There's a trope I've seen come up a number of times - from what I remember, only in YA novels with a fantasy element, though I'm sure it's something that it could work, given some tweaking, in any other genre - that troubles. I've not seen anyone else talk about it, so I thought I would bring it up.
It's the trope where a girl's insecurities and self-doubt are used against her for the sole purpose of creating conflict. She doubts, and then everything goes wrong. (This is a trope that could be used on boys, too, but I'm talking about girls because girls are the protags in the books I can remember that use this.)
So a girl, who typically doesn't think very much of herself, meets a person - generally a guy, because of romance element - and he tells her that she's special. She is smart and strong and brilliant, and maybe even has some kind of magical ability, one she's not noticed before. The girl is now thinking, "Oh, maybe I'm awesome?" But then someone else will appear - either another guy or a girl - to burst her bubble. This person will tell her that the guy is lying to her, he's just manipulating her and using her as a pawn in his own plans. They don't come right out and say "because you're nothing and nobody and so ordinary", but everything they say is with the intent of stoking those self-doubt and insecurities the girl has. This person will later turn out to be the bad guy. In this moment, however, the girl has to decide who she believes; the guy who told her she's special, or the other person who told her that he's lying, manipulating her, duping her. And, well, it's a lot easier to believe you're being lied to than to believe you're special, right? So the girl believes this other person, turns her back on the guy, and for doing so, all hell breaks loose. Conflict has been created. Girl no longer believes she can do what she's meant to - save the world, prevent disaster, etc - and so the bad guy ends up moving forward with their plans, and everyone is up the creek without a paddle.
Does this at all sound familiar? I'm not going to name books that use this trope as I don't want to spoil books for people who have yet to read them, but I think some of you may recognise this. And I hope you can see how it's actually pretty crap. And also getting pretty damn old.
I would quite like to see more books with female protagonists who don't struggle so much with their self-esteem. Who already know they're wonder, smart, capable young women - even if they're yet to discover they're somehow magical. Girls who will not fall prey to people who are cruelly exploiting their insecurities to further their own plans. Because it is cruel. I feel my heart break every time a female character who is battling her self-doubt is pretty much told that everything she thinks is true - even if she realises, by the end, that she is fantastic. There could be teens reading these books who are fighting their own insecurities, and I just don't think it's fair for them to see someone they relate to getting fed such crap from someone, and have them believe it. What is that telling these readers? Again, even if the character discovers by the end that the other guy was right.
And speaking of, why is it always a guy (or whoever) who always ends up convincing this girl that she is smart and brave and wonderful? Let's be honest here, the guy telling the girl that she's brilliant is generally a love interest. I worry these books are sending out the message that one day, someone will come along, and through their love, you will learn just how fantastic you are. No. No thank you. Let's not perpetrate the idea that a girl's - or anyone's - worth is based on how a potential boy/girlfriend sees them. Along with the girls who already know they're brilliant, let's have the girls who have insecurities to start off with, but end up discovering just how incredible they are on their own, through what they experience throughout the story. Let's not have girls' self-worth rely on other people. Let them discover it and own it for themselves. Because if a person's self-worth is reliant on what their boy/girlfriend thinks of them, what's going to happen to their self-worth if they split up? That tends not to happen so much in fiction, but it does in real life. We need more books that send out the message that it's our own opinion of ourselves that matter, and we have to realise how incredible we are on our own.
Let's leave the harmful tropes behind, eh? Lets not use a girl's insecurities against her to create conflict. Let's just have our girls being wonderful, knowing their wonderful - but not because someone told them they are.
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While I agree that we need to see more empowerment in our female YA protagonists, I think there are plenty of girls who are insecure. The protagonist can't be flawless. I'm tired of seeing that trope too, but I think it is a trait in many young girls. We need to see less of it, but I don't believe that it is unreal.
ReplyDelete"There could be teens reading these books who are fighting their own insecurities, and I just don't think it's fair for them to see someone they relate to getting fed such crap from someone, and have them believe it. What is that telling these readers? "
ReplyDeleteExcept that EVERYONE is, in their own way, insecure--and there will always be people in real life who will go out of their way to exploit these insecurities. So I agree with Carrie--while perhaps it is a trope that's used a LOT, it would be very unrealistic to suddenly start seeing "flawless" characters everywhere. We already get that in the "special snowflake" trope, as it is. I feel like readers being able to watch their favorite characters struggle with, and then overcome, obstacles such as personal insecurities only helps readers realize their own self-worth. If all we had, suddenly, were cool and confident characters...then what happens to those readers who aren't so collected? They're suddenly told that having insecurities is somehow "frowned upon" or "unnatural," and I don't think that's quite the message you want to send, either.
Interesting discussion post, though--thanks for putting it out there and sharing!
I think insecurities are probably always going to be a part of fiction because we all have them (guys and girls alike), BUT I do agree that it would be nice to see more of a character getting over her insecurities without the help of a boy.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction