If you’re a Harry Potter fan and you spent any time on the internet near the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, you probably read Laura Hibbard’s article for the Huffington Post, “Hermione Granger: The Heroine Women Have Been Waiting For.” In her article, Laura aptly describes why it is that Hermione is so accessible as a heroine, and why her character is so important to YA fiction (not to mention young women everywhere).
The subject of suitable, media-produced, female role models is something that has been weighing heavily on my mind over the past few weeks. First, I heard of the Bechdel Test for movies. In order to pass the Bechdel Test, the movie must have at least two female characters who have a conversation about something other than men. Of course, this doesn’t mean that films that pass the test have feminist themes by any means, but it’s incredible how many blockbuster films fail the Bechdel Test.
Roughly a week later, I saw the following trailer for Miss Representation:
The realization that even in 2011 we’re still lacking empowered female role models called to mind Laura’s article, and further caused me to consider current heroines in YA fiction.
As Kristen mentioned in an earlier post, dystopian themes are a rising trend in YA fiction. But, more importantly, rising alongside this trend is the prevalence of strong, female protagonists. The most popular of these heroines is probably The Hunger Games‘ Katniss Everdeen. As a YA series, The Hunger Games Trilogy has the requisite amount of angst and romance, but the series’ complicated love triangle is secondary to the overarching plot. In fact, many fans of the trilogy are concerned that the upcoming movie will emphasize the love triangle in an attempt to win over the fan base built up by The Twilight Saga. But Katniss is no Bella Swan. The survival of her family comes before all else and she refuses to allow her romantic interests to determine her future. If anything, Katniss’ confusion over Gale and Peeta only serve to make her more accessible as a heroine. Countless girls have experienced similar confusion, whether it’s due to a jealous boyfriend who doesn’t approve of his girlfriend having a boy for a best friend, or piqued attention from two close male friends. Katniss’ romantic troubles are not that different from your average teenage girl, but she hardly lets those troubles define her. She is strong and independent, and yes, unbelievably stubborn, but Katniss does what she has to do to survive. And we love her for it.
Then there’s Tris Prior, the protagonist of Veronica Roth’s novel Divergent. Like Katniss, Tris is a sixteen-year-old girl living in a dystopian society built upon the ashes of what we know as the United States. Whereas The Hunger Games depicts the lengths a girl will go to in order to protect her family and friends, Divergent is more a coming-of-age tale, in which we see Tris separate who she is from the girl everyone expects her to be. Like Katniss, Tris is initially somewhat difficult to stomach. She is distrustful of almost everyone around her, and thus occasionally comes across as somewhat of a bitch. But, truthfully, it’s these more negative traits that makes Tris such a realistic heroine. As with many teenage girls, these traits are a defense mechanism, a shield that eventually gets broken down as she learns to trust herself as well as others. Most importantly, even though Tris does eventually fall in love, she doesn’t let anyone else define her. She learns to love herself, to embrace the traits that were frowned upon in her previous faction, and becomes an even stronger person for it.
Of course, that’s not to say that Katniss and Tris completely counteract the expectations our society still seems to have for young women. Both girls are inexplicably unaware of how attractive they are, of the effect that they have on others. In fact, Peeta Mellark says just that, that Katniss “has no idea. The effect she can have.” Both girls are thin (though, to be fair, Katniss’ weight has more to do with starvation than anything else), small, beautiful. So while these characters are a step in the right direction, we can’t ignore that romance and an appeal to boys will always be entwined with with the strong female characters of YA fiction.
So, my question for you, fellow readers, is this: what are your feelings on how female characters are portrayed in YA fiction? Which heroines do you find to be role models?
While, unfortunately, I am not particularly close or familiar with either of these book series (beyond the mega-death-grip they have in our bookstores and on youth culture), I did latch onto one thing in particular from your post that came from the movie trailer (which looks fantastic, by the way). There was one girl who said what everyone knows and thinks yet tends to ignore, that it is always about the body, and not about the brains. I feel strong enough to say, without having read the books, that their heroines probably display a great amount of bravery and intellect. What is also interesting, though, at least from a visual standpoint, and especially for the text to film transition (which you also noted), is that they still have to use these beautiful girls, and to emphasize this next point, AS DEFINED BY OUR AMERICAN CULTURE AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA. We are indeed taking steps in the right direction, but that is one big hurdle we must eclipse soon. I guess I’d also just like to see our culture and its various forms of media try to stray more from ONLY using these model-esque women in their depictions, etc.
Wonderful post, Lauren. I’m glad you brought this subject up.
Thanks for bringing my attention to miss representation!! Looks like a fantastic film