Tag Archives: fantasy

The false male archetype: possession and protection in YA fiction

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So, I seem to come across a reoccurring theme in the literary world: the possessive teenage boyfriend.  This frustrates me, because it’s confusing for young girls (and women.  I mean, who are we kidding?).  Already, girls go through elementary school learning that if a boy likes them, then they’re mean to them.  This sets us up for romantic failure early in life, and in my opinion, is why girls go for the “bad boy,” end up with jerks and douchebags.  It’s all part of the conditioning we receive from childhood and it takes a good amount of maturity – and a fair amount of bad experiences – to figure out that our way of thinking is wrong.

But back to the literary world: the possessive boyfriend is not an archetype we need to embrace.  We all know that men are naturally protective; they’re the hunters, the warriors.  No, I’m not stereotyping, it’s just the way God made men.  Women are naturally more emotional; they’re sensitive, the caregivers.  Again, not a stereotype, or a jab at neo-feminism or anything like that.  It’s just the way God made us women.  All of that being said, the natural protective nature that many men possess should not be confused with unhealthy possessive behavior.  Yet, in all of the YA books I’ve read lately, the hot, sexy, romantic, passionate main male character is also a possessive freak.

Sure, a lot of times, he learns his lesson, but not after seriously doubting the lead female in her abilities to take care of herself, to think for herself, and to be her own woman.  I won’t even go into what all of this doubting and double-guessing the female lead’s decisions does subliminally to readers – that’s for another post.  This post is all about the fact that protective does not equal possessive.  Can I get an “Amen”?

Exhibit A:

“His forehead bumped softly against mine, his brilliant silver gaze searing into me. ‘I plan to keep you, from everyone, for as long as I’m alive.  That includes Puck, the false king, and anyone else who would take you away.’  One corner of his mouth quirked, as I struggled to catch my breath under his powerful scrutiny. ‘I guess I should’ve warned you that I have a slight possessive streak.’” (The Iron Queen, by Julie Kagawa)

They start making out afterwards.  What’s wrong with this scene?  EVERYTHING!  It teaches girls that if a guy loves you – and in this case is willing to die for you – then he’s going to be possessive, and “keep you, from everyone.”  NO!!  This is not love: this is possession and obsession.  It’s unhealthy.  Because in the real world, teens aren’t up against a false Iron king.  They’re not battling the Voluturi.  Lives are NOT on the line, yet when girls read fantasy novels, they start to think that real romance is like this – a life and death, soul-possessing passion.  It’s not.

Exhibit B:

“As I drove home, I wasn’t paying much attention to the road that shimmered wetly in the sun.  I was thinking about the flood of information Jacob had shared with me, trying to sort it out, to force it all to make sense.  Despite the overload, I felt lighter.  Seeing Jacob smile, having all the secrets thrashed out…it didn’t make things perfect, but it made them better.  I was right to have gone. Jacob needed me.  And obviously, I thought as I squinted into the glare, there was no danger.

“It came out of nowhere.  One minute there was nothing but bright highway in my rearview mirror.  The next minute, the sun was glinting off a silver Volvo right on my tail.

“‘Aw, crap,’ I whimpered.

“I considered pulling over.  But I was too much of a coward to face him right away.  I’d been counting on some prep time…and having Charlie nearby as a buffer.  At least that would force him to keep his voice down.

“The Volvo followed inches behind me.  I kept my eyes on the road ahead.

“Chicken through and through, I drove straight to Angela’s without once meeting the gaze I could feel burning a hole in my mirror.”

After Bella’s little car chase scene, she runs up the steps to Angela’s door was soon as Edward Cullen is out of sight.  She hears another car around the corner: “the sound didn’t scare me…[it was] nothing like the purr of the Volvo.” (Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer).

I hate this part of the series (and don’t get me wrong, the books by Kagawa and Meyers are great, and I’m a fan.  What I’m not a fan of are the possessive guys in both sagas.)

Why do I bring up these two examples?  Because I know that many young readers hit this site, based on the keywords they search, so The Iron Fey and Twilight seem like effective examples.  Girls…no, I’ll amend that to LADIES, because even if you are young, you’re still a lady.  Ladies, your boyfriend should never scare you.  You should never be kept from friends, family, or pursuits by a guy you’re dating.  You should never be scared that he’s going to find out you were hanging out with a friend of yours that he may not like.  You should always be able to have a relationship with a guy that doesn’t include fear and a possessive attitude.

Some guys will want to protect you.  If someone’s saying something about you at school, a good boyfriend will have your back.  Likewise, if you’re a little older and you’re in a restaurant or bar and some guy is harassing you, a good boyfriend will make sure you’re okay, be willing to take care of the situation, but be even more willing to let you take care of it.

Despite what the literary world is telling you ladies, possessive behavior is not the same as protective, healthy behavior.  Can I get an “amen?”  No one owns you.  Don’t let some guy you’re dating act like he does.  And another word of advice, ladies: don’t act like you own him.  You don’t.

If any of you have come across a great YA book/series that features a sexy, yummilicious male lead who is NOT possessive, please, please tell me in a comment below.  I’m sure there are some great male leads out there who don’t border on abusive behavior, and I’d love to read some of these guys.

Keyword Shenanigans

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That’s right folks.  I’m procrastinating writing real stuff by engaging in goofy bloggery.  Hey, it’s a Monday.  I gotta ease into this craziness.  Anyways, my keyword word searches have been such a fan favorite that I think it’s time for another installment.  (Check out previous posts here and here.)  Alright. Here we go.  You know the drill.  These are actual keyword phrases that have led people to the site.  I’m not really sure how they’ve gotten people here, but it is what it is.

I’m in a love triangle, what do I do? Get the friggen frack out.  Now!  Okay, that’s hardly constructive, but thank you for adding some inspiration to my dating eBook, you troubled anonymous dating freak, you.  Kidding, kidding.  I don’t know that you’re troubled; it just sounds that way.  Okay, first what kind of love triangle are you in?  I assume you’re a chick because dudes usually don’t care if they’re in a love triangle; it’s usually perceived as a good thing to have two chicks fighting over you, and well, this is kind of a Nancy kinda question for a guy to be Googling.  But, maybe I’m wrong; it’s been known to happen.  Okay, first step, without knowing ANY of the details, is for you to figure out what YOU have done wrong.  Are you leading a girl on?  Are you “the other woman?”  Assess the situation and/or message me with more deets.  Can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.  Also, good luck with all that.

saying, you are now entering “the twilight zone” Clearly, you’re not old enough to remember this show.

 

 

You’re welcome.

hurl to frown at not aware WHAT?!?  That doesn’t even make any sense.  “hurl to frown at not aware”?  What on earth…?  Okay, wait.  Maybe I’m looking at this too soberly.  Maybe it’s a set of directions: Take “hurl” to “frown” [because no one likes to hurl, even when they're drunk and it doesn't hurt *not that I would know what that's like* and in my non-experience, I've found such actions make me frown], turn left at “not aware,” and continue straight on to What-The-Hell-Did-I-Do-Last-Night-Ville.  Yeah, there you go.  That makes a little more sense.  *snort*

ifgirlsonly knew how to use a space bar?  Also, this ain’t Twitter.  If it were, you’re missing your hashtag.

decree of paper work Huh? Do you mean a certain degree of paperwork?  Or a piece of paperwork that is a decree?  Notice that “paperwork” is all one word, while we’re on the subject.  I’m sorry I can’t help you with this; I frankly haven’t got a clue about what you’re looking for.  Good luck.

how do you know when you’ve crossed the line of stalking? Right there.  Right FREAKIN’ there!!!!  If you’re asking the question, you’ve crossed the line.  If you’re worried about it, chances are you have something to worry about.  Relationships involve two people.  If you’re the only involved person in the “relationship,” chances are it’s not actually a relationship and you’re just a freak. 

not cool dude: Dude, so not cool.  Dude.  Also, where’d you leave your time traveling phone booth?

Edward Cullen: Ha! I have nothing more to say about this sparkly, possessive, over-protective, mildly freaky vampire.  I’m just a keyword hog and this got someone else here! Muahahahaha!!!

you know you’re a writer when you own it.  You call yourself a writer.  Oh, and you actually write.  Can’t be a writer just ’cause you say you are.  You have to contribute to the writing world in one form or another, published or not.  Godspeed.

pictures of books!  I love your enthusiasm!  I don’t think exclamation points are used enough!  Seriously! Why do you love books so much?!  And why do you get so excited over the pictures of said books?!  Did you see how I did that question mark + exclamation point thing?! Hey! I did it again!  Because you’ve committed yourself to the obvious gratuitous use of exclamation points, here’s a picture of some of my own books!  Enjoy! 

why do puck and ash dislike each other  Because they both have penises. Oh, wait, was that crass?  Okay, um, they’re both guys in love with the same girl.  Actually, that’s only part of it.  You need to read The Iron Fey series.  It has to do with the death of someone special to Ash in the past.  He pretty much blames Puck for it.  That’s all I’m giving you.

how to change your username again facebook  Yeah, I can’t help you, but I’m wondering why you’re wanting to change it AGAIN.  Did you engage in some stalkery behavior?  Do we need to have a chat?  What’s going on with you?  How’s that working out for you?  Yes, I totally went all Dr. Phil on you and I’m not apologizing.  Why don’t you ask Facebook about changing your username again?

And that’s it for today, my lovelies.  Happy Monday, and let’s keep the shenanigans to a minimum, m’kay?

The “Love Triangle”

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Okay authors, I have a plea for you: can we STOP with the love triangle thing?  Especially you young adult (YA) writers?  I’ve begun reading a series by Julie Kagawa – The Iron Fey.  They’re YA fantasy books, and I’ll be the first to admit I like these types of stories because YA books tend to be lighter and don’t really deal with “adult” issues that can kinda drag the reader down.  Although, I will devour a Nick Hornby whenever I get the chance, and those are far from peppy. 

My problem with Kagawa’s books, though, is that there’s this love triangle thing kind of winding up, and I’m kinda exhausted by it.  I realize that I’m still in book one, but oh my freaking literary hell.  The main character, Meghan (I like her name) is kinda starting to get caught between Puck – yes, the “real” Puck – and this winter fairy prince dude, Ash.  The guys hate each other already, because they’re from two different fairy camps and there’s this history between the two – yet to be revealed.  Insert teenage jealousies, and BAM! you have the recipe for every dang YA book I seem to come across.

I realize YA authors are pandering to their crowd a bit.  Teen girls always want two guys fighting over them – until they realize that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be – and come on let’s face it, the formula works:

Slightly awkward plain Jane girl has childhood friend who has always been there at her side.  She starts to notice that he’s not the same little boy she grew up with, he’s actually kinda hot, but she doesn’t feel that way about him – that would be like dating her brother.  Enter dark, brooding stranger…

*PAUSE* Girls, do you know what a dark, brooding stranger means in real life?  Either 1) a sadist intent on hurting/stalking/kidnapping you, or 2) a freaking mental case who is so high maintenance that you don’t even want to deal with him because sadly he’s more of a girl than you are.

Anyway, that’s the formula, and I’m sorry, but as a reader, I think I’d like to see something different.  I realize that’s some good conflict in that there love triangle, and props to those who have done it in the past.  I mean, let’s face it: male territorial shenanigans are fun to write and totally realistic, but holy guacamole!!  Can we find something else to stir things up. 

We have Edward vs. Jacob; Jace vs. Simon; now Puck vs. Ash.  Will it NEVER end?! 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really enjoying Kagawa’s books; I kind of imagine them as Anime actually because there’s this talking cat, and all this fantasy stuff swirling around.  I also like that there are curse words in the books, because teenagers have horrible language most of the time.  The characters haven’t really dealt with “adult” issues yet, mainly just stuff that can be roughly translated to issues with authority, but they’re entertaining.  I do think it’s time to pick up a Hornby book or similar though, just for a change of pace.  AND, I’m not going to do the best-friend-who-wants-more-versus-the-hot-stranger-fighting-over-the-normal-girl thing in any of my stories.

Exploring the Psyche

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So I’m trying to write more flash fiction.  I’m limiting it to 1,000 words every time, but not requiring myself to stay within a certain genre and not requiring a minimum of words for the flashing.   This is an exercise in working writing muscles I didn’t even know I had.  To write such small bits of fiction seemed like a foreign concept to me.

I blame graduate school.  In grad school, you have to pound out all of these long-winded, uber-wordy, technical projects.  This is great in an academic situation, but I’ve found that it makes my fiction a wordy mess, full of unnecessary description and lots of compound sentences.  For me, flash fiction a hard exercise, but also a release of sorts.  Kind of like ab crunches.

It has been hard for me to contain a story within 1,000 words, especially when long 70,000+ novels, 20,000+ theses, and 10,000+ research papers are what I’m used to cranking out.  1,000 words seems so limiting, but then at the same time, it’s so freeing.  Every single word must count for something.  You can’t waste time on descriptions when you need to get some juicy dialogue in there.  You can’t limit yourself by what you think should be in the story; you just have to write it.

I had to start reading some flash fiction to get a feel for the pace and form.  It’s pretty much just like writing a scene from a book, but for me, it has to have a definite beginning, middle, and end.  Squished into 1,000 words or less. 

What does this do to me?  Apparently, it opens up the imaginative flood gates.  I completed a short 700-ish bit of flash fiction this morning, and it’s a mildly dark.  Apparently, I am not one of those writers opposed to killing off characters – even “good guy” characters.  Also, I apparently like digging into the paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy world.  I never would have expected this, but it’s the way that my stories are going. 

It also reveals parts of my psyche to me.  I suppose it’s true that we all have a dark side; I just didn’t realize my dark side included brain munching zombies. 

I’ll post the bit of flash sometime soon, and I’m thinking of putting a compilation together in the form of an e-book.  We shall see.

Anyway, I’m hardly in the position to impart writing advice, but I’ve found that working in the world of flash fiction is helping me so much that I thought I’d recommend it to anyone dealing with writer’s block or a dammed-up flow of creative juices.  Hey, we’re all in this writing world together!  Good luck out there.