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.

1. Abyss and Apex is reading stories this month.
Meaning, in short, that I love in_the_blue for helping me out, 'cause if I can actually get this story pulled together, then I'll probably submit it. :crossing fingers and praying hard:

2. When signing up for a challenge like femgenficathon where someone else isn't giving you the story idea...
Always, always, always have a backup idea. A Deadly Woman is at 1789 words, but there's no way I'll have it ready in time. So racked my brains and pulled another story idea that should work for this prompt. Something I could write in 1000 words maybe. Whoohoo.

3. Working at home is tough.
Speaking of which, I need to go and do. Spent enough time on writing and fandom for the day. Well, fandom. I still have to do some writing for the Megan pen name.

:waves:

I was known as a chatterbox. I go through spurts of that online. Anyone want me to stick to a limit on # of posts per day? I hate to alienate my f-list because I apparently sometimes live online.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” -Ira Glass


Also,
 

Flight Risk by Seriana Ritani

"Thanks," Warren answered politely, still trying to work out just what Kurt was. "Nice, um, fur."

"Thanks. Ze ladies love it, but you wouldn't believe how fast I go through conditioner."

But just remember ladies, if you meet a player in a bar and he’s smooth and hot and lovely… Have fun, but don’t think you get to keep him. He’s a rental property, only. ~ "Don’t Hate the Playa; Hate the Game" by Zoe Winters

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Anyone want to write me some Gambit with this? One of those awesome quotes that makes me want some of his original side.

"I think, masuredi, that love shapes us best and deepest, and everything else is but her handmaiden." ~ Black Blossom by MCA Hogarth, pg 16

Not writing so well, but I've got to get an original piece out by end of day. So I took a quick surfer break and found this gem.

:heads back into silence:

Swiped from papercutperfect:

Comment on this post and let me know you want to participate. I will choose seven userpics from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are using them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so others can play along.

Apparently, I'm romantic, poetic, and eclectic.

Huh.

This article giveth me whole new perspective. Once again, I must wonder, what is good content to whoever my readers will be?


And then, there's this. An incredibly good reason (from a major, long-time professional author) to keep my blogs few and far between. (Don't count on it for fandom, but I'm looking for original fiction anyway.)


So:

1. Post every 1-2 weeks maybe.


2. Do guest posts. (uh-huh)


3. Have something important and good (whatever that is) to say. (And make sure it ties in with what I write/publish (which I need to do more of anyway.)

Huh.

Title: 67 Icons: Raven
Artist: scribble_myname
Description (if any): 67 Raven icons from X-Men: First Class
A/N: So I got a little carried away...



More Icons...

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