Strong Female Protagonists

Lately I have been thinking about gender and reading. Recently I have read quite a few articles about how boys don't read and various other gender/reading divides. I have also read quite a bit about the stories written for girls and the stories written for boys. Today I read an article about stories (both book and movies) for girls...aka stories for preteen and teen girls to read and feel inspired by. It just so happens that I also read an article about how kick-ass Ginny Weasley is. So...needless to say that I felt inspired to add my thoughts about the divide.

First of all, without no regard to actual studies, I think it is fair to say that on average girls read more fiction than boys. I think it is also fair to say off the cuff that more stories are written with a male protagonist, especially books where the main character kicks ass. This may be more of a generalization of movies, but if you think about "the classics" or any sort of sci-fi/fantasy, it is a male character who is leading the fight. For example, pretty much anything by Mark Twain, Charles Dickins, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, most comic books (again with the generalizing), Captain Underpants, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman...you get what I'm saying. A lot of popular books have a male lead. Now, there are a lot of kick-ass chicks in a lot of those books. Stardust and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman both have pretty awesome females who are fairly center, but the main character is still a guy. Harry Potter has Hermione, Ginny, McGonagall, Umbridge, Luna, etc. but they are all second to Harry, Dumbledor, Snape, Voldemort.

My thought is that girls are plenty willing to read a book that features a guy--I would never turn down a book with a great plot just because the main character is a guy--but a boy may not want to read a book, regardless of the plot, if the main character is a girl. Which is kinda weird and unfortunate. I would hope that boys would read books with female protagonists, like Hunger Games. I am too lazy to really research that and I don't really feeling like blogging about that topic right now. Instead, this is now going to focus on stories that feature super bad-ass females front and center! Let's call it my top 10 (though I will probably miss some of my favorites)

1) Lyra Belacqua from His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman--Lyra rocks, like hardcore. And yes, in the second book she acquires Will who is kind of a main character too, but really secondary. Lyra does what she wants, ignores the rules given to her, fights for what she believes in, goes through Hell, figuratively and literally, and goes to great lengths to save someone she loves. Awesome.

2) Sally Lockhart from the Sally Lockhart Series by Philip Pullman--Again with the hardcore rocking! Sally is 16, self-sustaining, willing to fight, and willing to do what is necessary to survive. Very bad-ass.

3) Suze Simon from The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot--Suze kinda likes to fight. Not people, just ghosts. And she is willing to go to great lengths to save her ghost-in-distress. And she stands up for herself against the vaguely evil, definitely bad, super hot guy who is trying to seduce her. No one pushes Suze around. Also, she really doesn't like following rules, which is always fun in a bad-ass! Also, she hangs out with a hot ghost. What could be better?

4) Heather Wells from Size 12 is Not Fat, et. al. by Meg Cabot--Heather solves murders. In the dorm that she works in. Cha! What could be more bad-ass. And she used to be a teen pop star, but stood up for herself and now writes her own music that totally kicks all sorts of ass.

5) Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--Katniss gets chosen as one of 24 teens who must fight to the death in a giant arena for the viewing pleasure of the government. Dystopian, much? But fight she does. And with so much ass kicking. Though with some reservations as killing your peers is never fun. But still, the girl is a survivor and a fighter and totally bad-ass.

6) Norah Silverberg from Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan--This one is sort of a cheat as Nick and Norah are both main characters, but it is exactly divided and Norah is pretty damn awesome. She kicks ass in that she kinda just does whatever the hell she feels like unless giving a very convincing reason to do otherwise. I like a main female character who refuses to be passive. Super bad-ass without actually kicking any ass.

7) Margaret Rose Kane from The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg--Margaret is a bad-ass chick because she stands up for her self no matter what and she fights the system when she believes in something. Also, she knows when to ask for help, when to allow things to happen, and when to make things happen. Fabulous role model for girls (and boys) everywhere.

8) Sookie Stackhouse from The Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris--Sookie, as with all of Charlaine Harris's female protagonists kicks ever so much ass. A lot of the time it is literal ass that is being kicked. Sookie is a bit of a romantic, what with dating a vampire and all, but also does not take crap from anyone. And is the only human who is willing to stand up to the vampires who could rip her face off with no problem. And wouldn't really hesitate to do so. Also, Sookie does not necessarily forgive a guy just because she is "in love". Once mad, she must be convinced otherwise. Also, did I mention that she can kill vampires! Bad. Ass.

9) Any female lead in any Karen Marie Moning book--You probably don't want to encourage young girls to read Moning as she writes romances and they aren't what I would call sweet and innocent. But for older teens/college kids/adults...absolutely. A lot of romance novels have the female be all love struck and weak and lame. But not Karen Marie Moning. Her females are fierce and feisty and kick-ass and always keep the boys in check. Speaking of which, Meg Cabot romance novels have the same sort of leads. Most romance novels that I enjoy have strong female leads.

10) Annie Walker from Covert Affairs--Yeah, there are other books that I could list, but really I think a big shout out needs to be given to Piper Perabo and her portrayal of CIA agent Annie Walker. Walker kicks so much ass it isn't even funny. And she kicks literal ass along with intellectual ass. She is versed in a ridiculous number of languages and is one of the top trainees the CIA has ever had. And she has the ability to be friends with the guys she works with without any of the usual romance that would normally be in a show like that.

Do you have any other books that feature kick-ass chicks? Let me know! I am always in the market for new books that feature strong female characters.