What I know: Katniss, Tris and Clary

What I know: Katniss, Tris and Clary.  Why did I name my post that?  Because I know them.  I am them, and so are thousands of other girls, young and older women.  We are reluctant heroes that are awkward when placed in six inch heels and camera ready make-up.  We are stubborn and selfish and loving and will surprise ourselves by sacrificing everything.  We demand what we want and we go after it because we believe in what we say and the people around us.  We are these women and that is why we gravitate toward them. 

So, why did I choose to write about this?  Well, besides being eerily in the mind of Tris Prior (I had to put the book down in the beginning when I saw myself in Tris and didn’t always like it), I write from a very female perspective.  A modern female perspective.  I am the product of generations of women fighting hard to give me the boldness that I have today.  Are we living in a perfect world for women?  Hell no.  But these characters making it into the mainstream media and being hailed for it?  That is a step toward the right direction for the next generations of women who will lead, and even some who won’t.  Not everyone wants to lead; and these characters say that that is okay and that that is heroic.

These characters say that it is okay to be confused about your first love, to be bold about it, to be sexual, brave, tomboy and feminine, to be comforted and to ask for independence at the same time.  No, we shouldn’t have to have characters to give us permission to be , essentially, human, but seeing the media embrace it is a powerful thing.  I write with these characters in mind because it is ridiculous to say that they do not shape modern young adult literature.

How many new young adult novels feature a strong female lead?  More and more and someday, I would like to join those ranks.  These stories dominate a formerly primarily male centered world: fantasy adventure, sci-fi, and cult classics.  Where men used to stand and swing swords of emperors, now there are women and not just women clad in bikinis and loincloths.  These are young women who are practical, who get hurt and who rise above it.  Now, I can go into a dozen page essay about what flaws there still are within these tales and many have, but I just want to point out that we now have something to really talk about.  The conversation has stepped forward.  The stories are out there, now we can get into the nitty-gritty. 

Now, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a feminist (what does that word even mean these days?) but I would say that I am a modern woman demanding that I live in a modern world.  I want to be the one that pulls a man out of a burning building.  I want to be the one to ask for sex.  I want to be the one to step forward and tackle the mistakes out there.  I want to be Katniss and Tris and Clary because I am them.  We all are. 

So, what do I know?  I am a woman and I write from a woman’s perspective because a woman’s story, no matter what fantastical elements are there, demands to be heard.