scribblemyname

On Girls, Fiction, & Self-Esteem

There’s a trend in young adult fiction now to have a female main character who in some way doesn’t recognize how special she is. It could be that she doesn’t know how beautiful she is, or doesn’t understand her full potential. But this lack of self-esteem is a central part of these characters, and that worries me. Is a girl really only beautiful if she doesn’t know it? Can a girl who doesn’t know how smart she is really be that smart? Do we only appreciate young women who are humble or completely self-aware?

~ Elizabeth on Knit Quip

This, of course, makes me think of Raven in X-Men: First Class and then Emma in the same. One doesn't believe she's beautiful. The other believes she is. Which one is infinitely more appealing?

Gaining self-esteem or self-awareness really shouldn't be the benchmark of an awesome character.

Tris in Divergent by Veronica Roth doesn't realize how amazing she is, failing this understanding in small, but consistent ways. Why? It doesn't really add to the character. It just makes her seem a tiny bit dense.

Emma in Emma by Jane Austen does thinks herself special, except when she recognizes a good trait she's lacking, and I love her all the more for it.

Alanna in The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce has a love/hate relationship with the things that make her special, but she isn't unaware of them. Do I like her less? Heavens, no!

I had never paid attention to this before, but now that it's been pointed out to me, it makes me want to start pulling books off the shelf and figure out how many characters actually have a real handle on their own strengths and weaknesses. It makes me want to avoid this at all costs in my own fiction unless that genuinely belongs to the character.

Rogue really doesn't understand her own potential because she hates the drawbacks so much. The main character in my manuscript, In This Wood, has low self-esteem and learns to get over it. It's okay to make that journey with a female character, but to me, it's not okay to make that journey when it isn't called for.

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Very interesting topic! It also makes me want to go through my fandom and think about which female characters know their strengths/weaknesses and which do not.

I like it when some do and some don't and it makes sense which ones. Like how in X-Men Movieverse, Jean knows she's strong and rebels against those that tell her she isn't, but Rogue doesn't have a clue that she could be so much more than she is. Storm was iffy to me. Major iffy. The movies just didn't write her with a lot of personality at all (except X3 and let's not get started on that monstrosity).

I'm not so sure this is a new phenomenon, and I'm not so sure it's specific to female protagonists either. As a reader I always find it more interesting when there's some inherent struggle the main character is able to overcome, and in young adult fiction particularly, where the audience is filled with angst and self-loathing to start with, it seems to make sense to me that an insecure character who becomes secure (or more secure) over the course of the story is a tried and true trope.

Just thinking aloud. I agree that it's not okay to make that journey just for the sake of jumping on a bandwagon, but if it works for the character in question -- if that's a fundamental part of their nature -- then so be it. Maybe? Probably?

Definitely yeah. Like I said, some stories do it for a reason. (ie. Rogue and plenty of other stories)

Others though are doing it just because and it doesn't even fit. This gal was talking about Katniss in Catching Fire and if you read her whole review, boy, I can agree with her. I thought about Tris in Divergent and realized it didn't really fit all that much either. The places where she missed it were almost like she was playing dumb, 'cause she wasn't dumb and it did not fit.

Well, doing something for the sake of doing it because it's popular (I have low self-esteem/suddenly I'm a vampire/I'm the last person on Earth) is just dumb. As long as it enhances the character, though... it might be a trend and that doesn't mean it's a good trend, but people can make it work. The "just because" people should... stop.

Long story short, I agree with you.

I think there's an important difference as to whether the realisation of her own strength comes from an inner journey or through being told she's special. Someone who starts off unaware of their own strengths and weaknesses (or who is wrong about them) can make for an amazing story, as long as it's not just pasted on, like "You are the lost heir to the kingdom, yay!"

For example, in XMFC, the parts of the story with Raven being wary of Hank's insecurities, rejecting his judgement and refusing the "cure" were great; the parts where she transferred her loyalty from Charles to Erik, not so great in itself - her loyalty should have been to herself.

When Rogue decided to use her powers in X2 to stop Pyro, that was a great moment for her, just as when she piloted the plane: that was her making decisions as a result of her inner development, not someone rocking up and telling her to be herself like Storm in X3.

Exactly! You put it even better than I did. I would have loved the Raven storyline—if they hadn't resolved it by giving her validation from a man.

The other example I was talking about there: Tris in Divergent? Her realization came from a guy. Great guy, great character, but someone as strong as Tris would not need it from him. She wouldn't be dumb enough to miss it.

:shakes head:

But, all that to say: YES.

Interesting stuff!

It's funny when something you hadn't really thought about is pointed out to you and then suddenly, it's like the clouds part, and you're left wondering, how did I miss something this big before!?

Thanks for sharing your find! =D

No prob. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. :shakes head ruefully:

Hmm...

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