As I write this post, it’s International Women’s Day, which is both a good and a not-so-good thing. If everyone in the world spent an entire day thinking about issues relating to women (education, health, environment, economics—pretty much everything) that would be great. But then again, think about it: do they have “CEO Day,” or “Take Your World Leader to Lunch Day?” Nope. Commemorative days (weeks, months) belong to those who have been, historically, pushed to the margins, which means we should all be crossing our fingers that eventually this day will be obsolete.
Yesterday in class, I was talking with my college students about Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, a book that I loved as a child (I was Meg Murry, people, except for the whole genius-brother and time-travel thing). When I’ve taught this novel in previous semesters, students—male and female—generally like it, but not this term. “The ending—all that love, love, love—it’s totally cheezy,” complained one student.
You remember the end of the novel, right? Meg’s little brother Charles Wallace has been absorbed into IT, the huge brain that controls everyone on the planet Camazotz—a nightmare of totalitarianism fueled by Cold War fear. Meg realizes that the only weapon she has against IT’s strength is the love she bears for her brother and so, yes, she stands in front of IT and “loves Charles Wallace.” When I read this section, I get a little choked up, but my students apparently are made of sterner stuff.
“She’s supposed to be a hero and all she does is love him?” asked one skeptical student.
My students in this class—and all my classes—come from almost every country in the world: this group comes from, variously, Morocco, Russia, Ukraine, Australia, Palestine, the US, and Ireland. The students from former Soviet countries were more sympathetic to Meg than other students, but none of them seemed to find her particularly sympathetic: all that “love stuff” struck them as silly, too “girly-girl.”
I pointed out that in 1962, L’Engle sent her manuscript to more than twenty-five publishers before finding a home for Wrinkle because the book broke the unspoken taboo that heroes in science fiction have to be male. “I’m a female,” L’Engle said. “Why should I give all the best ideas to a male?” I suggested to my students that maybe Meg could be seen to challenge convention, on the one hand, because she’s the (female) hero of a science-fiction story, even though her solution—loving her brother—seems to cast her as the stereotypical nurturing female.
“The time for all that is over,” said my most outspoken student, a Palestinian girl in a headscarf. “Girls can totally be heroes and do science and all that.” Vehement head nodding, particularly from the several female chemistry majors in the class.
So I challenged them: name some female heroines in young adult fiction who are act on their own behalf and the behalf of others. We came up with Katniss Everdeen, scoffed at Twilight’s Bella, and then there was a long pause. A long pause. Finally someone mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer—but of course “Buffy” is a television show, not a book, and it had gone off the air by the time my students were old enough to watch TV.
Are they right? I know there are some strong girl characters in children’s picture books—Princess Knight comes to mind, and Princess Furball—but in young adult fiction, where are the girls who take center stage, whose consciousness guides the action, without the help of super powers, super beauty, or a super boyfriend? (Hermione Granger comes to mind, but of course, it’s Harry’s story, not hers.)
Maybe lots of these characters exist and my students just don’t know who they are. Or maybe the absence of these characters is just further demonstration that we still need International Women’s Day.
Can you think of any female heroes in young adult fiction?
This is an original post for the World Mom’s Blog by Deborah Quinn.
Mannahattamamma (UAE)
After twenty-plus years in Manhattan, Deborah Quinn and her family moved to Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates), where she spends a great deal of time driving her sons back and forth to soccer practice. She writes about travel, politics, feminism, education, and the absurdities of living in a place where temperatures regularly go above 110F.
Deborah can also be found on her blog, Mannahattamamma.
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I remember a book I read as a teen which I enjoyed very much and who had a female hero … problem is I just can’t remember the name of the book! 🙁
The story was of a teenage girl, a teenage boy and a baby who were the only survivors of a plane crash. The book is about how they survived as a “family” until they finally reached some adults. As a lonely teen, I used to fantasize about being that young girl with a “ready made” family of my own!
I vaguely remember that the word “village” was in the title (but I might be mistaken). If anyone knows what book I’m referring to, please put me out of my misery!
I just read “Atalanta and the Golden Apples”, a Greek Myth, to my daughter last night. Atalanta is faster than all the men and a great hunter. In the end, her human-ness leads the goddess Aprodite to turn her and her husband into beasts because they denied that they needed a god’s help. But, before the goddess intervened, Atalanta was faster than all the men, and that excited me that it was in such an old text. I wondered if the story was written by a woman!
do you remember “Free to Be You & Me?” One of the stories is about Atalanta & the apples…and I loved that story too. Of course, as your comment points out, the strong woman gets punished for being so…and THAT seems to be a central theme, over & over again.
Oh, that was my favorite book as a child! I still have my copy! My sister introduced me to Madeline L’Engle’s novels, and from then on, I fell in love with books. I need to revisit A Wrinkle in Time.
There are some great female protagonists in YA post apocalyptic series. The Pandemonium series by Lauren Oliver, Matched series by Allie Condie, and Divergent series by Veronica Roth all present teen aged girls dealing with normal family, love, and growing up drama in the context of a dystopic future. Lauren Oliver also has another great one set in a “normal” high school (non-dystopic) called Before I Fall. It deals with some tough issues though, so it might be a good parent/child co-read for younger teenagers.
Two of my favorite modern female writers who create strong female characters are Tamora Pierce (Trickster’s Choice/Trickster’s Queen) and Alison Croggon (love her Pellinor Series). I love reading the types of books I *wish* had been around when I was growing up.