Thanks for the reads. They were interesting, though ultimately I disagreed with the author on many, many points. I agree that Katniss isn't a Strong Female Character (TM), but ultimately, though I don't consider the books feminist, I don't consider them sexist like the author seems to be saying. My reaction to reading certainly helped clarify my personal thoughts w/r/t the books.
As a note, I'm not a huge THG fan, or a huge Katniss fan, though I like her. These are just ~thoughts~ I have.
Damn I want to reply properly, but I can't get my thoughts into the right shape. I always thought, though, that the oft-but-not-always present "lack of agency" the author mentions was a very conscious choice on Suzanne Collins's part, not least because the men's manipulations are portrayed as Katniss's tragedy, not as her salvation, which is in itself a critique of robbing her of her agency. I don't think that portraying a woman completely free of patriarchal influence (which I suppose the men around Katniss are, in part, supposed to represent) would make her more feminist either--we operate in a world of limited agency.
The second article is rather telling IMO because very little of what the article brought up is what makes me think of Katniss as BAMF. Yes, I do think she's a deft hand in the arena, but I'm impressed that she fed her family for years by deliberately breaking protocol and hunting, with the skill to do it. I don't think her survival in the arena is down to luck either. Yes, Katniss spends time impressing men--but what about the sheer fact of her survival in THG arena, reading the forest, when she avoids fights in the first place, before she receives assistance? Isn't that a perfectly valid and smart decision in the first place?
And there are points which I do think are relevant to a feminist reading of THG that the article hasn't brought up--Johanna and Paylor to name two, but also, I think, Katniss's relationship with her mother. Katniss's relationship with her mother is one of the reasons I think Katniss isn't supposed to be a Strong Female Character (TM), but a Strong Character, Female - and a critique of the SFC type... and one of the reasons I actually love Mockingjay.
Before THG begins, Katniss is contemptuous of her mother for breaking down after their father's death, for failing to provide for her family. In the beginning and the end of MJ, Katniss breaks down herself, in two parallels to her mother's story--and it's understated, but she no longer judges her mother for not returning to District 12 with her, accepting that "her mother" is more than simply "her mother". I think that (1) this is a understanding on so many levels that strength/being strong has an arbitrary standard in the first place, (2) that Katniss's mother, in the end, isn't judged for moving outside her original narrative role is great, (3) Katniss's break down co-existing with her survival instincts is great, especially set against Johanna, who doesn't break even after torture except for one specific phobia.
ETA: I can't believe I forgot to add this. The author (of the article) claiming that Katniss never makes the decision to kill someone, never has the agency, is not quite true either -- what else is killing Alma Coin? I'm guessing the author's only considering the first book, but that seems narrow when there are three books, and the entire climax of the story centres around a moment where Katniss isn't being advised at all.
:/ this got longer than I expected. Never thought I would have actual thoughts about THG, but the articles prompted it.
Spoilers for the whole series, so. Yeah.
As a note, I'm not a huge THG fan, or a huge Katniss fan, though I like her. These are just ~thoughts~ I have.
Damn I want to reply properly, but I can't get my thoughts into the right shape. I always thought, though, that the oft-but-not-always present "lack of agency" the author mentions was a very conscious choice on Suzanne Collins's part, not least because the men's manipulations are portrayed as Katniss's tragedy, not as her salvation, which is in itself a critique of robbing her of her agency. I don't think that portraying a woman completely free of patriarchal influence (which I suppose the men around Katniss are, in part, supposed to represent) would make her more feminist either--we operate in a world of limited agency.
The second article is rather telling IMO because very little of what the article brought up is what makes me think of Katniss as BAMF. Yes, I do think she's a deft hand in the arena, but I'm impressed that she fed her family for years by deliberately breaking protocol and hunting, with the skill to do it. I don't think her survival in the arena is down to luck either. Yes, Katniss spends time impressing men--but what about the sheer fact of her survival in THG arena, reading the forest, when she avoids fights in the first place, before she receives assistance? Isn't that a perfectly valid and smart decision in the first place?
And there are points which I do think are relevant to a feminist reading of THG that the article hasn't brought up--Johanna and Paylor to name two, but also, I think, Katniss's relationship with her mother. Katniss's relationship with her mother is one of the reasons I think Katniss isn't supposed to be a Strong Female Character (TM), but a Strong Character, Female - and a critique of the SFC type... and one of the reasons I actually love Mockingjay.
Before THG begins, Katniss is contemptuous of her mother for breaking down after their father's death, for failing to provide for her family. In the beginning and the end of MJ, Katniss breaks down herself, in two parallels to her mother's story--and it's understated, but she no longer judges her mother for not returning to District 12 with her, accepting that "her mother" is more than simply "her mother". I think that (1) this is a understanding on so many levels that strength/being strong has an arbitrary standard in the first place, (2) that Katniss's mother, in the end, isn't judged for moving outside her original narrative role is great, (3) Katniss's break down co-existing with her survival instincts is great, especially set against Johanna, who doesn't break even after torture except for one specific phobia.
ETA: I can't believe I forgot to add this. The author (of the article) claiming that Katniss never makes the decision to kill someone, never has the agency, is not quite true either -- what else is killing Alma Coin? I'm guessing the author's only considering the first book, but that seems narrow when there are three books, and the entire climax of the story centres around a moment where Katniss isn't being advised at all.
:/ this got longer than I expected. Never thought I would have actual thoughts about THG, but the articles prompted it.