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After reading the article "Strong, or strong for a Girl?" by Meg Roy, being a fan of the Suzanne's Collins' The Hunger Games and a supporter of the model Katniss sets for young women, I naturally had a negative reaction to her argument. I struggled to find where she connected a lot of her points. "Katniss's sexuality is the central focus of the audience watching at home... Katniss's beauty is what instantly earns her praise and adoration." There is not contextual evidence to support this argument, in fact, Collins specifies several times that it was her sacrifice in order to protect her sister that initially captured the capital viewers. "Her team doesn't even try to present her as a strong, capable contender," this is completely false, as Cinna, Katnisses' stylist, chooses not to dress her in a light, feminine costume, rather he puts her in a flaming suit to help her, "Make an impression." The article then goes on to comment about how the forced romance between Katniss and Peeta makes Katniss more feminine and weak, this point also confuses me. When I read and viewed the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, it only furthered the position of Katniss as a strong leader for me. Reversing the stereotypical roles by having Katniss be the stronger protector of the duo, I struggle to see how their relationship weakens Katniss. The writer of the article at one point refers to the time when Katniss is caring for the injured Peeta as a "cliched 'wounded-soldier-delicate-nurse' sequence," I'm not sure how this is relevant, as in no way is Katniss delicate and though she may heal Peeta, she does this by going off to the cornucopia to fight to get the medicine. This article was very confusing for me, and though she made a lot of bold statements, I would have liked to see her back up those arguments with evidence.
3 Comments
Kellen
3/26/2014 02:30:02 pm
I think what Roy was going for was not bashing what Katniss does have, but instead highlighting the double standard inherent in some of the things Katniss does. Though her prep team does indeed help her make a statement, Katniss' inner monologue during her debut and after focuses a lot on how pretty/beautiful/striking/good she looked and how attractive tributes often gain more sponsors than unattractive ones. Her prep team dressed her in fire, but also made sure she was beautiful and feminine looking because strength in a woman must be tempered by beauty.
Molly Montgomery
3/26/2014 11:16:52 pm
I totally agree, I really don't think that Roy grasped the point of the novel, and that everyone involved in the hunger games is exploited because that is the nature of the competition.
Augusta
3/30/2014 03:06:54 pm
I definitely agree with you and I discussed similar topics in my blog as well. I wasn't extremely pleased with how Roy addressed the effect of Katniss's sexuality in the novel. I like your statement about Katniss's outfit during the parade. I agree with you on how she was dressed in a bold costume to "make a statement" and was even called "the girl on fire" to show the impression she was made on the audience. I also agree with you in that I think Roy could have maybe made her argument clearer by using more evidence. Leave a Reply. |