Girl power?

There's nothing wrong with that phrase, I don't think. It didn't use to bother me when I heard it used...until, that is, I heard reviewers refer to my books as a "tribute to girl-power." Now it bothers me, and I'm trying to reason out why. My reaction doesn't really make sense, I think, because the phrase is meant to be complimentary, and yet it feels insulting--not to me or my books necessarily, but to girls in general.

First, I'm not setting out to write girl-power books, I think I simply have books where the main characters are usually girls. Just because they succeed, it's girl power? Just because they're not wimpy? Though sometimes they are wimpy and scared and fail and mess up, and they don't do everything on their own, they need family and friends around them to help. Is every book that has a main boy character who does stuff instantly a boy power book? I do not set out to make feminist statements (though there's nothing wrong with that). I never started a book and had a thought like, "I want to show the world that girls can be active and interesting, too!" That would be ludicrious. In my mind, I'm just writing about girl characters who are realistic. Is that so unusual? It was last century, but there are plenty of books now where realistic girls take active roles.

I don't know, am I off base here? Or has anyone else twinged at the phrase?

Comments

[Mads]

You are not being weird, that's for sure. Personally, I always found the saying very, um, maddening. Maybe your problem is that you are thinking of all the girly-girls out there that are just so fake. That is usually how I think of the saying when it comes to mind.
Maybe because the books put girls in a really good role-modelish way.
I wonder what they will say when everyone reads River Secrets? What a boy power book? I highly doubt that.
Sorry if I am a little off-subject here. My mind is all muddled now because of the question!

[Mads]

I forgot to add that yes, I mostly cringe at the saying every time I hear it. But that doesn't stop from reading the books that are good! The reason that I have concluded from looking over your blog again is that you weren't expecting that kind of praise and never pictured your books in that way.

[Taylor]

You make an honest complaint, That has always bothered me, (secretly it reminds me of the powerpuff girls, for no apparent reason.) I am so glad that you write about REAL girls, not too girly, or too friendly, or too perfect, you write real life people. But the comment really is stereotyping.

[Jessica]

The problem with the phrase "girl power" is that it implies there's something extra-amazing about the idea of a girl with power. It's saying, WOW! An active, strong heroine! How cute! It's meant to be empowering (I suppose), but it's actually degrading because it draws attention to the gender of the protagonist and makes it into an issue when it shouldn't be.

[Erin]

I don't really care for that phrase, personally. Whenever I hear it to describe a book, I think of a story that must make all guys wimpy and all girls amazing (which yours most definitely don't). I love your books, but I would never choose that phrase to describe them!

[Hwalk]

I would say I probably would be angrier than you are. Girl-power all of a sudden trivializes a realistic book and says its trying to make a statement when all the book is doing is being entertaining and realistic. And the phrase reminds me of hot pink and giggling girls who use their high heels to defeat criminals, not anything realistic. And it also suggests that there was a time where girls didn't have any power, and that they need power. Which I disagree with. Their power was just misunderstoond and now the feminists are trying to get power to the girls that should be left to the guys.

[Jordan]

I've never liked the phrase either. I don't really know why, but I like the way Jessica put it.

[shannon hale]

Jessica, I think you just said perfectly what I was trying to say. Thank you. And a hearty YES to all of you. This is starting to make sense to me...

[Laura]

Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Using the term "girl power" to describe your books does nothing but reveal the ignorance of the reviewer. (Wasn't one of these reviews from the misguided soul at PW?) Personally, I would never use the term to describe your books because

1. it sounds stupid.

2. it implies that you have a motive besides telling a great story.

3. I've always associated "girl power" with the Spice Girls and other misandrists.

[Stacy Whitman]

I think the term "girl power" should be left with the days that women had to assert that they were "as good as" a man. Much as I love Tamora Pierce's books, for example, the Alanna series dates itself by how Alanna has to prove that as a girl, she's worth as much as, is as good as, a man. Personally, I think that should be a given, and I'd rather just hear the story. Your books do that--strong girls, strong boys, but human, with weaknesses. I think that's what makes a good book: characters who struggle with weaknesses (or situations which make them feel weak) in which they discover their strength--and that strength doesn't always lie completely within themselves, but can also involve friendship, family, etc.

[Jas fr Aus]

Jessica - exactly what I would have said (or tried to say, anwyway) :)
Plus the phrase "girl power" reminds me of the Spice Girls...

[sarah richards]

There's nothing wrong with helping girls to feel like they have power but the fact is, we are what we make ourselves. If we beleive in ourselves and that we do have power, we will and we don't need any one to write it down so its official. It's enough to be sure of it ourselves. Besides 'girl power' sounds so cheesy and pathetic- so, totally agree.

[Juliet]

You know what came to mind when I read that phrase? This commercial for a cell phone company and it shows two cheerleaders (girls) that are talking in high-pitched voices non-stop about how something that happened to her was unfair, she had a bad hair day, and she thinks the homework is so unfair! Of course, inserted in their speech are about 100 "girly" phrases such as: "like, totally", "duh!", "ohmygod," and "whatever." It really bothers me that a phone company would encourage that view of teenage girls.

And Jessica, that is an amazing explanation!

[Shawn]

I agree: Somehow everyone seems to think that any book with a female main character is an attempt at a feminist statement, particularly those books written by women, and particularly if the writing is strong, like in Shannon's books. I have never heard "girl power" applied to any book by a male author, even if the main character is an exceptionally courageous, inventive girl. Perhaps, then, the term is actually a veiled insult to the author--as Jessica said, an expression of surprise that any girl could be a powerful writer (I mean no offense whatsoever to my fellow female writers out there). In any case, the phrase sickens me.

[Shelley]

"Girl power" is a disparaging phrase. You never see a book labeled "a tribute to boy-power." The fact that there's a distinction between masculine and feminine abilities in the popular mind is frustrating. It's because your books have female leading characters (and as you've mentioned before there are so few plots with realistic heroines) that your stories are bound to labeled so.

[Lauren]

Girl power = so 1997 (spice girls)
Remember when they were all going around in tight outfits squealing "Girl Power!" ?.
Yeah, your books are so not like that. Don't worry about it...
~Lauren.
P.S. I really don't like that phrase either, in case you couldn't tell...

[janalee]

Jessica put it perfectly- if the assumption is that girls aren't as good, then you make a big deal of a girl that meets a higher standard. But your characters all realize at some point that they have power over their own lives, to change and make them better. That's what I like best about them! (boy OR girl)

[Megan]

The phrase "girl power" irks me because there is no "boy power". Why is it that if there is a strong heroine, the book is described as "girl power", but if there is a strong hero, it's not "boy power"? Very stereotypical and doesn't make much sense.

[RazoFan]

Can't wait for your Tribute to Boy-Power to hit the shelves!
You go Razo!

[Rose]

I also hate the phrase "girl power".
It makes me think of Legally Blonde, which is a very fluffy movie. Your books are not fluffy, so it seems like an obnoxious term to have applied to your books.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Wait! YOU wrote those Bayern books? And that one about the stone-talkin'-princess-tryin'-ta-be? Man... that's pretty good... for a GIRL.

And here I always thought Shannon was one-a-them wossnames... a Sooty Nimh... like that Mrs. Frisbee who was really some guy named O'Brien or something? Just goes to show you that girls probably CAN do stuff...

Makes you think.

Did you type it yourself?

[shannon hale]

Marcus Aurelius, you are truly a dork. Happy birthday, by the way.

[Mads]

I am probably missing something here. Who the heck is Marcus Aurelius???!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Is it your husband????? Or am I just being really stupid????
Just want to know.
p.s. my friend's b-day was yesterday too!

[Marcus Aurelius]

Man, Mads, I tell you what. I *would* have been Shannon's husband, if not for the fact that Dean stole her away from me by being more handsome. And bigger. And stronger. And more talented. And smarter... And the fact that Shannon loved him so FREAKING MUCH. It's always the love.

Stupid love.

Oh. And... I guess we never *really* dated.

No, I'm just someone who has been incredibly fortunate to have Shannon as a friend. You guys think her books are cool? Well... you're right. But the woman herself? Delightful doesn't begin to cover it. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend like her in their life. If you get a chance? Run out and get a Shannon! You wouldn't believe all of the awesomeness that will come your way. Especially in the form of b-day gifts and Maxes and Deans. The wonderful is more than you can believe it.

[Lauren]

K, I know this is really off topic from the blog, but I am just wondering how long YA #5 is right now? Because last time you mentioned the length, it was 40,000 words, but you were hoping it would grow in rewrites...

[Carl V.]

For me the phrase becomes dismissive when it implies that these books are only for girls. While your stories have girls as the main characters I really consider them the same way I consider other fairy tales and fantasy books...they are for anyone who loves that type of world and wants to escape there in the pages of a good book. Using that phrase is no doubt meant to imply that you have strong female characters and that they are a tribute to the fact that girls have the ability to be that way just as boys do...they just have to seize their opportunities. The problem is that the term 'girl-power' has lost any real meaning at this point and has just become another cliched, easy descriptor for anything that the reviewer determines promotes positive female characteristics.