Damsels in distress no more: feisty females in books and film

Once upon a time, princesses were beautiful, and all they had to do was run away, hide, or sleep until they got rescued by a strong and handsome prince. Many little girls grew up reading such fairy tales, fantasizing about their own happily ever afters.

 

Today, girls know better. Princesses don't have to wait to be rescued. They can defend themselves, and in some cases, are the ones doing the rescuing. Beyond that, today's girls know that not all stories need to be about royalty. Damsels don’t have to be in distress. Female characters can be feisty, too. The struggle for women's rights is by no means over, but there has been significant progress, too. The resurgence of strong women characters in books and movies, such as “The Hunger Games,” is a reflection of this progress. As Kristine Reynaldo, acquisitions editor of Flipside Publishing, says, it's a corollary of having strong women characters in the real world.

"From business to politics to the academe to the artistic community and the media, more and more women are becoming leaders and shapers in their fields," Reynaldo says.

 

"Though sexism has hardly been eradicated, the world has become a much more conducive place for women, many of whom enjoy the social advances made by feminism. And these women—educated, financially independent, and driven—represent a sizeable chunk of the market," she continues.

 

Writers who are aware of this have to create characters that are acceptable to their readers. "If writers and producers are to connect with them and not invite backlash, they can’t keep creating heroines who do little more than decorate the scene or the hero’s arm," says Reynaldo, who noted literacy and education are also improving among women.

 

When it comes to movies, heroines have made their comeback, as well. “'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,' 'Haywire,' 'Young Adult,' and 'The Hunger Games' all featured central female characters who defy the established order, blaze their own trails and enforce rules of their own,” writes film blogger Colin Biggs. 

 

Biggs noted that female-centered films aren't limited to art-house films and literature adaptations, with blockbusters like “Prometheus” featuring two female leads, and Anne Hathaway's Selena Kyle in “The Dark Knight Rises.”  

“For years, the expectation of women in films was to meet their Prince Charming and get married before the credits roll,” writes Biggs, adding that this mindset may be fading as audiences seem to be embracing new roles for women.

 

Young Adult genre

 

In literature, writer Raissa Rivera Falgui says strong women characters are especially found in the Young Adult category, perhaps because such books are used to teach teenagers. "I think it's because when you're an adolescent, the idea of independence is very important to you, or romantic," Falgui says.

Falgui, who taught English to high school students at Ateneo de Manila University, notes that even boys liked books with strong female characters in them. Among their favorites were Lois Lowry's “Number the Stars,” an adventure set in World War II, and Katherine Paterson's “Bridge to Terabithia,” about two children who imagine a fantasy world together.

 

Recalling strong female characters from her childhood, such as Annie and Ramona, Falgui says books with strong female characters were not as available as they are now. "Before maybe, it was not so popular and now people are very much into 'The Hunger Games' and other books and movies with strong female characters," she says.

 

Strong female characters are popular, too, in the Philippines, based on manuscripts that have been submitted to Flipside. According to Reynaldo, most of the novels that were accepted last year were written by women, and featured female protagonists.

 

"Even in a genre like romance, which is traditionally seen as un-feminist, if not anti-feminist, with its privileging of the romantic relationship above all other aspects of the characters’ lives, and its tendency to portray women as objects to be pursued, the submissions we get try to portray women who come into their own and look out for their interests and act rather than wait to be acted upon," Reynaldo says.

 

Falgui’s “Woman in a Frame” was inspired by Donna Jo Napoli's “Daughter of Venice.” Both are historical novels with strong female characters. Rather than writing about the mainstream, Falgui prefers to focus on the side stories.

"A lot of them have to do with women in history," says Falgui, who wrote her thesis on women artists in the 19th century. "These people were sort of sidelined, but they were there," she says.

 

Reynaldo notes that strong women characters are often found in science fiction, fantasy, and a lot of contemporary literature, as well as academic work that privilege traditionally marginalized voices.

 

In “Woman in a Frame,” some characters are actual figures in history, like the woman revolutionary Agueda Kahabagan. "We have to revise people's review also of the past...every now and then there's a woman mentioned but you don't see where they are as a part of the bigger, more organized efforts," Falgui says.

 

"I guess I have a tendency to use strong female characters," says Falgui, who believes it's important for readers to be exposed to such characters not necessarily so that they will imitate them, but so that they know they are approved of.

 

"So that they get the idea that these behaviors are approved of, whether that's their actual personality or not, that it's okay for them to be outspoken and to try new things," she says.

 

According to Falgui, a lot of strong female characters are found in mysteries and historical fiction, perhaps because these are a step removed from reality. "In real life, I think grown up women would rather be rescued. We are strong these days, it's just that we kind of wish we didn't have to be sometimes. A lot of women's literature is escapism, but there are some still which have strong female characters," she says.

 

On the other hand, Reynaldo notes that strong women characters can also be found in romance novels, "especially the kind that caters to the young, ambitious, urban woman trying to balance her career and love life, who acknowledges her desires and goes after them."

 

In certain cases, there are strong female characters, but they end up having it all. "It's not that easy for most women to have it all, so it becomes a problem for fiction. A woman can have a strong personality... but the focus really is on problems. They have to make compromises, because that's how reality is," Falgui says.

 

The resurgence of strong women characters in books and film shows that things aren't simply black and white—princes can be afraid, princesses can shoot arrows, and happy endings are just the beginning. —KG, GMA News