BlogHer - What Makes a Kick-Butt Literary Heroine? - Comments

Thanks for the inspiration

mashadutoit — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:57:51 -0600

I've done my own post on "girls and stories" here

the witches!

mashadutoit — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 06:03:32 -0600

Yes to Nanny Og and Granny Weatherwax! They are the ultimate female leads.

Then I've just finished reading the Garth Nix trilogy, and Sabriel and Lireal are some excellent characters too.

Not exactly literature, but Miyazaki always has strong female characters as his heroines. Chihiro in "spirited away", Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa, actually, all of them are excellent.

And that reminds of of Dianna Wynne Jones. All her female characters are strong too.

What About the Witches in Discworld?

MLOKnitting — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:10:35 -0600

Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg! Even the villains they must face are well-rounded.

Oh, and let's not forget Tiffany Aching (sp? cause I'm too tired to be responding!) This is a pre-teen that I would hand to any boy and girl as a good example of "normal kid does good." Yeah, I know she isn't normal by our standards, but she is for the Discworld novels! Her enemies are not unattractive or less intelligent. They are her real peers. I love these books.

Of course, Agatha from Girl Genius comes to mind. And, again, her enemy is not all that simple. She is one of a very small number of kick-ass comic strip/book female characters who have not been totally ruined by some writer. Marvel and DC have terrible habits when it comes to their female heros. Of course, when she is well-written,

Not all kick-ass female characters are good guys either! Catwoman is the ultimate female anti-hero who can truly kick-ass. They should have someone from either Buffy or BSG writer a Catwoman story. Of course, there are the absolutely awesome characters of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Gee, it does seem Batman's universe of baddies has some kick-ass females who sometimes do outwit him (Catwoman). (Um, am I showing my geek girlness?)

Let's see, the female characters on Firefly are all pretty kick-ass. I'm counting them here because of the comic books. I guess that means I have to include Season 8 of Buffy. The female teens in the Runaway series are pretty good. And, if you have a young girl in your life who likes manga - Spider-Girl series. It is YA but awesomely done.

The line of heroines in the Harlequin Luna Line are pretty kick-ass as well. As have a number of other romance lines. I really love the character of Kitty in Kitty and The Silver Bullet and it's sequels. She finds herself in an impossible situation and still finds a way out of it - even if what she ends up with is not exactly the perfect solution. Somehow, she perseveres.

Miles Vorkosigan's mom in Bujold's Miles' books.

Any of Octavia Butler's characters. I wish she had not died so tragically young.

Ok, now I'm gonna have to do a post on kick-ass female leads.

MLO / Melissa

What Makes Kick-Butts Literary Heroine?

hillaryfames — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:45:14 -0600

The heroic names dropped above are due credit. But I give my vote to Hillary Fames in Potatoes Don't Grow On Trees, Journeying In The South authored by Nash. Hillary's appearance is barefooted, braided hair, lengthy, femine, yet muscular. I think she is a hero because she is mild tempered, but get her way with the guys regardless. She beat up Wootie in What I Am, while he was supposingly the strongest creature on earth. At least he thought he was in the deep south. That playboy and others got their butts kicked by Hillary, who was less than age 14 at the time. Her mother was a gun slinging Annie Oakly, but the smartest of Hilliary outweighted the Momma. Of course nobody played around with Hillary's Momma, because she was subject to ram her fist and gun down some throats. In the I Am Somebody Hillary was a hero galloping through thickets, unafraid with rapist. She taught guys how to straightn up. In Whose I Am, Hillary is a tiger in her own way to get her way. That's what I call a strong woman and a hero that kicks butts. (dotrockpublisher.com)

What Makes Kick-Butts Literary Heroine?

hillaryfames — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:40:14 -0600

Restoree

sassymonkey — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:01:30 -0600

I've only read a couple of her Pern novels but a kidnapped librarian who rescues people, solves problems and is the container of knowledge? Awesome!

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Mma Ramotswe

sassymonkey — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:58:48 -0600

I started the first book in the series but had to return it to the library before it was finish. I've heard that the books are good on audio.

"It's her understanding of people and their weaknesses--and strengths--that makes her a kick-ass herione in my book."

Love it!

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

No such thing as low-brow tastes

sassymonkey — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:52:12 -0600

But if there are I have them. I've heard good things about the Outlander series. I'll have to read it sometime.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

I got my mother to love her too

sassymonkey — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:43:43 -0600

She didn't read the books but we watched the BBC Pride and Prejudice together when it first was on television.

Color sounds very interesting.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Everyone likes Jo

sassymonkey — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:40:01 -0600

I think it's because she the most authentic character. She's strong and opinionated.

I definitely like strong women on screen too. :)

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

I've never read the Emily books

sassymonkey — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:05:54 -0600

I'm almost ashamed to admit that. I have read a lot of Montgomery's stuff though. Montgomery was pretty good at writing strong female characters. And I love Anne Elliot.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Meg Murray!

sassymonkey — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:56:46 -0600

I love her character. I really need to reread A Wrinkle in Time. It's been years. I've only read Pullman's Dark Materials. I'll have to hunt down the other because who doesn't like a Victorian detective girl?

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

The Little Princess

sassymonkey — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:54:51 -0600

I only read it and A Secret Garden for the first time a couple of years ago. I wished I has read them when I was younger.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

I liked Restoree too. Have

IshtarM — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:29:52 -0600

I liked Restoree too. Have you encountered Susan Sto-Helit in the Discworld series? She's Death's grand-daughter and what a wonderful character she is. :-)

Make Mine Science Fiction Based

Gena Haskett — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:05:28 -0600

Anne McCaffrey's Restoree has it all a kidnapped librarian taken to another planet who rescues the Regent and constantly solves problems. I read it as a teen and loved that everyone was equal but she was the container of knowledge.

This is a review of the book:
http://www.rambles.net/mccaffrey_restoree.html

It is a little dated and things change but I like a story where the woman is on level ground and is the focal point of most of the action.
Gena - Out On The Stoop

What Makes a Kick-Butt Literary Heroine?

sassymonkey — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:54:15 -0600

I like strong women. I like the women in the books I read to be strong. I don't like weak heroines that sit around waiting to be rescued. In fact, I much prefer it when they are the ones that do the rescuing. But what makes a kick-butt literary heroine? Is that they are strong? Independent? Opinionated? Do they actually have to kick butt? Or do we just need to like them? I think many people would consider Buffy to be pretty kick butt and she's all of those things (and ok, was mostly on screen but there are books). But what about Anne Shirley? Nancy Drew? Elizabeth Bennett? In my world, they all kick butt.

Anne Shirley got a BA when university degrees for women were very much not the norm. She was a trailblazer. Nancy Drew more often than not rescued herself when she got into a sticky situation and she wasn't above rescuing Ned along the way. Elizabeth Bennett was pretty kick-butt for her time. She turned down a marriage that would have secured her family's future and told off a Lady who stuck her nose into her business. She was no simpering wallflower.

At Racy Romance Reviews Jessica talks about her view of kick-ass heroines.

My own understanding of the term “kick ass” as an adjective is either “really great” (a “kick ass movie”), which is not the sense that’s at issue here, or “really powerful, forceful, effective”. I can cheer for a kick ass heroine because she’s strong in a way and at a time that matters. She doesn’t merely have the right beliefs and stick to them — she acts on them, and impacts others by doing so.

I love that definition. Really, really love it.

The Anne Shirley's and the Elizabeth Bennett's of the literary world aren't pin-up girls either. The other characters in the Anne books find Anne ugly (we all remember that wonderful scene with Rachel Lynde) or lovely (Gilbert Blythe, natch). We are frequently reminded in Pride and Prejudice that Elizabeth is attractive but that her older sister Jane is the beautiful one. The kick-butt heroines in books are attractive, but not because of their physical appearance. Author Kat Richardson talks about the beauty thing and heroines.

A while ago I got an email from a fan who, just in passing, referred to my protagonist as “a beautiful woman.” This threw me a little because I’ve never described Harper as beautiful. Rather I think I’d taken pains to describer her as ordinary-looking except for her height. She’s a bit too thin and there’s certainly nothing outstanding about her looks. She has plain brown hair and plain brown eyes and small breasts on an athlete’s body hidden under layers of boring clothes. No Marilyn Monroe figure, no gorgeous hair or designer clothes. She’s a working stiff and the sort of person you wouldn’t notice under most circumstances.

The ordinary person who could be you or I is the one that we are most attracted to and they kick butt because of their actions, not because of their looks. At Random Top Five Sabrina lists her favourite literary heroines, who range from Victoria Leonard to Wendy Darling. Pretty Face reflects on the fashion style of her literary heroines and it's not all frills and fluffs.

Even the austere Jane Eyre takes pride in her simple grey silk dress, a garment which has always stuck in my mind as something I'd like to wear.

What makes a kick-butt heroine and who are your favourites?

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.