Vanessa Kopp

Prof. Weigle
ILS 365
15 November 2015
YA Dystopian Novels and Womens Gender Studies
The growing popularity of young adult dystopian novels over the past few years should
not come as a shock to those who are prevalent in the study of English and literature. This rise in
admiration, however, not only comes from a general young adult population, but rather it is an
enticing premise of genre for young adult women, spanning across many different countries.
While a dystopia is defined as a repressive, totalitarian society, the surrounding characters within
these novels believe that their society is a utopia or better than it once was after some type of
written tragedy. These female protagonists then come to the realization (or they have already
realized) that their government and society is corrupt, and must find ways to overcome the
challenges their society presents them. It is this empowerment of female protagonist in young
adult dystopian novels that allows young women in present day society to feel empowered as
well, and explore their own thoughts, hopes, and fears about such.
One important factor to note in the relation of young adult dystopian novels and gender,
is the setting in which the female protagonist is placed. Hemphill (2015) takes note of the
importance of setting for the female protagonist:
Taking place in the future of what was once the United States, the novels generally follow
a young heroine who uncovers the injustice of her society and fights itThis common
setup means the story is usually one of struggle that ends in liberation, both for the
protagonist and for the society as a whole (p. 5-6).

Often this liberation comes through either a twist of fate for the female protagonist, or by the
protagonists own devices. This theme among the lead female roles spurs modern young adult
readers to go forth and change injustices within their society. Although such changes may not
end up being prevalent on a global scale, they are changes nevertheless. Essentially, these female
protagonists end up being role models for young adult women, regardless of whether their
society is corrupt or not, Role models grant a permission of sorts, a permission to behave a
certain way (Smith, 2014 p. 29).
Dystopian novels and the genre of speculative fiction attract both young men and young
women, as they present the idea of alternate societies with imagined or reinvented technologies,
means of power, ideologies, etc. Bucher (2010) states the following in reference to speculative
fiction:
For many years, speculative fiction was seen as primarily read by boysHowever, as
more female authors write quality science fiction and the number of strong female
characters in these works begins to grow, this gender-related preference is beginning to
change (p. 204).
It is also important to note that the majority of authors who have written popular young adult
dystopian novels such as Matched, Divergent, Birthmarked, and The Hunger Games, are female.
With this being said, it is safe to assume that this aspect of young adult dystopian literature that
helps promote the idea behind young women and their preference for these dystopian novels. By
defying the gender stereotyping idea that boys are more apt to read science fiction and dystopian
novels while girls are to read romanceboth fictional and historicalyoung women can read
these novels with more enthusiasm. Therefore, when they become more passionate about the

reading, they become more passionate about identifying themselves and changing the world
around them for the better.
Mentioning the concept of romance novels, most young adult dystopian novels seem to
always place their leading female protagonist with an equally established male counterpart. This,
however, does not discount the main goal of the female protagonist, but rather, it develops the
storyline. It should be noted that within YA dystopian novels in regards to love and
romance, is that this relationship development between two characters stems from
either a budding friendship or a means of survival tactics. So often in young adult
novels with character relationship developments, we see that the characters
become quite consumed with one another, and end up presenting a codependent
relationship. Such as in The Hunger Games and the Divergent series, is that the love
and romance between two characters took a back seat to the driving force/goal of
the main female character. In young adult dystopian novels, it is important to show
love and romance as a development rather than what drives a character. Sarah
Hentges, American Studies/Women Gender Studies professor at University of Maine
at Augusta, makes note in a video on her website dedicated to Girls on Fire and Girls
Culture, that, Very few YA dystopia books include sex, but almost all include a kiss
and feelings (Hentges, 2015).
One such example would be the beginning of Catching Fire where a
conversation between President Snow and Katniss, where Snow is not convinced of
the "love" between Katniss and Peeta, and sees their act of eating the poisonous
berries as a symbol of defiance against the Capitol. He also reveals that he knows
about the kiss shared between her and Gale. Further in the book, Katniss and Gale
discuss the kiss, in which there is a quote that sums up Katniss' feelings about the
whole situation regarding love and romance, "Gale, I can't think about anyone that

way now. All I can think about, every day, every waking minute since they drew
Prim's name at the reaping, is how afraid I am. And there doesn't seem to be room
for anything else" (Collins, 2009, p. 97). Regardless of the possibility of love and
romance, Katniss as a female protagonist does not let her feelings get in the way of
her main goal of protecting her family. Romance is a development, not a driving
force for the character.

As previously stated, it is this empowerment of female protagonist in young adult

dystopian novels that allows young women in present day society to feel empowered. It is
through the identification with a characterthat we are able to find the strength to face our own
challenges (Bell 2013, p. 16).

Bibliography
Bell, Marianne. (2013). An Examination of Strong Female Characters in Dystopian and PostApocalyptic Young Adult Literature. Carolina Digital Repository Masters Papers.
https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/indexablecontent/uuid:c8bc3c16-7fb8-4755-86b3-35a438983c4a
Bucher, Katherine. (2010). Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation.
Boston: Pearson Education.
Collins, Suzanne. (2009). Catching Fire. NY: Scholastic Inc.
Hemphill, Kara E. (2015). Gender and the Popular Heroines (and Heroes) of the Young Adult
Dystopia. Honors Research Projects. Paper 132.
Hentges, S. ( 2014, Jan. 1). Girls on fire 1 [Video file]. Retrieved from URL of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4eTUd4mDg&feature=youtu.be
Smith, Hannah. (2014). Permission to Diverge: Gender in Young Adult Dystopian Literature.
Gender Studies Research Papers. Paper 1.
http://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/genderstudies_studentresearch/1