• Culture
    Culture
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    Style
    Pond's serums

    These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    Here’s where you can get unique, one-off accessories—designed by you

    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    Entertainment
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    charlie’s angels totally spies!

    Our favorite onscreen spies, from Austin Powers to ‘Totally Spies!’

    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    Life+Money
    Single woman adopts baby

    Forming a family: When a single woman adopts a baby

    painting of baby

    A mother-to-be’s survival guide

    Navigating a friend breakup that has no bad blood

    It’s no one’s fault: When a friendship naturally runs its course

    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
Reading
Girls and boys deserve to read about female heroes
ShareTweet
In Culture
3 min read

Girls and boys deserve to read about female heroes

By Jacqueline Ariason April 23, 2019
Share

Did you ever notice how rare it is to see strong female protagonists in books? If there were any, they are mostly love stories or about sex. Sure, there are iconic ones like Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, but even she was merely a side character.

Kelsey McKinney expressed her frustration in a 2013 The Atlantic article over fictional women who are focused on being with men rather than their personal development. “These women wanted to get married and have kids. They wanted to whine for 300 pages about a man who didn’t want to be with them. They wanted, it seemed, to be supporting actresses in their own stories,” she wrote.

“Like many young adults, I didn’t necessarily want stable. I wanted to drive On The Road and stop off in small towns and drink more than was probably appropriate. I wanted to question who I was and be my own Catcher in the Rye. There are no Jack Kerouacs or Holden Caulfields for girls. Literary girls don’t take road-trips to find themselves; they take trips to find men,” she added.

READ MORE: Queer literature is happening and these YA books prove it

The problem lies in how authors shape such characters. We’ve been conditioned to think that female characters are inherently damsels in distress and believe in old-fashioned romance where men are supposed to save the day. When women are given empowering roles, they are still stuck as sidekicks to seemingly incompetent heroes.

According to Vox, this move “is often an attempt at feminism.” Think of Hermione’s role in Harry Potter: She’s more competent than both Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in terms of her talent and intellect. She gets the job done, defeats the enemies in Deathly Hallows, but she’s still in the background while Harry gets his fanfare even though he’s always on the verge of defeat. Film critic Tasha Robinson calls this the “Trinity Syndrome,” named after Trinity from The Matrix, which means “the hugely capable woman who never once becomes as independent, significant, and exciting as she is in her introductory scene.”

This gender disparity in books doesn’t stop in YA and adult literature. In 2011, a Florida State University study found that among 6,000 children’s books published between 1900 and 2000, only 31 percent had central female characters. Romper also observed TIME‘s list of “100 Best Children’s Books of All Time” and found that 68 percent of these critically acclaimed books were male-led. Yikes.

The Cheshire Library cited that there are more male protagonists in children’s books because “it’s harder to get boys to read, and harder to keep them reading.” However, this also means that as early as preschool, representation for little girls is scarce and only limited to fairytale princesses.

Likewise, what many may not realize as well is how introducing female characters can affect a boy’s perspective in a positive way. This will teach them how to empathize with these figures, and not just be taught how to “be like a boy.”

Thank goodness for books like Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes and I Love My Body which feature characters that empower girls and teach them valuable lessons like consent. There are also children’s books now that promote gender equality and identity. Perhaps we should stop dictating which books are “for girls” and “for boys.” That way, books won’t have lead characters—both human and animal—that cater to one specific gender and overlooking the other.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Juno Valentine (@junovalentine)

So, what needs to change in the literary authors? For one, authors should reconsider using the damsel-in-distress trope. Even Disney is opting for more strong, feminist princesses in their movies. Book authors can follow suit with female characters who have real-world problems and are working on discovering themselves. (Likewise, female authors should also be given opportunities to tell stories and be recognized for them because men are already “over-represented.”)

If you want to stock up on books with strong female leads, you can check out our lists of “girl power” books and preschool books that promote feminism. Do this for World Book Day, and support the authors who deserve it.

Art by Tricia Guevara

For the latest in culture, fashion, beauty, and celebrities, subscribe to our weekly newsletter here  

Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Viber

Related stories:
Cassandra Clare and Holly Black on adulthood and female writers dominating the fantasy genre
10 books about girl power that need to be in your bookshelf RN
JK Rowling wasn’t allowed to use a female name for her books
A preschooler-approved booklist with strong female leads 

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0

Action Required!

We embed Facebook Comments plugin to allow you to leave comment at our website using your Facebook account. It may collects your IP address, your web browser User Agent, store and retrieve cookies on your browser, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the commenting interface, including correlating your Facebook account with whatever action you take within the interface (such as “liking” someone’s comment, replying to other comments), if you are logged into Facebook. For more information about how this data may be used, please see Facebook’s data privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Accept    Decline

Tags
books

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

ShareTweetEmailShare
Jacqueline Arias

Peek This

Pond's serums

These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

Filipino actors Bridgerton

Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

pura luka vega chappell roan church

Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

Preen.ph © 2020. Hinge Inquirer Publications, Inc.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • HOME
  • ARCHIVES
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
Previous
You won’t be able to put down these memoirs by remarkable women
Next
The next jewelry trend? Infinity Stones, according to Scarlett Johansson and Brie Larson
  • Culture
    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Search
Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close
fashion fashion news music Culture News movies
See all results

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.