Today I'm taking part in The Dark Days of January Blog Tour for Dark Parties, the debut novel from YA author Sara Grant! Read on for her brilliant post on girl power!
Girl Power
Dark Parties should come with a warning: potentially hazardous to misogynists. I can’t help it. I’m all about girl power. If you read Dark Parties, be forewarned women are the rebels. They take the risks and lead the charge. They don’t weald weapons, but they are instruments of change none the less.
Females are the perfect protagonist in a story of rebellion. Fact: women can hack pain much better than men. Let’s see: there are bras, panty hose, waxing, plucking and – don’t get me started on our monthly test of torture.
A huge thank you to Suzanne Collins. Before she created Katniss Everdeen, I’d heard a few children’s book editors say they weren’t interested in kick arse female protagonist. They didn’t think readers would be interested. Seriously?!
When I was young, I was absolutely obsessed with the TV show Charlie’s Angels. I loved that three beautiful women were catching the bad guys with brains, revolvers and style. I never understood how they could run in high heels (I tried it once with disastrous consequences), but oh-so admired them for it.
My sister and a few of the neighbourhood kids would pretend to be Charlie’s Angels – running around Northeast Ninth Street catching faux baddies. I had the board game, the dolls, the radio, a complete set of the collectable cards, not to mention that I was an official member of the Cheryl Ladd (the actress who played Kris Monroe) fan club. Sure, I found out much later, Charlie’s Angels was known as jiggle TV, but at eight years old, I wanted to be Jill, Kelly, Kris and Sabrina. In the mid-1970s, it was one of the only feminine lead dramas.
If you ask me, not much has changed. We need more female protagonists catching the villains and mixing it up for the greater good. I’ve got nothing against romance or men. There’s a love triangle in Dark Parties and a hot, mysterious leading man, who mixes it up and gives a little white knight action of his own. But most of Dark Parties is about Neva, my female protagonist, finding her voice, her power and her strength.
And, if you think Dark Parties is enough to make you burn your bra, stay tuned for my next book. It’s girl power times infinity.
Sorry boys, but it’s time for girls to rock!
Thank you, Sara, for such a fantastic post! Is it just me, or did anyone else read this post and hear Alexandra Burke singing "All the ladies tell the fellas we can do what they can do, we can do it even better in broken heels" in their head? What do you think of what Sara says? Can you think of other YA novels where the girls are showing the boys how it's done?
Dark Parties was released on 22nd December 2012. Be sure to check out Sara's website.
Thanks for having me, Jo! As far as female theme tunes...ONE GIRL REVOLUTION by SuperChic.
ReplyDeleteNo problem! I don't know that song, I'll have to look it up! :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely one of my favourite aspects of Dark Parties! We can see how different women rebel in their own ways - from protesting openly to quietly rebelling around their own lives. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it! Still yet to read this book, but I'm really looking forward to it!
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