Havoc-making Heroines in Young Adult Dystopian Literature

Abstract

This study explores the latent operation of Western gender norms in popular female-centred Young Adult (YA) dystopian texts. By examining adolescent female protagonists and the nature of their social havoc-making, this study investigates how reconstructed and recalibrated definitions of femininity ultimately re-inscribe a patriarchal status quo. The five havoc-making heroines under consideration are: Katniss Everdeen of Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games” trilogy, Saba in Moira Young’s “Dustlands” trilogy, Deuce in Ann Aguirre’s “Razorland” trilogy, Tris Prior in Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” series, and finally, Cassie Sullivan in Rick Yancey’s THE 5TH WAVE. Although these YA havoc-making heroines rebel against oppressive governmental regimes, I recognize the implicit and explicit construction of their bodies and their behaviours through male-influence. Their male counterparts play a large role in shaping how these heroines look and behave—they perform and appear as masculinized warriors and as feminized delicate beauties in accordance with the political and personal desires of male characters. Through such constructions, these contemporary havoc-makers demonstrate a collision of heroisms: they look and act as conventional action heroines and romance heroines. Including theoretical texts from the 1990s and onward that feature feminist scholarly writing on the textual and filmic representations of women—such as Dawn Heinecken’s THE WARRIOR WOMEN OF TELEVISION and Sherrie A. Inness’ TOUGH GIRLS—I investigate how these young heroines are shaped as per the genres of Action/Adventure and Romance fiction.