Thursday, January 10, 2013

Happy New Year From A Semi-Surrogate Bella

And I'm officially back! It's been an interesting year so far, with illness and injury turning my pregnancy into the Bella Swan sort, but now I'm recovering and anxious to get back to normal life!

Speaking of Bella Swan (the main character from Stephenie Meyer's YA Twilight series, if you're not familiar), I came across a great article on her today that perhaps resonated with me even more than usual since I myself am enjoying the homestretch pre-labor jitters. Bella is trashed in most literary circles for being a spineless, dependent shadow of a heroine. And I'll be honest, I prefer that my girls grow up looking up to the fierce, independent heroines I loved (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer) rather than the ones who for some 1950s throwback reason have no identity outside of their men (see Bella Swan).

But...this article gave me pause. Briefly, at least. It makes some good points about what female adolescence means today, and about the difference between depicting reality versus depicting what we wish reality could be. I'm still going to say Bella's not the best role model for my girls, but at least now I can see there may be some merit to how she is written. If you have daughters or ever plan to, read the article below:

Our Bella, Ourselves by Sarah Blackwood, via TheHairpin.com.

What kinds of role models would you like to see for your daughters?

TJ

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