during the Dance of the Dragons), even though it's her descendants, and not Aegon's, who continued the Targaryen line.

* Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} has some lists: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women%27s_firsts List of women's firsts]], for example.

* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', Vorin gender roles discourage women from politics and combat. The spren who choose [[MagicKnight Knights Radiant]] don't discriminate by gender, however, with [[TheAce Jasnah]] and [[GuileHero Shallan]] being some of the first Radiants assembled and Lyn the first to openly train for a Knighthood. [[spoiler:Jasnah also becomes the first Queen of Alethkar in the third book]].

* In the ''Literature/TortallUniverse'', Alanna becomes the first female knight in centuries[[/note]]The practice of women knights in Tortall was abolished by conservatives in the nobility who had the influence to enforce it[[note]] but this isn't publicly known until after she's done it because she [[SweetPollyOliver disguised herself as a boy]]. As a result of Alanna's achievement, Kel is then able to become the first girl to train ''openly'' (and she insists on wearing dresses at dinner to ensure people don't forget that she's a girl). While she lacks the burden of hiding however, Kel is heavily scrutinised both by her traditionalist training master and by the rest of high society (not helped by slander that alleged Alana used the Gift to make it easier to succeed), which drives her to only push harder; her success finally encourages a greater number of girls to apply.