Girls are not peripheral: Time to kill the ‘Smurfette principle’

[Neoma]

In her classic 1991 article, “The Smurfette Principle,” Katha Pollitt argued that in the majority of media “The message is clear. Boys are the norm, girls the variation; boys are central, girls peripheral; boys are individuals, girls types. Boys define the group, its story and its code of values. Girls exist only in relation to boys.”

Or, as Barbara Creed, author of The Monstrous Feminine, might put it, males are the norm, the central heroes in media narratives, while females and femininity are made monstrous.

As I prepared to attend Comic-Con to promote my new book, I though a lot about female characters and the roles they play in the type of narratives Comic-Con features. In what follows, I offer some thoughts on three very well known Comic-Con-esque characters: Hermione Granger, Sookie Stackhouse, and Bella Swan.

Thankfully, in Deathly Hallows: Part 2 girls are not a variation nor are they singled out as girls or monsters, rather, they are equally as vital, as strong, as smart, and, sometimes, as evil. As noted at This Girl on Girls, this is in keeping with the spirit of the books, wherein “JKR did not go out of her way to make women seem stronger and superior to men in the book, but rather wrote a series that showed men and women as equals – they can be equally evil, equally smart, and equally brave.”

Link

Okay, okay. So I might have posted this because I'm a fan of Harry Potter.

[Loudmxr]

1. Little girls are in your face ... with joy and laughter.

You give them the least little thing their face lights up.

And when they give you a gift.. that same look shines over their face expecting you to be happy.

Which I am.

From the day I first held the child in my arms... when she graduated 1st grade. My godchild Chloe has been a treasure to my life.

And now she is a smartass like ...me. How I love her.

[TexasProgresive]

2. I agree

I'm a fan of "The Princess Bride" but Buttercup is such a Smurfette.

[Whisp]

3. even Moms are smurfettes in some movies. too many of them.

we've all seen it. for an example: Some predator invades a house with a family of a mom and her 2 kids, a boy and a girl. The boy is much younger but takes charge and shows his brilliant leadership and calm and great ideas while the whimpering females cower in fear.

There's a part in Jurassic Park, the first one. Where the young girl, her brother and Sam Neal are hiding high up in a tree. A non aggressive dinosaur comes near and 'snots' the little girl. The boys laugh at the cum all over her face.

A fight scene occurs between 2 men and a woman is present - usually in the process of being rescued by hero. The men struggle and she slinks in a corner when natural instinct would be to jump right in there to help, but no. She's a helpless damsel.

feh.

[stevenleser]

4. Interesting that they bring up Buffy as a better role model for girls. I watched with my daughter

Now my daughter is a Buffy in her own right! http://vimeo.com/15088654