Feminism in YA
Yes, I know that “Feminism in YA” is a really sweeping title. There are a few zillion feminist beliefs out there, and they are often contradictory. But to me, feminism means championing the rights of women, which encompasses all the schools of thought. And in the context of this post, feminist YA will refer to young adult books that promote the rights of women, one way or another.
First, a little about my own beliefs. I believe that girls and women should be free to choose their work, clothes, food, hobbies, beliefs, etc. without fear, shame, or additional difficulty thanks to being defined by their gender. In fact, I don’t think people should be defined primarily by their gender, and the idea of a gender binary is bunk. But that’s a whole other blog post. Back to books.
Lately, there’s been much discussion in the blogging community about anti-feminist books. Particularly those in the paranormal romance genre. Obviously different readers can argue endlessly about whether a book is feminist or not, but I don’t think it’s useful to think of books as being anti-feminist. Feminism isn’t the opposite of anti-feminism. It isn’t the negative image of all the hurtful portrayals of female characters. It’s about advancing beyond these damaging viewpoints, and rethinking our culture’s portrayals of girls and women in a helpful, healthy way.
So I’m not going to talk about books I hated and chucked against the wall; I’m going to talk about the books I want to see. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all feminist book, which is why we need more. I’ve got a feminist wish list for YA fiction, actually:
-I want to see more gorgeous girls. Sexy girls. Whether they look conventionally physically attractive or not, these girls should act gorgeous and sexy. This is why I love Vivian from Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. She’s supremely confident and comfortable with herself. Sure, she has long legs and tan skin and golden hair, but her body isn’t ornamental: she runs fast, fights hard, lounges in the grass, and oh yeah, turns into a wolf. She isn’t perfect. She’s got plenty of other problems. But she relishes her physicality.
-I want to see more YA books without romance in them. It bothers me that romance seems to be the default story nowadays. Especially stories where the girl’s only or overriding goal in life is to snag the guy. If the girl is even that active; usually she waits for the guy to snag her. Don’t get me wrong, I love romance, be it sweet or sexy, but I also love reading about single girls, or girls who just happen to be in a relationship but have another adventure going on.
-Oh, and while we’re talking about romance, I’d like to see some girl snags girl books. I honestly haven’t read more than one or two YA books, ever, that talk about a girl falling in love with another girl. Where are they?
-I want to read more books with nerdy girls. Like, a girl genius programmer who tinkers with dangerously smart AI, or a girl science officer on a spaceship, or a girl student of microbiology who makes a fantastic discovery about alien life. Yes, I have a craving for more sci-fi YA. I’m not biased at all. Really.
I could go on and on, since I’m rather greedy with my wish lists, but I want to know what you think. What’s your feminist wish list for YA?
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