Wednesday, December 30, 2020

To the Man Who Broke Me (Part 1)

This is something that I have debated writing about for a long time. I have been explaining this in bits to people. I recently read a blog another woman wrote about the man who broke her, and unfortunately, I had one of those myself. Whenever I explain what happened over those 3 really difficult years, I always downplay how difficult and hard that relationship was. I have been far too silent because I know so many that have been abused and mistreated. My heart aches and empathizes with you all. It truly does suck, but it does get better.


The beginning of this relationship felt like one of those you'd read in a romance novel, and I've read quite a few...

It's the first day of school, college specifically. A girl straight from graduating high school at the ripe age of 19 manages to get into one of the remaining seats right before the start of her first class, English (both her favorite class and her major). She is frustrated with herself but relieved that she just made it to class on time. If she wasn't working so much to pay for college herself, she would have gotten the seat right across the room from her that faced the window that is currently behind her. The seat she wants is occupied by a young man sitting so prim and proper. His appearance looks as if he is young enough for college but his demeanor says otherwise. She also thinks he dresses well and looks somewhat attractive.

Class introductions start and the syllabus is given. The girl leaves anticipating the next class in a couple days. The professor seems really entertaining, loves his job, and knows what he's talking about. As the semester progressed, the girl notices that there were very few people who volunteered for answers. She is one of the few who answered often while another happens to be the male student who sits across from her in the seat she wanted.

On one of the last days of class, the professor uses the opportunity to pair people up for a project. The girl dreads group projects especially with people she doesn't know, and guess who the girl's partner is? The man who sits in the seat that has the perfect view of the window. She grabs her chair and walks across the room with a pen and paper ready to get this assignment done and over with. The assignment: Write a story where the pair take turns writing a paragraph with the only constraints being that it needs to start at the college with two characters. The girl asks the male student who he would rather go first. He says the girl. The girl wonders if this decision is based on the fact of being gentlemanly or because he doesn't know where to start. The girl quickly moves on and has the story she has in mind and starts writing. The professor says "Switch" and she becomes nervous that the male student will ruin her idea of a story as she flips it around and slides it to him. After several times of switching, she looks over the story and realizes how much fun she had with the activity and her story came out to be exactly what she wanted. Before the end of class, the girl and her writing partner exchange niceties and add each other on Facebook. They go their own ways and don't reach out to each other since that assignment.

A year passes by and the girl completely forgets about the man who both stole her window seat and wrote that fun project together. The girl decides to go to her college homecoming dance to spend time with friends and posts her picture on Facebook. When she looks at her notifications a few days later, she sees a name she doesn't recognize in the list of people who liked the photo. She looks the guy up and his name doesn't ring a bell nor does his face, but she's friends with him on Facebook and goes to the same college so she thought nothing of it.

A few days later while working at her minimum wage job she worked to pay off college, she receives a message saying, "Miss. Anderson, I know this may seem weird to hear from me, but I would hope that you would give a fellow classmate of yours a little bit of your time," from the same face and name that she doesn't remember. The girl intrigued contemplates answering but messages very detachedly that she'd be willing to talk to him for a bit because she's nice and really wants to know what he really wants.

She continues messaging this mysterious man because they have a lot in common and seem to have an understanding of each other. She finds out that he is much older than her. 9 years to be exact, and that bothers her quite a bit, and her heart is telling her, "No, this isn't a good idea. There's something off about this guy." She rationalizes and empathizes with this mysterious man because the first several years of his adult life have been marked with just scraping by and then he decided to join the Navy for a full 4-year term. She doesn't listen to what is laying on her heart and shoves it down because this guy says he is a Christian, and they're hard to find these days so she is willing to give the guy a shot. Dating is hard and awkward after all so what she is feeling is more nervousness than anything, right?

They set a date to meet each other at their college when the semester has ended. The girl is embarrassed by the fact that she is going on a date and hides the fact from her family who she is currently living with. Their date was nothing special but she did feel off about the guy and felt like he was taking things too fast. She associated this was just nervousness since she's only dated a close friend before so she was going to give him a second chance. By their second date, he said "I love you" but she couldn't say it back, but continued to go on dates with this man.

As life got tougher at home, the more she got to know this man. By the time her 21st birthday came, she knew she needed to move out because it was definitely time to leave the nest. She tried searching for different options trying not to take the offer from the man she was dating. She couldn't find any and went against what she knew was right because she thought it was the only choice. She paid the price for that decision for almost 3 years.

As their relationship continued, it grew toxic pretty quickly where this man abused her in different ways on a daily basis. She spent most of her time away from home finishing out college and working full time. They both graduated from college almost a year after they moved in together. The man planned to move across the country where he once lived before. The girl was already in a depression and staying in her hometown wasn't helping her so she knew this guy was the only way out. She felt God was calling her to move across the country, but once she moved she can get on her feet and leave this man for good.

She did move across the country with this man. She removed herself away from her family and the support she once had. It took some time to get on her feet. It was about 6 months exact, and she was ready to leave this man who became even more abusive as time went on. She lived her life as if she was stepping on eggshells. She was never enough and will be never enough no matter how much she tried. Then right when she was about to leave, the man found out he had a brain tumor that would blind him if he didn't get it taken out immediately. Without a supportive family, she felt that it was her responsibility to show the love of Jesus and be the rock that this man needed even though she was scared of what he could do to her if she stayed much longer. The surgical procedure was supposed to be much easier than how it actually happened. It would only be a day, but when things went wrong it ended up being 3 weeks of living in a hospital. The girl became this man's second nurse while working remotely full time and sleeping on a cot in the same room as his hospital bed.

With the support of the girl and medical help, the man was able to go home eventually but not without complications. The man dealt with sciatica pain and became even more abusive to the girl he was so dependent on. The girl pitied the man and cared for him for almost a year before she finally had the courage to leave him, but he didn't want to give her up after she turned his proposal down as a way to manipulate her. He followed her to her one safe place, her church, where he attended for almost a year until the Covid-19 quarantine happened.

The girl was not the same as she was before she entered the relationship. She felt so beaten and worn from all the mental, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse he gave her. She knew she couldn't heal on her own, but there was hope. Her hope and strength were in God...


The healing process for me happened much quicker than I expected, but it took so much digging in deep and fighting off the anxiety, depression, and fears I was dealing with. There is still healing yet to come. I can see and identify my scars both good and bad. I honestly have God to thank for that because if it wasn't for Him I wouldn't be where I am now. Read Part 2 for "To God Who Restored Me."


My mistakes were plenteous in my relationship with this man who broke me in so many ways...

1. I should have listened to what God was telling me in my heart versus letting my empathy and rationalization get in the way before entering into this relationship.

2. I should have confided in family and friends before I actually went on my first date with this guy. Instead of him encouraging me to keep my relationships with my family intact, he tried to rip me apart from my family with the mistakes they were making.

3. I should have been more mindful and watchful because his actions very much said otherwise of being a professed Christian.

4. I should have spoken up about the problems I was having outside of this relationship. It would have been hard but it would have been the best thing to do.


Monday, November 16, 2020

You ARE Deserving of Love

Something that I've had to really wrestle with throughout my adult life was feeling like I deserved love. I had this really dysfunctional view of how love worked. What it came to be was, "It's okay if I am treated like garbage, but I'll do what I can to love on you without complaint. But, I can't expect or let people love on me." I was also pretty isolated as a teenager because a large majority of my peers in school treated me really poorly so I spent a lot of time alone in the school library and other places I deemed safe. It was also a large reason why my first relationship didn't work out and why my second relationship was so very dysfunctional and draining.

And here's a secret about me that you may not know...I am a perfectionist. Well, I guess it's not a secret if you've had some sort of encounter with me. I struggle leaving things without them being complete in a condition that is equal or better than when I first encountered them. Combine that with the fact that I wasn't treated very well by my peers and that's a recipe for someone who struggles to both love who they are and let others love on them. For me, it led to an almost 10-year depression that I recently just got out of with a lot of work put in. I thought it was too much to ask and selfish for even wanting to be loved.

Through a lot of scripture reading, meditation, and fellowship with friends, I saw the transformation from feeling undeserving of love to realizing how wrong I was. What I realized is so simple and juvenile that it makes me feel silly for missing it. You are deserving of love not because of your own worth or works. It is only because God loves you so much that He sent His son who He loved unconditionally (and was the only one truly deserving of love) to Earth and gave His life to any and all who choose to trust in Him. That to me gives me such an overwhelming sense of peace and joy. Once I came to this realization, it transformed the way I saw how all relationships should look like.

This seems so easy to understand yet I have moments where I struggle with this. I can be pretty apprehensive when someone offers to love on me, even my own fiance, but I am humbled every time and realize that there are people who love and care for me. The more I accept this the more my heart becomes softer and more grateful for the things God has blessed me with.


Here are just a few passages of what the Bible says about love and the commands we are given:

  • John 3:16
  • John 13:34-35
  • Romans 12:9
  • Galatians 2:20
  • 1 John 4:8

Monday, October 19, 2020

Song Reflection: Jehovah Jireh by Hannah Buckner (New Horizons Worship)

I'm changing gears here and thought I'd sprinkle in some Christian songs that hit me pretty hard that I may have cried when I heard and sang them. It doesn't have to be the first time I hear or sing it. It could have been something that I've heard a thousand times growing up and it was just something I needed to hear. With these, I'll include a video from YouTube of either the band playing it or the album cover followed by the lyrics below. Underneath both the video and lyrics, I'll give a reflection and/or anecdote of my life and how it really struck me.

Verse 1

See the flowers in the fields and how they grow

They don't labor, yet You choose to bless them so

As a child, I will learn to do the same

Trusting that You will clothe me in strength


Chorus (x2)

Jehovah Jireh, You are my provider


Verse 2

See the birds of the sky and how they fly

And every need they have, You satisfy

As a child, I will learn to do the same

Trusting that You will clothe me in strength.

(Chorus)


Bridge (x3)

Not today and not tomorrow

I won't worry about a thing

For You provide

(Chorus x2)


Reflection

I grew up with a song called Jehovah Jireh, but it was neither this version nor the same lyrics as the one I am sharing with you. I recently discovered it on Spotify while trying to find the Jehovah Jireh that I used to lead in worship in the church I grew up in. I honestly love it so much more. If you haven't figured it out yet, Jehovah Jireh means "The Lord will provide" in Hebrew. Even though it is such a simple song, it gives three concrete examples of how God provides continuously.

The first example is in the first two lines about flowers and how they grow. If you either live in the Pacific Northwest or heard about it in the news, then you know that there were forest fires that were really intense that caused a lot of damage in August/September. As I drove through one of the affected areas this was happening for the first time, I saw the damage that the fires it had on the trees and the ground. What once was green grass with trees, there were black barren areas. After a week or so later and after it had already rained, I drove in the same area again. I noticed that despite it was black barren earlier there was now grass starting to grow and show. Such a sign of hope and God's provision with just rain! Just like the flowers, He is using the bad in life to help us learn, grow, and feel renewed.

The second example I want to point out is the example of the birds in the second verse. Do you think they worry when their next meal will be or where they live? Of course not. God provides both food and shelter. You can even find that in the Bible by checking out Matthew 6:25-27. He always provides a way but you have to open your eyes to what He is telling you.

The final example is the child repeated in both verses of this song. Children, especially young ones, tend to trust and have faith fairly easily. They trust whoever is raising them to feed them, clothe them, and cherish them. In the Bible, Jesus tells adult believers that they should have the faith of a child's (Matthew 18:2-6). God wants to provide for us and does it perfectly despite our ignorance and pride that blinds us. It's also the sin in this world that makes us not trust people and especially God.

Anecdote

While I was listening to music over my Echo and getting ready to wind down for the day, Jehovah Jireh came on the speaker and I completely broke down in tears. I'm not one to get emotional, but at the time I had been really struggling with receiving disappointing news continuously when it came to finding housing for the next 6 months or so. It wasn't for my lack of trying. As time continued getting closer to needing a new place, the stress and anxiety wore on me, and fear started to settle in. Deep down I knew God would provide for me since He always has, but when you feel so helpless that's when fear knows when to creep in. Hearing Jehovah Jireh was the sign I needed to know that the option I was currently pursuing was the right option. The following weekend I found out that I got approved for an apartment that I'd call home for the next year or so.

I can also pinpoint other times in my life where God provided for me in one way or another throughout my adult life. He's provided me the finances to go to college and not have to take a break for a semester even if it seemed like I was going to need to take a semester off. Working full time at a job I hated throughout college was far from ideal but I am forever grateful for that job because I would not be where I am today if God didn't provide it to me.

Another example is when I moved across the country with nothing lined up. It was by far the hardest decision I have made in my life, but I felt God was calling me to do it for so many reasons. I followed the calling and God continued to protect me and provide for me. Soon after arriving to the Seattle-Tacoma area, I received the job I still work at today as well as a place to live. Despite not being paid very well and attempted multiple times to get a better paying position, I still am grateful I am employed with plenty of work on my plate, especially during a time where employment is a scary situation for so many people.

One last concrete example is during Covid. Like many, I lost a good chunk of income that was helping me pay off my loans. God still provided a way despite having to sacrifice a little bit in order to pay off my loans quickly, which I'm debt-free.


There is so much scripture you can find on how God provides both in His promises and in more concrete ways through those who followed Him. These are just a few passages you can find in the scriptures that show how God will provide:

  • Genesis 22:14
  • Isaiah 12:2
  • Luke 12:22-24
  • Philippians 4:6-7
  • Philippians 4:19

Monday, August 31, 2020

Happy 3-Year Moving Across the Country Anniversary!

Three years ago I did one of the boldest and craziest things I've done in my life. I completely started
over my life from Scranton, PA, to live in the Seattle-Tacoma area, which was a place I wasn't familiar with at all. When I moved across the country, I packed my 2001 Toyota Corolla (that I still own to this day) with all that I could fit inside and left my hometown and any support I had in hopes to find the healing I needed, a job where I can support myself, and a place to live.
I didn't think I'd actually make it and almost returned home when things got super tough, but I still trusted God to give me the strength and wisdom to find the job, housing, and support I needed to get to this point in my life. This is the first anniversary of this life change decision where I truly see the fruits of this decision, and I've only seen it in the last six months. It took me almost 3 years to get to this point.

The past three years have been far from easy. My life now is a stark difference than it was three years ago. Three years ago I was very much not in a good healthy state of mind when I first moved across the country. I couldn't support myself financially immediately and still had a $21,000 of debt to my name. I left the only support I had and needed to find a new support system. I left PA with a very toxic and damaging relationship, which made me feel that I wasn't deserving of love and took me a year and a half to remove myself from without help.

Looking at my life now, I feel far more blessed than I ever thought I would feel. Through counseling and removing myself from that toxic relationship, I don't feel that cloud of depression I've dealt with for almost 10 years. I am technically debt-free but don't plan to pay the last $6,000 off until a couple weeks before interest kicks back in, and I have been able to financially support myself for a couple years now. I also have a far better relationship with my family than what I had before I moved across the country. And now I'm in a relationship with someone who treats me with Christ-like love and has helped me truly understand that I am worth loving because Christ loved me so much that He died on the cross for me so that I would have life instead of death. It's been the best six months of my life despite Covid restricting a lot of normal everyday life.

God protected me and preserved me through these past three years. I have had to make some of the hardest decisions in my life living here in Washington, but I don't regret a single one of those decisions I have made. If I had the chance to go back in time and make the same decisions, I wouldn't change a thing because despite the awful things I have gone through it has shaped me into the person I am and has taught me how to better serve and love on others, especially when life gets extremely hard.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." - Romans 5:1-5

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." - James 1:2

"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf." - Hebrews 6:19

Saturday, June 27, 2020

What God has Taught Me Through Quarantine and Turning 25

If you haven't seen my Facebook, you'll see that today is my birthday. My 25th birthday to be exact. It's a big one. I feel like this one is a much bigger birthday than my 16th, 18th, or even my 21st. I also feel like the quarantine ties really well into how I have learned so much in just the last three or so months.

Over the 25 years that I have been blessed to live in this beautiful mess of what I call my life, I have gone through so much that so many people my age have not gone through. I've seen just how cruel this world could be and have almost been completely broken by it, but I won't go into any details about it. But I've also been able to see the beauty of the world we live in and what life can offer. In the last 10 years from when I became a Christian, I have grown into this very strong and independent God-fearing woman, and God has always been my rock during those 10 years. I honestly feel comfortable in my own skin now and have been truly embracing all the parts of me that make me who I am. That includes the happy, the sad, the beautiful, the broken, and the restored. I am not ashamed of who I am because God wouldn't have shaped me to be the woman I am if I wasn't who I was supposed to be.

Growing up almost every year I've been asked, "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" If you asked me 10 years ago where I'd be, I would never say I'd see myself here. 15-year-old Marilyn would have told you without a doubt she would be married by now and raising her own baby or two. That leads me to a question I should answer. Do I regret it? Or would I change anything? My answer is absolutely not. I realized that I love where I am in life. I am technically debt-free as of May (which happens to be one of my New Year's goals) but have not dumped the money because time right now is very volatile with everything that has happened in the last three or so months. I still have my remote job but I want to be wise and not dump the money without having a better emergency fund stashed during this crazy time in case I do happen to lose my job. Since government student loan interest has been put on hold until October, I don't plan to officially pay off my loans until the middle of September right before the interest kicks back in. I will have a fully-funded 6-month emergency fund then as well.

Even though I love where I am in life, that doesn't mean I don't want to grow or look forward to the next thing to come in my life. I've really been relying on God what I should do about certain aspects of my life, such as traveling, my career, and dating, and praying for the boldness I need to find those healthy opportunities. I also realized that I wasn't really putting myself out there as I could have been by expecting God to plop these opportunities in my lap. I have become more diligent putting myself out there and finding opportunities to continue growing and traveling.

Finally, I've recently truly realized the position I am currently in and what a blessing this season of life I am in. I have so much freedom that I didn't realize I had and have even more with loans paid. I am going to take this time I have right now to serve others and develop stronger relationships with my current friends and family as well as travel. I already have a trip planned to Hawaii and am currently planning a Europe trip (mostly likely to France) for next summer.

Despite spending the whole or most of the day alone, I don't feel alone at all and have already felt so much love today that I have been moved to tears.

Here's to being 25 and not despairing about hitting this milestone but embracing the fact that I made it to this milestone and the woman I am, the woman that I will become, and where God will take me next.

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Mental Health Month: Hitting a Major Mental Health Milestone! (May 2020)

Many of you know that I have struggled with anxiety and depression for a long time. I actually struggled with both for almost 10 years. I mostly dealt with it on my own because I didn’t know what was happening until I was so deep in that dark pit. Once I figured out what was happening, I didn’t know how to reach out for help, but I also didn’t want to burden others with the things I struggled with. I ended up carrying this heavy burden that kept getting heavier before it became so very unbearable to carry on my own.

It has affected my health, my relationships, and my view of the world, but most of all it affected my view of God...I barely slept. I gained back almost all the weight I lost almost 10 years ago. I left home to live across the country leaving family who were hurt and concerned about why I left and what will come to my life. I was always on edge because my experiences showed me how cruel the world can be. I kept feeling like God was being cruel to me and wondered why all that was happening to me was happening, but I quickly figured out that this was Satan’s way to turn my heart hard and away from God.

Whenever I felt like I was about to spiral, I threw myself into any kind of work I could find to distract myself from the pain, such as school and work, but it was only always temporary. Just seeing a person associated with that pain would trigger me into an internal anxiety attack as I’m trying to act as if everything is okay. I thought a new place would be the best way to remove myself from all the pain I was dealing with at home in Pennsylvania. That only helped about 25%.

I had the opportunity to move across the country to Washington so I took it because I didn’t know when I’ll have a chance like that again. The way I moved across the country was not a good way because it was wrong and it hurt so many people, especially my family. I am not saying it wasn’t a good move, just done the wrong way. I think my family would agree that I needed to be away to heal. The reason I moved the way I did was I believed I couldn’t do a move like this on my own. I never even traveled to places on my own that weren’t familiar to me, which may surprise many of you because I love to travel.

After moving to Washington, I felt myself unravel very quickly but not in a good sense. I thought I left the worst in Pennsylvania, but I was very wrong. Things got so much worse before they got better. (I won’t go into details here because this is supposed to be a post of healing rather than pain. If you ask me through Facebook or in person, I will tell you.) I completely removed myself from the small support system I had and was learning how to create a new support system where I had no one immediately of a short driving distance. I was blessed to find the church I attend because I truly don’t know where I’d be if God didn’t put me there very soon after I moved to Washington. I created a strong community and support system within a year that has helped me gut out everything that I was dealing with in the last 10 years.

Slowly in the last year, I have healed far more quickly than I thought I would. This healing process has been far from easy. I went through months of counseling where I learned I had to face the things and people that have caused me such pain and anxiety. I’ve had to cut ties, and rely on people despite my apprehension to let people help me carry this overbearing burden.

There are aspects of my painful past that still linger, but I try to take them day-by-day. I can now separate what is real from the anxiety and fear in my head. I have a feeling that the hardest part of this painful process is yet to come, but I am slowly building the strength to face that. I get closer every day to feeling able to completely face that and be fully healed and restored.

I replied to a comment on this Facebook profile picture saying that it was monumental for me. I didn’t know it until after I looked at it. In every picture I have taken in the last 10 years, I could see the darkness of anxiety and depression in my eyes. This is the first picture where I don’t see an ounce of darkness and depression in them, and I can see the healed me rather than the person who was trying to put on a brave face so that she wouldn’t be a burden to others. I actually cried when I realized this. I never thought I’d ever get to this point in my life again because it’s been so long.

I didn’t want to be insensitive during such a hard time for people who will struggle with anxiety and depression as I had for many years. But now that it is over, I wanted to share the hope of healing. In all honesty, if the quarantine happened a year ago, I don’t know how I would have faired because that was when I was dealing with the worst of it. But by the grace of God, I survived that and managed to survive the quarantine this year as well.

I believe the quarantine was something I needed in order to get to this milestone for my mental health, but I have been seeing changes more recently. I am no longer on edge and anxious thinking that someone might come up and attack me. Despite my refusal to weigh myself, I see the changes in my body. I may weigh the same, but my body is far more toned and healthy than it has in my adult life. I can sleep and feel well-rested when I get up. My relationships with my family and friends are better and, in some ways, so much better than I ever thought they could be. I see the world with people who work together and care for each other rather than being cruel. But most of all, I see God as a loving Father who is with me through all the pain and suffering where I can rely on him.


I will share with you the verses that brought me to Christ and helped me throughout the suffering that I endured over the years as a Christian.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."  - Romans 5:1-5

Saturday, May 16, 2020

My Senior Thesis on The Hunger Games (and Divergent)

She's the Man Coerced into Womanhood and She's the Girl Transformed by Manhood

Analyzation of the Characterization of Female Protagonists in The Hunger Games and Divergent

Abstract

This undergraduate-level senior thesis is a comparison in the characterization of the female protagonists from The Hunger Games and Tris from Divergent. This discusses that these two books are radical because Katniss and Tris as female characters do not follow gender norms and become rebels in their societies for this reason, but their journeys are in response to their own survival.


Introduction

    Young adult dystopian societies have become increasingly popular in the past decade. The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins and Divergent (2011) by Veronica Roth have become the face of the genre after going to the movie screens, and both series represent the ideals of feminism, gender, and coming-of-age. Because this genre is becoming even more popular in response to these movie adaptations, people should come to realize that these young female protagonists are examples of feminism and female empowerment.
     Katniss and Tris seem to be very similar in character, but their journeys in their novels show that they are two different kinds of strong female protagonists. Katniss’ journey as the Girl on Fire is one where she must use her feminine side along with her masculinity to survive. On the other hand, Tris has to learn how to hide in plain sight by blending in with her new faction to keep away unwanted attention from herself.
    First, scholars point out that Katniss and Tris’ appearances change as an act of rebellion to free themselves. Next, researchers show that the two young heroines are aware of everything around them and think calculatingly. Finally, scholars argue that these two girls from the young adult dystopian society genre act in rebellious ways intentionally. I have built on these ideas clearly showing that both Katniss and Tris bring together masculine and feminine traits for their survival, but they do so in different ways.
     Katniss learns how to become more vulnerable and feminine as her government forces her to appear more feminine in appearance while Tris physically strengthens her body and willingly wears different clothing to blend in with her new faction. Both female protagonists’ thoughts may seem to betray their characters but Katniss reasons out her thoughts while Tris tends to translate hers through emotions. Both coping mechanisms are a means to protect themselves from unwanted attention once their thoughts transform into actions. Katniss’ actions allow her to be independent, which help save both herself and fellow district tribute, Peeta, but she has to learn to be more dependent on others. Tris often learns that she has to depend on herself to protect herself from harm as she learns more about her corrupt city. In these three aspects of characterization through a feminist lens, both Katniss and Tris in The Hunger Games and Divergent respectively do not seem to fit the traditional gender roles in response to their methods of survival. Because both female protagonists incorporate both male and female traits in their everyday lives in their ways, the genre suggests that there is not one single ideal female hero but a possibility of many for young women to become.

The Young Adult Dystopian Society Novel

    The young adult dystopian society novel is a combination of different characteristics of two different genres, which are young adult novels and dystopian novels. In this particular genre, there has been a rise of strong female protagonists that impact the young adult population’s internal growth as they read this genre.
Young Adult Literature
     In the 1960s, the Young Adult Library Services Association, or YALSA created the term “young adult” (Strickland). There is no set definition for young adult literature but these novels primarily target an audience from the ages of twelve to eighteen and often are characterized as fast-paced coming-of-age stories. These teenage protagonists face problems that start from a large troubling event and lead to a struggle of finding themselves in life every day through thought and actions (Koss, Teale 567).
     Young adult literature represents teenagers who challenge the ideas of society and often rebel against them to gain more freedom or learn an important lesson about life that helps lead them to adulthood. The genre typically includes family relationships, romantic relationships, journeys, self-actualization, and controversial topics about drugs, alcohol, sex, and violence (“Dystopias”).
     Other characteristics include one or both absent parents, rejection of gender roles, sexual awakening, and justice (Brendler 222). According to Reading for a Better World, young adult literature is becoming more popular because it allows teenagers to understand war, violence, and a search for peace (Wolk 669). The young adult genre may only be less than sixty years old, but it influences the lives of many teenagers and young adults, which is why it is still popular today.
Dystopian Novel
    The second part of the young adult dystopian society novel is the dystopian novel, which shows through the background of both novels through an oppressive but falsely perceived perfect world. Dystopian societies became a derivative of the word utopia, or a perfect world, which means “non-existing good place.” Thomas More coined the word Utopia with his published book Utopia in the eighteenth century that focused on the idea of desiring equality (Mohr 19). In 1868, John Stuart Mill created the word “dystopia” when he gave his speech in Parliament.
     Since dystopia is the opposite of a utopia, dystopia means “non-existing bad place” (29). Other scholars see dystopian societies as societies usually set in the future, where the government utilizes brainwashing, propaganda, fear, oppression of the citizens by restricting uniqueness, and creating the idea that the society is perfect even though it is not (Cart). This kind of novel eventually leads to rebellion in a search for justice. According to Dunja Mohr, a dystopian society “reverses, mistrusts, and parodies the ideals of a perfectly regulated utopian state” (28). A dystopian society deals with the issues of politics, surveillance, and violence in a society that controls their citizens, which often makes their protagonist look like a rebel when he or she simply tries to make his or her life better (“Dystopias”). These protagonists become revolutionaries and inspire others to fight for their freedom.
Positive Feminine Presence
     In the past ten years, there has been a rise in first-person female protagonists in young adult dystopian societies, and they have become more popular in both literature and film. These women become the revolutionaries that inspire rebellion through their actions typically without any intentions to create change. Through this rise, the young adult dystopian society genre is also a feminist utopia because these novels tend “to transgress gender boundaries and to synthesize contraries like masculine and feminine” (Jones 74).
     The feminist utopian novel is one that gives women empowerment than the social norm as they become more capable of taking part as citizens by challenging the middle class’ zeal and changing their society with ideas that allow them to be one with nature (Silbergleid 157-158). Ottoh-Agede and Essien-Eyo believe that gender expectations in women and young girls are a reflection of gender norms imposed or not imposed on them in both their homes and in society (15). These girls often perform their tasks in a more masculine fashion rather than the expected feminine ways.
What This All Means
    To put these three separate terms together (young adult, dystopian society, and feminist utopia), young adult dystopian society fiction is now typically about young teenager girls who grow closer to adulthood as they challenge gender roles and their oppressive governments in order to obtain more freedom. Through all three concepts together, young adult dystopian societies are so popular that they have book to movie adaptations that often show the themes of love, suffering, and growth.
    Once carefully examined, both Katniss and Tris’ characters fit these trends but their differences are also as clear as their similarities. These two protagonists use a combination of female and male traits in two different ways though their appearances, inner and outer dialogue, and actions.

Appearance is Not Everything

    First, the female heroines both portray stereotypical teenagers trying to find their place in their worlds. As their journeys unfold in their novels, both female heroines learn that they are not stereotypical teenage girls who have to become extraordinary to survive their cruel worlds.
Nothing But An Average Teenage Female
     The first-person narrator in The Hunger Games is Katniss Everdeen in the post-apocalyptic United States referred to as Panem. Her description portrays her to be a short sixteen-year-old with brown hair, gray eyes and small in stature or, in other words, she seems to be an average teenager. She is one of the lowest citizens of the oppressive Panem since she lives in District 12’s Seam. In the novel, District 12 is one of the poorest districts, and Katniss resides in District 12’s the Seam where coal miners work day and night with hardly enough food to feed their families. Katniss’ main goal is to protect her mother and especially her sister at any cost to her well-being.
     In Roth’s novel, Beatrice “Tris” Prior is also a small sixteen-year-old average-looking girl who lives under an oppressive post-apocalyptic government in Chicago under a faction system. She starts out living in one of the most oppressive lifestyles for anyone in her society, which is Abnegation. Abnegation is the selfless part of her society where members put themselves last and sometimes get taken advantage of by other factions. Tris decides to change her faction to Dauntless, or the brave and warrior culture, during the novel’s choosing ceremony. She tries to create a new identity where she becomes strong and capable like a man and outsmarts her oppressive society.
Identity Through Cross-Dressing
     Most young adult literature represents girls who are small in stature and height, and almost every dystopian society fiction has female protagonists who start in the novels as sixteen years old since the publication of The Hunger Games. Identity is also an important theme in this genre as these girls’ governments strip away their identity and force them to create another. The appearances these girls create become a large part of their identities.
     As Katniss and Tris’ identities unfold before the reader, they fit into cross-dressing trends in young adult feminist dystopias. According to Victoria Flanagan, cross-dressing for females is freeing and allows them to live more like a male (78-79). Females who cross-dress in dystopian societies often do it out of necessity rather than desire. Societies in literature often oppress young girls and women by coercing them into wearing dresses, but many of these female characters often hide their hair and dress like men to protect their identity as women and possibly rebels.
     Cross-dressing is a weapon for women because their physical appearance is often the first impression they make toward authority, especially in oppressive societies. Katniss and Tris both cross-dress but for different reasons that eventually lead to their survival. Many scholars believe that from the beginning of Collins’ novel Katniss dresses as a man and attempts to hide her gender as a woman. Nevertheless, in Of Queer Necessity, Katniss unwillingly transforms into a more feminine appearance, which makes her feel weak and open for attack (Mitchell 134). Even though Tris sees her feminine side as an asset, Katniss views femininity as a weakness, but she eventually embraces her femininity after circumstances force her to learn how to adapt by becoming more feminine.
Stripped for the Hunt
    Katniss’ physical appearance in The Hunger Games’ descriptions shows her to be feminine, however, the way she dresses says otherwise. When the book first opens, she heads out hunting in man’s clothes, such as a pair of trousers and a shirt, and she hides her hair in a hat (Collins 4). Katniss hides her hair and dresses as a man in an attempt to conceal the rebellious act of defying the idea that hunting is a man’s sport or job, but she uses it as a means of her family’s survival rather than willful rebellion.
     As the story progresses, her appearance becomes less masculine as she looks more feminine physically compared to the beginning of the book because it is Katniss’ only option for survival. When Cinna prepares Katniss’ body for her costume, she has so much hair on her legs and body that her stylists have to rip it all off, which makes her feel like a “plucked bird ready for roasting” (61). The idea that she is this plucked bird shows how Katniss feels that the Hunger Games strips away her identity away little by little and forces her to look weaker as she is preparing to fight and most likely die.
    The next step to her losing her masculinity is the etiquette training her mentors teach her. She has an extremely difficult time walking in a dress and heels as she hopes that she can get out of her new attire soon (115). Her desire to get out of both the dress and heels is an example of removing herself from the stereotypes of women and teenage girls being forced to dress how society wants them, but also an example of embracing individuality.
     Even after winning the Games, her efforts for a masculine appearance become virtually nonexistent. She quickly discovers surgically implanted breasts, which bewilders and upsets Katniss (354). The surgically given bosom translates Katniss’ appearance as more innocent and vulnerable, which devalues the physical masculine character she held onto and also all that she has accomplished since she managed to save both herself and Peeta during the Games.
Ready for a Change
     Tris, on the other hand, has to learn how to carry her weight instead of letting others do it for her as she becomes physically stronger. Many scholars concern themselves more with Tris’ appearance as she looks well-fed. Scholar Cristina Paravano from Real and Metaphorical Hunger states that the food from Abnegation is very plain and meager while Dauntless has food that is less healthy and more flavorful as an act of rebellion (124-126).
     Unlike Katniss, Tris’ appearance changes purposely from feminine to masculine, but little research concerns with Tris’ appearance. She starts out looking like a young and innocent girl with a small face while dressed in plain clothes but then becomes stronger and more nourished as the novel progresses. Strength and a nourished body give her more of a sense of identity and confidence as she becomes more capable of protecting herself while also learning to make her own decisions.
     Even though she believes that she will always feel like the young and innocent girl she was before she came to Dauntless, Tris turns away from her old faction and changes her identity by calling herself Tris rather than her birth name, Beatrice. Tris feels a sense of excitement and relief at the idea of a new name and says, “A new place. A new name. I can be remade here” (60). This represents how Tris uses her slight name change to remove more of herself from her family while protecting herself in a very masculine faction.
     Although Tris changes both her appearance and her name, she is conforming to the system as a means of survival and as an act of defying the faction system. This shows when she receives her first tattoo and says, “I never intended to get pierced or tattooed when I came here. I know that if I do, it will place another wedge between me and my family that I can never remove” (Roth 90). Tris’ intentions of getting a tattoo is a means to get away from conforming to one faction to creating a new and different life in another, but it also allows her to protect herself by blending in by becoming more Dauntless and less Abnegation. Since she is transforming herself, Tris makes herself less vulnerable and attempts to blend in so that she will not attract unwanted attention from the oppressive leaders in her society.
     Between both cases, Katniss does not have the option of the change in her appearance but Tris changes as a form of willful and necessary conformity, which facilitates in both their survival while living in male-dominated worlds.

Hidden Thoughts and Emotions and Their Verbal Translations

    Next, both protagonists, for the most part, show discomfort toward love with the opposite gender but also show awareness of being watched. Through the first-person narrative of the young adult dystopian society, there is a second layer that shows the protagonists’ reasoning, or lack of reasoning, when it comes to their actions. Both Katniss and Tris have a large portion of thought monologue, but their inner thoughts look different from their actions because of their reasoning. Both characters experience discomfort over their desires in their novels.
Discomforting Desires
    Katniss struggles with her discomfort over her desires concerning Peeta and his motives throughout the novel. According to Katherine R. Broad, Ellyn Lem, and Holly Hassel, Katniss copes through the discomfort of acting out the romance and having real feelings for Peeta by strategizing what is necessary for survival. Her thoughts become stoic as she rationalizes all the reasons why she should act out the romance for the watching crowd.
     On the other hand, Tris feels discomfort over her desires to pursue Four, her male counterpart. Tris feels extremely uncomfortable with her thoughts as she wraps her mind around expressing her feelings when she is near Four since she never could have relations with boys or men like him. Through getting over her discomfort, Tris can have “increased confidence and willingness to pursue larger forms of social rebellion” (Day, Docile Bodies 88). Tris’ growth in expressing her feelings is a rebellious act from her original faction.
    Not only do these two young women deal with discomfort with the romance in their lives, but they also become self-aware of the problems that lie in their societies. Both Katniss and Tris are aware of the surveillance, which forces them to be cautious of their actions. According to the Brendler, Katniss’ circumstance coerces her to deal with surveillance through panopticon, or an enclosed space, while Chicago leaders watch Tris through the tracking serum injections and video surveillance (222). Self-awareness is becoming more aware of what is real and unreal in the simulations that Tris encounters under the Dauntless’ initiation process (Green-Bartreet 45). Katniss, too, becomes aware of surveillance throughout her entire time in the arena, and even before, as she performs for everyone else.
Perception of Motives
    Katniss’ thoughts and emotions show in most cases both physically and mentally that she controls them throughout the novel, which provides depth to her character through her responses to the situations she undertakes.  Scholars say little about Katniss’ emotions and thoughts, which range from skepticism and indecision to guilt and regret. Katniss’ automatic response to others’ motives is skepticism but then leads to indecision.
     Immediately after the reaping of the tributes to fight to the death, Katniss witnesses Peeta’s crying but he does not appear to be hiding, which makes her question his motives as a means to trick everyone else (Collins 40-41). A typical response of females is to feel pity or sympathy or, in this case, empathy because Katniss is heading into the same direction, which is impending death. Unfortunately, Katniss expresses neither sympathy nor empathy, which shows that her masculinity by portraying none of these emotions.
    As time progresses while Katniss witnesses more of Peeta’s actions during the Games, her reactions are still skeptical but evolve into indecision concerning Peeta. After Katniss thinks about Peeta’s crying and helping drunk Haymitch, she questions his motives of doing so as being kind but then immediately reverts to skepticism in thinking that he plans to be Haymitch’s favorite (60). This is a response that takes the idea that Katniss is not naïve enough to take a single gesture as a means of weakness and that she should still watch her back from her adversaries, which shows her lack of femininity.
    Several times throughout the novel, Katniss uses stoicism and reasoning as a means to hide her true feelings of fear, weakness, and anxiety. She resorts to stoicism, especially when she feels the need to cry. The first instance where she feels like she wants to cry is after she is away from the stage and alone. However, she will not allow herself to cry by telling herself, “Crying is not an option” (34). Crying is seen as a feminine action, but Katniss’ thought that “Crying is not an option” is a masculine response.
     By the end of the novel, Katniss forces herself to give the illusion that she may cry and needs to be dependent on Peeta as a means to manipulate the Capital and the sponsors for the resources she needs to survive. When Caesar Flickerman interviews both Peeta and Katniss after the Games, she fears that she may cry so her response is to hide into Peeta’s shirt (369). This is a form of strategy to use society’s expectations of women to make it seem like Katniss is innocent and vulnerable, but she is only acting as a means to protect herself.
    Owing others is visible less through Katniss’ actions, but in her thoughts through guilt and regret. Katniss states from the very beginning that she has an aversion to owing people and feels responsible for returning any favor. Katniss uses owing others as a code of honor, and eventually, it becomes a tool in her survival. This adds irony to the phrase “May the odds be ever in your favor,” which is the motto of the Hunger Games. Both the odds are never in Katniss’s favor, and she also does not know how to return the favor of Peeta saving her and her family’s lives with a couple of loaves of bread before the novel’s time starts. She does not understand how to return that favor to Peeta until the rule change that two victors from the same district can win.
     Unfortunately, she still feels like winning the Games with Peeta is not enough, and she knows she will never stop owing him. Her anger leads her to more regret of owing Peeta even before both of them enter into the arena. When she pushes him into a vase after he professed his love, she immediately feels regret and guilt since Peeta gave her an edge of being wanted (137). For Katniss, the aversion of owing people is another male response because needing help means that she is weak and needs assistance, which shows that weakness is a female trait. Another character that echoes Katniss’ feelings of owing people is the male tribute, Thresh, from District 11. After he finds out about Katniss’ burial for Rue, he responds, “Just this one time, I let you go. For the little girl. You and me, we’re even then. No more owed” (288). The use of a male character having a feeling of owing reinforces Katniss’ character as masculine.
Reason Vs. Emotion
    On the contrary, while Katniss leads by reason, Tris follows by emotion. Tris is an impulsive protagonist from the start of the novel. She tries speaking up about a report at the dinner table in Abnegation with her family, but her father reprimands and suppresses her from giving her opinion (Roth 34). Her impulsiveness is what leads her to Dauntless and allows her to learn more about what is going on in Chicago. When there is a game of capture the flag, Tris does not think through the risks of climbing the Ferris wheel but does it because she has to know where the other team is. Four follows her and keeps her from falling when she missteps a rung (141).
     Tris’ impulsiveness leads to a lot of danger that could kill her but becomes necessary as she learns to make her own decisions. Her impulsiveness is a male trait that she combines with her female emotions, which makes her decisions work to her advantage while helping her survive in her new environment. She has a greater potential of dying at the end of the novel when her boyfriend, Tobias who is also known as Four, is holding a gun while under simulation. Tris also has the option of saving her life by shooting Four, but instead of shooting him, she begs, “Please see me, Tobias, please!” (475). The words she speaks and her actions show that Tris is more of a masculine protagonist in a male-dominated world because she cares to protect the ones she loves and follows a similar code that Katniss follows.
     Both girls may process their thoughts and emotions differently for themselves and their loved ones, but Katniss often analyzes her thoughts to allow herself to stay strong through difficult events while Tris tends to use her emotions to help her learn how to use her voice in making decisions.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

    Finally, Katniss and Tris regularly show their independent nature in their actions when it comes to survival for themselves and those they love. Research shows that young adult dystopian novels often have very strong, outspoken young women who go against the norm of the desired girl where these protagonists typically see themselves as unattractive. Both Tris and Katniss redefine themselves as young women through the risks they take for both themselves and their loved ones by rebelling against those in charge and taking justice in their own hands (Green-Bartreet 35).
Care Taking
     Katniss understands herself more like a female through caring for both her family at home and then Rue and Peeta in the Games while Tris learns to think about herself and what she wants in life as she finds a way to love her family, who she believes she betrayed, and Four. They both understand, to a certain extent, the punishments that can happen if they make the wrong move when they rebel. Green-Bartreet continues to say that both Tris and Katniss redefine their roles as women in their society through their independence and their freethinking (48).
     Katniss’ actions are both a mix of feminine and masculine actions but mostly masculine, which she reasons through her thoughts. Her feminine actions include gathering food, healing, singing, and dealing with Peeta while her masculine actions involve hunting and providing for Prim and her mother, which both lead to her survival along with the reasoning behind the kisses she shares with Peeta. Before Katniss goes into the Games, she already has the knowledge of both hunting and gathering that become her means of survival while she is in the arena but also survives through learning how to depend on others.
    Katniss provides for her family mostly through hunting in the Meadow, which is a symbol of freedom in District 12, where her father taught her before his death before the novel’s beginning (Collins 51). Ironically, the arena is a forest, which becomes a nightmare rather than a haven for Katniss and the other tributes. She also inherited a beautiful voice from her father that originally caught Peeta’s attention when they were children. The fact that her father is a balanced man echoes how Katniss as a young woman can also have balance by incorporating both of her parents’ skills. On the other hand, her mother is very feminine. Her mother knows how to gather herbs and other plants and turn it into food or herbs for healing purposes, which she has helped heal many of the coal miners who needed care. This trait becomes evident through Katniss heals Peeta despite how squeamish she becomes toward his critical wound. When she does try to heal Peeta, she shows a lack of confidence but continues to heal Peeta anyway (258). Her mom’s skill of healing allows Katniss to embrace her feminine side when she needed it most to help both Peeta and herself to survive.
    Kissing Peeta becomes a whole game of strategy once she reunites with him toward the middle of the Games, but eventually evolves into a small but growing attraction. When she first kisses Peeta, she uses it to keep him quiet and get the food they desperately needed from sponsors (281). The reasoning behind kissing Peeta is a typical male response when he needs something, even comfort, which Katniss also needs. Katniss continues with this strategy and initiates almost every kiss, which eventually puts her into unfamiliar territory when Peeta initiates one. Katniss recalls, “This kiss is the first that we’re both fully aware of. Neither of us hobbled by sickness or pain or simply unconscious. Our lips neither burning with fever nor icy cold. This is the kiss where I actually feel stirring inside my chest. Warm and curious. This is the first kiss that makes me want another” (298). As her government strips her appearance away and forces her to figure out her life as being a female, she starts allowing Peeta to protect her and love her, although temporarily in her eyes.
Fighting for Survival
    While Katniss is learning to become more dependent on others, Tris puts herself more in danger but does not give up when it seems that all hope is lost. Part of initiation is fighting where the initiates beat up each other until one of the fighters cannot handle the pain anymore or pass out, but Tris cannot protect herself when she is up against the men in the book. Tris continues getting up after several blows to the head, but she cannot get her first punch in on Peter (Roth 109). Her perseverance is a masculine response to her weakness as a female because she has the option to give up and depend on others for help but decides to get stronger on her own.
     While initiation is still happening and Tris poses a threat for the other initiates becoming factionless, she is unable to defend herself and has to depend on Four more. Before Four saves the day, Peter and some of the other initiates attack her. As the attack happens, Peter gropes her chest and says, “You sure you’re sixteen, Stiff? Doesn’t feel like you’re more than twelve” (278). This is an act of rape, which is a common attack on more females than males because females tend to be weaker and unable to protect themselves. Tris shows strength after this act of rape and does not hide behind Four. Instead, she defies her attackers by becoming the top initiate and learning how to protect herself while being able to depend on others when she needs it. These actions of true strength and perseverance show her true character that is neither just feminine nor just masculine.
          In “I’m beginning to know who I am,” Tris attempts to fit into Dauntless through appearing to be tough by “jumping off trains to zip-lining off of an abandoned skyscraper to getting multiple tattoos” as a form of rebellion from her home faction, Abnegation (Green-Bartreet 44). This is a form of survival to keep away unwanted attention from the oppressive authorities of Chicago. She becomes aware of the dangers of showing her strengths to others as she blends in to protect herself. While Katniss incorporates her strategy for survival with the skills she learned from her parents when she was younger, Tris learns her new skills as she realizes she was not prepared to protect herself before coming into Dauntless from her home in Abnegation.

Conclusion

    Both Katniss and Tris become revolutionaries at sixteen because they take their difficult living situations and become more adaptable to give them the freedom they need. First, Katniss learns how to become more feminine as President Snow forces her to look more innocent and physically feminine while Tris allows herself to look more masculine to hide how innocent she is. Next, Katniss rationalizes her thoughts to keep her from making the wrong decisions while Tris uses her emotions and impulsiveness to help save herself and others. Finally, Katniss strategizes her actions as a means of survival while Tris continues to be perseverant as those bigger and stronger than she is beat her several times.
    With this research, young adult dystopian societies as a fairly new genre show a trend of ideas that are prevalent in our culture and provides empowerment to teenage girls and young women to become independent while discovering themselves. Others young, old, and in between should care and read these books because these are one of the many that are shaping the next generation to be our future leaders. These books can also facilitate a sense of empathy and sympathy for the protagonists and other characters as both experienced loss, hardship, and pain. After all the evidence, it does not matter what side of masculinity or femininity that a protagonist comes from, especially in the young adult dystopian society. It is the journey that she takes through her appearance, thoughts, and actions that allows her to survive through trauma and new changes.

References

  • Arosteguy, Katie. ""I have a kind of power I never knew I possessed": Transformative Motherhood and Maternal Influence." Ed. Deirdre Ann Evans Gariott, Whitney Elaine Jones and Julie Elizabeth Tyler. Space and Place in The Hunger Games. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &Company, Inc, 2014. 146-159. Print.
  • Brendler, Beth M. "Blurring Gender Lines in Readers' Adviory for Young Adults." Readers' Advisory (2014): 221-224. Print.
  • Broad, Katherine R. ""The Dandelion in the Spring" Utopia as Romance in Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games Trilogy." Ed. Balaka Basu, Katherine R. Broad and Carrie Hintz. Contemporary Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults: Brave New Teenagers. New York, NY: Routledge, 2013. 117-130. Print.
  • Cart, Michael. "The Value of Young Adult Literature." Young Adult Library Association Services. 2008. Web. <http://www.ala.org/yalsa/guidelines/whitepapers/yalit>.
  • Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: NY. Scholastic, 2008. Print.
  • Day, Sara K. "Docile Bodies, Dangerous Bodies: Sexual Awakening and Social Resistance in Young Adult Dysopian Novels." Ed. Sara K. Day, Miranda A. Green-Bartreet, and Amy L. Montz. Female Rebellion in Young Adult Literature. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2014. 75-92. Print.
  • “Dystopias: Definitions and Characteristics.” ReadWriteThink. NCTE/IRA, 2006. Web. February 2016.
  •  Flanagan, Victoria. "Reframing Masculinity Female-to-Male Cross-Dressing." Stephens, John. Ways of Being Male: Representing Masculinities in Children's Literature and Film. New York, NY: Routledge, 2002. 78-95. Print.
  • Fritz, Sonya Sawyer. "Girl Power and Girl Activism in the Fiction of Suzanne Collins, Soctt Westerfield, and Moira Young." Ed. Sara K. Day, Miranda A. Green-Bartreet, and Amy L. Montz. Female Rebellion in Young Adult Literature. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2014. 17-31. Print.
  • Koss, Melanie and Teale, William.  “What’s Happening in YA Literature? Trends in Books for Adolescents.”  Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 52 (2009).
  • Mitchell, Jennifer. "Of Queer Necessity: Panem's Hunger Games as Gender Games." Ed. Mary F. Pharr and Leisa A. Clark. Of Bread, Blood, and The Hunger Games. Jefferson, NC: McFarkand & Company, Inc, 2012. 128-137. Print.
  • Mohr, Dunja M. "The Classical Vision." Mohr, Dunja M. Worlds Apart? Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2005. 11-48. Print.
  • Ottoh-Agede, Blossom Shimayam, and Ako Essien-Eyo. "Gener Semiotics and the 21st Century
  • Feminist Utopia." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 4.1. January 2014. 15. Print.
  • Paravano, Cristina. "Real and Metaphorical Hunger: The Case of the Divergent Trilogy." University of Milan, 2015. 124-26. Print.
  • Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen, 2012. Print.
  • Silbergleid, Robin. "Women, Utopia, and Narrative: Toward a Postmodern Feminist Citizenship." Hypatia 1997: 156. JSTOR Journals. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
  • Strickland, Ashley. "A Brief History of Young Adult Literature." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 Apr. 2015. Web. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/15/living/young-adult-fiction-evolution/>.
  • Wolk, Steven. "Reading For A Better World: Teaching For Social Responsibility With Young Adult Literature." Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52.8. 2009. 664-673. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

Copyright

© 2016 Marilyn Anderson All Rights Reserved