Teenage girls have so much sway over culture, yet people sneer at the things that women and girls love, and are contemptuous of the creators of that content, particularly if they are women.
Leigh BardugoRead
I think in YA there's sometimes a temptation to create heroines who are infinitely resilient and wise and confident because those are the behaviors we want to see teens embrace and maybe we want to see those things in ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote discusses the portrayal of young adult heroines as overly idealized figures, reflecting both societal aspirations and personal desires.
Leigh Bardugo's quote highlights the tendency in young adult literature to create female protagonists who possess qualities of resilience, wisdom, and confidence. These character traits are often exaggerated as they represent virtues that society desires to see in teenagers, as well as aspirations that individuals may hold for themselves, leading to a discussion about the balance between realism and inspiration in character development.
Themes
HeroinesResilienceWisdomYoung AdultLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
During a book club discussion, this quote can be used to analyze character development in young adult fiction.
More from Leigh Bardugo
All quotes →Here's the thing, we talk about diversity in the media as if it's some weird artificial construct that we're putting onto these narratives. But it isn't. Our world is not homogenous. It is not all straight or white or able-bodied, or if it is, maybe you should make some new friends. That is not what our world looks like.
Leigh BardugoRead
Maybe love was superstition, a prayer we said to keep the truth of loneliness at bay. I tilted my head back. The stars looked like they were close together, when really they were millions of miles apart. In the end, maybe love just meant longing for something impossibly bright and forever out of reach.
Leigh BardugoRead
Most of the female characters I admire come from science fiction and fantasy, maybe because there's more permission to shake up gender roles in genre.
Leigh BardugoRead
And I desperately needed books that would take me out of my environment and show me a world where being smart and brave and prepared was more important than being cute or cheerful or knowing the right thing to say. And that's what science fiction and fantasy gave me.
Leigh BardugoRead
The two genres that probably take the most flack in literature - they are young adult and romance right now. I don't think it's a coincidence that these are genres that provide places for women to express desire and love for adventure, for the opportunity to be placed to heroic roles.
Leigh BardugoRead
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