Too passive. Too reactive. Not reactive enough. Doesn’t fight enough. Fights too much. She’s not allowed to have power. She’s rescued too much.
Today, I’ve been contemplating on the roles of YA females. And much like grown women, teenage girls just can’t seem to win. Now, I have shamefully been one of those people who has critiqued teenage girls in fiction. Mostly because they are too introspective and process everything internally. As a former teenage girl and one who still gets to watch teenage girls, I can attest that so many are shrill, loud, vivacious creatures whatever the setting. I attended public high school, people. Girls are hormonal, prone to rage fits, dramatic, introspective, reactive, passive, passive-aggressive. Basically, girls have many of the same reactions that boys do as teenagers.
So, how long will the world of YA fiction continue expecting teenage girls to be perfect? Especially in high-stakes settings? It’s difficult enough for YA females to win on any given day no matter the setting. Hence the meme..
When I consider this “Girls Can’t Win” message and how it has landed hard upoon my main character, I find it to be a double-edged sword. Why? Because at heart, Serenity is a physical assault victim and a sexual exploitation victim.
Some time ago, The Aviary was accused of propagating a Pretty Woman stereotype despite my very clear intention of refuting this in my AUTHOR’S NOTE. Still, I wrote a counter piece to combat this: Seven Reasons Why Serenity Falls for Luc (And Why It Makes Her Human). What can I say? As an Enneagram Eight, others’ hatred provides me fuel!
However, there is something more disturbing about recent backlash to Serenity’s character and her extremes of either high reaction or inability to fight: criticism of sexual assault victims. At the end of the day, this is what Serenity is: a victim. So, let us explore…why doesn’t Serenity fight more?
- Underage: As I stated in the above linked post, Serenity is an underage girl, a minor who has been taken from her home, her life. Forced into a foreign environment, Serenity has no idea how to react or how to behave other than defaulting to her own coping mechanisms. For a good majority of women and girls in the sex trade, survival strategies and dissociation is the norm. Just like them, Serenity has her own coping mechanisms. Her own ways of fighting and not fighting. Her own ways of reacting and not reacting. They are hers to own. Should we slander her for them? Sadly, it is quite normal for our culture to demonize those in prostitution and even domestic abuse for not leaving or not fighting. Serenity’s case is simply more complex.
- Her Parents: Another unfortunate occurrence of Serenity’s castigation: no blame falls on her parents. After all, Serenity’s parents made a habit of leaving their daughter unattended, of keeping her sheltered, of leaving her ill-equipped and unprepared to deal with the horrors of the world outside her windows. Perhaps they could have at least given her some self-defense lessons. Is it practical, conceivable, and dare I say it compassionate to expect more out of Serenity? Particularly with the setting.
- The Setting: The Aviary is a feat of technological security. With the very walls inside comprised of cameras, drones, security members on every corner, and an invisible laser fence guarding the entire property, can we truly fault Serenity for not trying to escape further? Especially when she’s already experienced the world outside the Aviary i.e The Glass District where she was sold? It can also be argued that Serenity still took advantage of opportunities for escape as shown in the second half of the book during Luc and his escort of her in The Glass District. But a failed attempt. Again, Serenity is not perfect. And the book is called The Aviary not The Glass District.
- Skylar: If there was one change I could make to my books, it would be Skylar apologizing to Serenity. After all, he is the one charged with protecting her. Unfortunately, instead of getting her out immediately as he knew her parents would have wanted, he decided to play on her trust in him. The one person she knew she could trust in the Museum. But in doing so, Skylar put her in the middle of a high-risk scenario. Would I have written his character differently? No. But I would have written an apology in the matter so he could take responsibility and own his mistakes. Authors are always learning.
- Goals: Serenity’s first goal in The Aviary is to escape. Until she’s presented with the scenario where she could set her parents free. Both of these goals conflict. Serenity is caught in the middle. Especially when she has no ability or resources on her own to escape. So, Serenity chooses to play along. Regardless of counter-voices who would argue this is passive, Serenity makes a clear choice, misguided based on her trust in Skylar, but a choice nonetheless. There is an action behind her lack of action. A motivation behind her remaining still. Ironically, I have seen this trope in YA fiction a great deal. Best-selling YA fiction. The only difference is that the YA females were passive to begin with and not highly reactive. It is when Serenity makes the choice to stunt her usual coping mechanisms of reactivity in order to find her parents that she must resort to others: namely dissociation. If she’s going to remain in the cage for the present, she might as well pretend it’s a pretty cage and that her captor isn’t such a bad guy after all. Another common experience for victims.
Perhaps another bonus point would be how The Aviary is 1st in a Series of five books. Of course, my protagonist is flawed. She’s got to have issues to work through over the series. If I made her perfect, there would be no growth and no point to having multiple books.
It’s a shame people review books without finishing them. Critique them without wading through the last half of the book where the majority of protagonist transformation occurs. If they did, they would have discovered where not only Serenity fights on behalf of the girls around her, fights with other girls, and where Serenity ultimately uses violence against her captor to – SPOILER – escape and succeeds in escaping! i.e “I am uncaged!”
I still hope for a world in which girls can win. Where girls aren’t penalized for having conflicting emotions but boys are fully permitted. Where girls can be both passive, passive-aggressive, and highly reactive all within the same hour!
And above all, I hope for a world where assault and exploitation victims are not blamed for not fighting, not escaping, not leaving. Instead, we should point the finger first at their captors, at their buyers, and at the culture. Instead of wondering why she didn’t fight, I am demanding, “Why aren’t you fighting for her?”
This is me fighting for Serenity.