Firstly, in her article “Katniss: Strong, or Strong for a Girl?” Meg Roy makes a comparison between The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and states one of her problems with the former and all other books in which the protagonist is female: that Katniss “must engage in a heteronormative relationship.” To which, I immediately asked the question, ‘didn’t Harry too?’ I would imagine that she would respond to my question with a comment about how Harry did not need his relationships to be successful while to Katniss, a relationship was imperative. But, I would disagree with that too.
Meg Roy argues that a “fake romance” would not have been essential to Peeta’s survival and that Katniss plays the “wounded-solder-delicate-nurse” role when she saves Peeta’s life. I, however, think that the opposite is true: Peeta could not have survived without Katniss’s help, as evinced by her assuming the role of a doctor when Peeta is so injured that he comes close to facing death. In this same moment, there is a romantic element between the two protagonists in which “Katniss garners sympathy from the viewers” in order to obtain resources from them. Roy implies that this is an exemplification of anti-feminist values, relying on a romantic relationship rather than her strength of self to gain likability; however, I believe that Katniss was simply being intelligent. Not to mention, men can pull at people’s heartstrings too.
Lastly, Roy takes issue with the fact that Katniss must be made “more feminine” in order to be successful in the Games rather than simply being presented as a “strong, capable contender.” To this, I first must note that beauty, in reality, is an element noted to be a factor of success in both women and men. Secondly, the fact that
her team portrays her as “the feminine ideal” could quite simply be social commentary, not at all anti-feminist, saying that dolling girls up for reality shows, etc. when that’s not who they really are negatively affects viewers
perceptions of an ideal. In my opinion, the fact that Katniss continuously resists the desire to make her beautiful, wears her braid in the games as she would at home, and acts according to her own standards makes her an exemplary role model for young girls.
Dargis states “Katniss nurtures and she kills, and she does both extremely well,” which I think epitomizes the truth of Katniss’ agenda in and outside of the games. She is the provider for her family, risking her life for them on a daily basis, while also caring for them in a more traditionally “motherly” way; moreover, she wins the Games by killing who she must kill and surviving as she must survive…surely no easy feat. She does this not because of Peeta, but with him by choice. And her beauty simply exemplifies her role as “a rugged individualist who picked herself up by her fashionable bootstraps”…evening out gender roles a little bit don’t you think?