If there’s one story that everyone knows, it’s that of
Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were placed on Earth and given the instructions to
not eat the fruit from a tree. A serpent tempted Adam and Eve, and Eve gave in
and ate an apple from the tree. This story makes women look like weak beings
who give in to every temptation. But did you know that as soon as Eve ate the
apple, she handed it off to Adam who also took a bite without hesitation?
Womankind’s poor portrayal in literature is probably due to the fact that one
of Earth’s earliest stories started the fire.
We were taught from childhood that women are weaker than
men, and we need saving. Take Rapunzel for example. She is locked in a tower,
and a prince climbs up her long hair and saves her. I’m pretty sure she could
have made a rope or ladder of some sort in the many years she sat up there. She
could have easily saved herself, but instead she waited for Prince Charming to
come along and save the day. When I have kids, that’s not the kind of story I
want to read to them!
However, as much as the ‘weak girl in need of saving’
storyline is played out, you can also find some inspirational heroines. There
are many famous characters, timeless classics, to even the most recent books.
Scout Finch, Matilda Wormwood, Jane Eyre, and even Katniss Everdeen, and so
many more female characters knew exactly what to do and when to do it in order
to stand up for themselves, and be courageous in everything they did. If more
of these females could appear in literature, I think more people would realize
just how empowering women could really be.
Now let’s discuss the other side of literature, the
author. Women authors sometimes sign their books with a pen name. Louisa May
Alcott, author of Little Women, wrote under A.M. Barnard, because men authors
were taken more seriously than women authors. Sadly, the same thing happens
today. J.K. Rowling, author of the worldwide sensation, the Harry Potter
series, is a female who wanted to target a mixed gender audience, but feared
that her work would not be accepted by male readers, so she used a pen name
that made it harder to tell her gender. But even with mysterious pen names and
old fashioned mindsets, some of the greatest writers are women.
With so many characters that show girls as housewives,
simpletons, and incapable people, sometimes it’s hard to find any female empowerment
in literature. But with amazing writers and the feisty female characters we all
know and love, we can all feel a little more confident with women’s role in
society.
-Julia Ma
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