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Explore the representation of teenage girls in recent ‘young adult’ fictions? What assumptions are made about femininity in classifying some texts as ‘for boys”?
INTRODUCTION
'Young adult' literature is an emergent term and is, arguably, still very amorphous. Not a long time ago it was acknowledged that there were people who were in a developmental space somewhere between childhood and adulthood. In terms of historical progress, the society used to have only two categories: children and adults. Nowadays, there is a whole niche for writers and publishers as 'young adult', still controversial and vague term, provides an enormously wide readership – the age range from twelve to late twenties. Maria Nikolajeva refers to young adult novels as 'jeans prose' because of their emphasis on such material culture as clothes, food, and music (Trites, 2000, p. 7). Nevertheless, young-adult fiction has definitely become a marketplace phenomenon of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Thus, young adult literature has become an important source of information for young readers, and despite the obvious market-driven and commercial intentions, the writers in this genre actually make «a distinct contribution to the cultural and social construction of femininity» (Younger, 2003).
This essay explores the different ways YA novels depict young women in various stages of their adolescence and how the texts of such genre uniquely or, in contrast, identically represent young female characters. I will also touch on the issue of gender not only among fictional characters, but also study male and female readers and the way modern YA books are classified by gender.
Not surprisingly, many of the most popular YA books of recent years are written by women. The chosen examples for the essay include three works of remarkable female writers: a phenomenally popular Twilight by the American author Stephenie Meyer, Blood Ties, a novel by the British writer Sophie McKenzie, and The Hunger Games, written by the American television writer and author Suzanne Collins. Because gender is culturally constructed and reading is a social practice, gender is unavoidably present in any reading text, but especially in YA literature. Adolescence is a life stage that usually involves shaping values and behaviours, defining your identity, and the physical and mental development. The reading of YA fiction provides the teenage girls with access to textual constructions of gender. These constructions also position girls to grow into certain kinds of women (Cherland, 1994). All three books were written by female writers in their thirties and mid-forties. Both Meyer and Collins write from the perspectives of their main female characters – Bella and Katniss – respectively. Sophie McKenzie also chose to tell the story in first person, but from both male and female perspective. The first chapter of her Blood Ties is written from a young boy's perspective, the second chapter, from the girl's perspective, and so on.
Now hugely successful, the first book of the Twilight series was published by Little, Brown on October 5, 2005. Blood Ties and The Hunger Games, also the first books in the series, were published in 2008.
The reasons for choosing these books are, first of all, the popularity and, therefore, the huge influence they have on young readers. All three books are quite different, but, after further exploration, it will be clear that they share a lot in common. The novels touch on many current problems of teenagers, especially girls, whether the events take place in London, a small town in America, or even in the post-apocalyptic future. The books are written by female authors who devote a lot of attention to various sides of the teenage girl's life and carefully represent an adolescent girl and many problems she faces. All three books, especially Twilight and The Hunger Games, play a huge role in teenage culture. They are adapted into films and affect not only the readers, but cover even bigger audiences. The depiction of female characters is very important as the media portrayal plays a critical role in forming personality and identifying social and individual values in a teenager. The heroines of YA fiction are considered as role models within youth culture or are criticised and judged by various critics, educators ,and parental units. The essay looks at these issues and examines the themes and characters described in recent YA fiction – Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Blood Ties.
THE TEXTS
Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by Stephenie Meyer, who stated that the idea of a human girl and a vampire being in love came to her in a dream (StephenieMeyer.com, 2011). The story starts with a girl, Bella, who moves from the sunny Arizona to a small rainy town in Washington to live with her father, Charlie. Being a new girl in town, Bella instantly attracts much attention at her school. During her first day at new school, she becomes friends with several students. Despite being shy and, in her own opinion, unattractive, Bella turns to be the object of a couple of boys' affections. But the one who attracts Bella's attention is Edward Cullen, who is seated next to her in Biology class. He appears to be disgusted by her at first, but when Bella is nearly run over by a van, he saves her by stopping the van with his bare hands. Bella becomes desperate to find out how Edward saved her life, and after her friend Jacob tells her the local tribal legend, Bella concludes that Edward is a vampire. Edward confesses and explains that at first he avoided her because the scent of her blood was too desirable. He describes himself and his family as ‘vegetarian vampires’, meaning that they do not drink human blood. Obviously, over time, Edward and Bella fall in love. Their romance is interrupted when James, a tracker vampire, comes to town. He is intrigued by the Cullens' relationship with a human, and wants to hunt Bella and kill her. Bella is worried about her father and friends, so she surrenders herself. The Cullens save her just on time. After all the adventures, Bella and Edward return to school and attend their prom, where Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire.
The book is full of sexual tension and has appeal of star-crossed lovers' romantic story. Of course, the dominant readers and Twilight fans are mostly teenage girls, but with the release of the Twilight movie, the story became familiar to the male audience as well.
Another book, The Hunger Games, soon-to-be a movie, portrays a dystopian future in North America, now named Panem. The Capitol – the most powerful city – rules twelve districts, where people live like peasants under awful conditions. Moreover, once a year each district is required to give up two of its children – a boy and a girl – chosen by lottery and enter them in the Hunger Games. The kids are dropped into an outdoor arena, where the 'tributes' are supposed to kill each other. The last child alive wins a lifetime of luxury. The action is filmed and broadcast to the entire world. The story is told by Katniss, a sixteen-year-old girl from the poorest district, who volunteers for the Games to take place of her younger sister. She is a skilled hunter with the only goal to survive. The situation complicates as in order to survive she joins forces with a boy from her district, who is, in addition, madly in love with her. Katniss and thr boy, Peeta, play their roles of the star-crossed lovers, but when they are the last contestants standing, they disagree to kill one another. The story ends with them both winning the Hunger Games, and Katniss explaining to Peeta that she has no feelings for him, and her first and only goal has always been survival.
The book depicts not only the romantic relationship between young people, but also provides a detailed picture of the political, economical, and social problems within the society. It reflects on war, starvation, dictatorship, obsession with looks and plastic surgery, media bias, and brainwashed spectators of reality shows. It is interesting to witness all these events through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old girl and follow her inner thoughts.
And the last book I will be examining in the essay is Blood Ties by Sophie McKenzie.
It tells the story of a fifteen-year-old Theo and a fourteen-year-old Rachel from London, who at first seem like pretty average teenagers. But their lives change dramatically when Rachel accidentally receives a strange text from her father, and Theo decides to search for his father. He finds out that his father was one of a group of scientists who were working on cloning. Theo's search leads him to Rachel, whose father knew Theo's dad. When Rachel and Theo meet, they get involved in a dangerous ride. The teenagers are introduced to Elijah – a scientist – who explains that Rachel and Theo are both clones; Theo is a clone of Elijah, Rachel – a clone of her sister who died at the age of sixteen. It is discovered that Elijah is actually a villain, who abducts Theo and holds him hostage in Washington D.C. It is revealed that Elijah is in need of a heart transplant and intends to use Theo's heart because of him being a complete genetic match. Rachel and Lewis, who used to work for Elijah, come to rescue Theo. Elijah escapes. Theo kisses Rachel good-bye as they are forced to move, transfer school, and live in different locations, so that Elijah and people against cloning cannot find and hurt them. The book ends with Rachel chatting with Theo on the Internet.
Throughout the story, Rachel overcomes much insecurity, becomes a stronger character, and saves the day.
These books are very entertaining, especially in relation to a young girl's perspective. In some moments three heroines – Bella, Katniss, and Rachel – are very different individuals with remarkable personalities, placed in distinguishing environments, yet still, represent every single teenage girl.
CLASSIFYING TEXTS
Before getting to the issues of representation of female characters in YA literature, I should explore the readership and target audience of young adult fiction. Melvin Burgess, for example, argues that books for young adults are only beginning to 'catch up' with popular media and states that «Teenage fiction is an area that has developed out of recognition» (Burgess in Richards, 2008, pp. 53-54). He states that he cannot recall any books written specifically for him when he was that age. According to Burgess, there is an age group of about fourteen to twenty five that is extremely profitable for everyone. Meredith Rogers Cherland in her book refers to a quite outdated view that literature is considered male-authored and male-identified, so the representative reader is assumed to be male (Cherland, 1994, p. 14). This is explainable, as the recognition of boys as a separate audience happened well before girls, and the boys' market was seen as including girls, while the girls' market apparently excluded boys (Montgomery, Watson, 2009, p. 44). It seems that for girls it is much easier to identify themselves with male characters, so despite the fact that «reading is a feminine activity» (Cherland, 1994, p. 89), authors and publishers do whatever it takes to appeal to everyone: both girls and boys. They use different marketing tools in order to make the books more genre crossover and attract wider audiences. Thus, The Hunger Games has several distinct book covers – one is with a girl and a quote from Stephenie Meyer's review: «The Hunger Games is amazing». It instantly attracted Twilight fans, especially female readers. The alternative cover illustrates a boy and a quote from Stephen King, who is known for his horror stories and is very popular among male readers.
As a result, despite the fact that «The Hunger Games» is written by a woman and the story is told from a girl's perspective, based on many reviews on the Internet, the book seems to attract both male and female young adults (National Library of New Zealand, 2009).
Moreover, there is even a website dedicated to Twilight, the book of so-called chicklit genre, but created by a man named Kaleb Nation. In his «twilightguy blog», Kaleb posts his feeling about almost every chapter of the Twilight series (twilightguy.com, 2010). It is very unusual and surprising to read about the book from a boy's perspective. Moreover, Emily Bazelon posted an article in Online Slate Magazine about the boys' reading habits. She found out that most advocates of boy reading aim to enliven the standard fare for both genders. She discovered that many boys like the so-called ‘books for girls’, but for different reasons than girls do (Slate Magazine, 2006).
In such a way, most of modern YA fiction cannot classify as only for boys or only for girls. They consist of male and female characters and appeal to different types of audiences in different ways: boys can find action and violence in the books, and girls like both action and romance.
REPRESENTATION OF TEENAGE GIRLS
• Ideology of sexuality
YA literature has always been providing valuable lessons and information on various sides of teenage life. One of the most popular, yet controversial topics, has been the relationship between peers. Sex is an important issue, especially for teenagers, as they read books not only for pleasure, but also in order to gain knowledge. Thus, Cherland provides the example of Jerrica, a sixth-grade student, who says that «YA books have a lot of information to offer about boyfriends and dating and relationships» (Cherland, 1994, p. 73). This is why the way girls portray their gender in books is significant.
We live in a society that objectifies teen sexuality, at the same time glorifying and idealising, repressing and criticising it. The ideology of sexuality is displayed in almost every book, but this ideology is very conflicting and differs from writer to writer. Bella, for example, a lead character in the Twilight series, is often described as «unashamedly desirous teenage girl». In terms of ideology, Stephenie Meyer does not repress sex, making the main female character quite aggressive. Edward is described as a romantic, poetry- and music-writing virgin, very sensitive and conservative. Unconventionally, Bella does not need flowers, chocolates, and poetry. Unlike the traditional teenage romance, it is Bella who pushes Edward to have sex with her. The readers, I think, mostly expect the boy to be objectifying a girl, trying to convince her to have sex, playing the aggressive part. Twilight is full of sexual tension, and not only Bella's desire to kiss and have sex provides such tension, but also the use of blood. The vampire theme is very sexual: the vampire bite is almost as intimate as the kiss. Not to mention the romance of the star-crossed lovers who simply cannot be together – he is a hundred-year-old vampire, she is a teenage human girl.
Still, Bella and Edward eventually do have sex for the first time on their wedding night. Remarkably, Bella is not ashamed of her sexual urges. She does not think there is anything strange or embarrassing about the fact that she wants to further her sexual relationship.
Adolescent novels that deal with sex, according to Roberta Trites, usually contain ideology and include a lesson for the readers to learn (Trites, 2000, p. 85).
So rather than teaching girls that teen romance is all about cuddling, Bella may be showing them that it is acceptable and normal for them to feel physical desire.
The book also provides many metaphors, comparing love to drugs and alcohol. Thus, Edward describes Bella as his «brand of heroin». Also the book has this kind of dialogue:
«Edward: Friends don't let friends drive drunk.
Bella: Drunk?
Edward: You're intoxicated by my very presence.»
(Twilight, 2005).
Ironically, Bella's desire to become a vampire and have sex with Edward leads to getting pregnant and almost dying in childbirth, which always reminds me of the monologue from the classic teen movie «Mean Girls», where the sex education teacher says crucial words in terms of sexual ideology: «Don't have sex because you will get pregnant and die!» (Mean Girls, Waters, 2004).
GENDER STEREOTYPES
As it is seen by the example of Twilight, the visions of femininity and teenage girls in general differ from the conventional view. The traditional view suggests «romances which involve women who are 'getting along' with men in ways that do not favour feminine strength and initiative, ways that require female characters to compromise and change» (Cherland, 1994, p. 96). Today the trends in YA fiction suggest that the girls desire more independent and self-actualised life. Katniss, the heroine of The Hunger Games, is far away from the traditional role of 'damsel in distress' and the role of a 'future wife and mother'. Actually, she states in the very beginning of the book: «I never want to have kids» (Collins, 2008, p. 11). She has more important things to do: hunt, trade kills, and survive in a deadly reality show. Katniss is a strong, tough, independent, and very loyal to her family. She is not a conventional romantic type. Her mentor even describes her in such way:
«Whereas when you open your mouth, you come across as sullen and hostile; you've got about as much charm as a dead slag.»
(Collins, 2008, pp. 141-142).
The fact is, not any of the heroines in The Hunger Games, Twilight, or Blood Ties are described as beautiful or even attractive.
Bella describes herself as unattractive: «Physically, I'd never fit in anywhere. I should be tan, blonde, a volleyball player, or a cheerleader.» (Meyer, 2005) Rachel, the character from Blood Ties, describes herself as «a fat, shapeless, nothing person» (McKenzie, 2008, p. 11). But with a wave of a magic wand, everyone at Bella's school is attracted to her, not to mention the 'god-like gorgeous' Edward; Katniss finds herself in a love triangle with Peeta and Gale; a boy named Theo falls in love with unattractive Rachel in Blood Ties. However, it actually can be explained. If Edward was attracted to Bella because she was his «brand of heroin», meaning that he was attracted to the scent of her blood, then Katniss, despite having «as much charm as a dead slag», was pretty with make-up and glorious clothes, and had a very strong personality. Rachel, on the other hand, had to undertake combat training and spend several days in gym in order to be fit and defeat the villain. No wonder Theo fell in love with her by the end of the story.
But before finding their happiness, the girls in the books are concerned with many problems, which many girls face in real life: weight control, clothes, dates, proms, etc. Katniss might not be the type of girl who is interested in clothes, as well as Bella, but evidentially, clothes play a big part in the books. For example, in the first chapter of Twilight, Meyer devotes most of Bella's thoughts to clothes. In The Hunger Games, Katniss is given a major make-over, and as much as she wants to seem indifferent, she enjoys dressing up and looking beautiful in public. The appearance is very important to the girls, therefore the weight problem plays a big part in any YA book. Rachel, for instance, feels miserable every time she eats. «I seriously thought about going upstairs and making myself sick» (McKenzie, 2008, p. 22). Luckily, Rachel does not approve of bulimia and anorexia, and becomes a strong independent character without taking such drastic measures. The topic of food and hunger is also addressed in The Hunger Games, as it is obvious from the title.
Stereotypically, the girls in YA literature try to seem 'tomboyish', yet still have issues with their looks and eating patterns, so as we can see from the examples of those three books, the girls share quite similar problems of insecurities and the lack of self-esteem.
Another stereotype that has been challenged is the idea that violence and action go along with boys, the stereotypical thought of the female relegating to passive activity (Kelty, 1980, p. 237). Such old-fashioned belief is refuted, as well as the system of classifying books by gender. Girls not only like to read about adventures, they want to live them. The female characters in The Hunger Games and Blood Ties experience all possible turns of events. Katniss lives in a futuristic world – she hunts in order to provide for her family, she is chosen to represent her district in a deadly reality show, she kills other contestants, and, in the second and the third books, acts as the leader of the revolution. Katniss lives within the universe created by Suzanne Collins which critics and readers describe as «chilling, bloody, and horrifying» (Grossman, 2009). Looks like quite a burden to carry for a sixteen-year-old girl. The same relates to the Blood Ties character – Rachel. At the age of fourteen, she finds out that she is a clone, runs away from home, gets abducted, encounters the killers and a mad professor, undergoes a combat training, saves the boy of her dreams – the list of her adventures is endless. Even Bella, a clumsy 'cold fish', gets involved in all sorts of events – she rides a motorcycle, becomes a target of a maniac vampire James, survives the attack, becomes a part of the war between werewolves and vampires, yet again survives the fall from the cliff, and many more. It is noteworthy that in the books there is a change between the gender roles: Katniss is always the one who saves Peeta, and in Blood Ties Rachel comes to rescue Theo. Even in Twilight Bella takes matters into her own hands in an attempt to save her loved-ones. It does not matter that she almost dies in the process and, luckily, is saved by Edward – at least she took a shot.
Nevertheless, after reading The Hunger Games, Blood Ties, and even Twilight, it is hard to believe that there can still be a stereotype of a ‘passive female’ in the books.
CONCLUSION
All in all, young adult literature, despite being a new and still quite vague genre, has been giving the readers much food for thought. Both boys and girls enjoy reading and watching YA fiction, which has a big impact on teenagers, constructs the way they act and behave, and generally commands a large part of the young people's lives. In the essay I have looked at three texts within the category of books for young adults. Both Twilight and The Hunger Games have become extremely popular internationally, and Blood Ties has become a best-selling and critically acclaimed novel. All three books provide the examples of great female characters, which bear responsibility of representing the present-day youth. I have discussed the differences and similarities between Bella, Katniss, and Rachel as well as have mentioned various stereotypes regarding gender and the way these three heroines follow or expose such stereotypes. In my opinion, the representation of teenage girls in the books are accurate and quite realistic, especially the issues of sexuality and feminine insecurities, the themes of clothes, eating disorders, the relationship with boys, and many more. To some extent, it can be said that Bella, Katniss, and Rachel can be the modern role-models for this generation, but it should be noted that the girls are depicted realistically, therefore, they are not ideal and make mistakes, sometimes even do reckless, stupid things. The main point is that despite the genre crossovers, and the changes in gender roles, girls remain girls – they are still concerned with 'girly' things like clothes and proms (even if they insist they are not), they still fall in love with boys, and, at least in my books, survive all the adventures and come through the adolescence (with or without major traumas).
Выкладываю эссе по сумеркам и голодным играм.
Думаю, не стоит упоминать, что этот "шедевр" не стоит никуда выкладывать и ни с кем делиться, а то моя профессорша найдет и решит, что я сама себя сплагиатила. Да, я параноик.
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Думаю, не стоит упоминать, что этот "шедевр" не стоит никуда выкладывать и ни с кем делиться, а то моя профессорша найдет и решит, что я сама себя сплагиатила. Да, я параноик.
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