Abstract
In this paper, I seek to analyse the concept of ‘female masculinity’ by studying Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series. Pro-feminist Masculinity theorists like R.W. Connell and Michael Kimmel regard masculinity as not an ‘essence’ that manifests itself in ‘true’ males but as a ‘practice’ that is held as quintessential to all males and hence often aggressively pursued by males in order to maintain their superior position to women and to other marginalized males. The ‘practice of masculinity’ thus often rewards the males with positions of authority and power. (Connell, Gender and power: Society, the person, and sexual politics, 1987). If gender is exclusive of sex, it follows that female sex is capable of practising masculine gender. Judith Halberstam advocates this possibility of female masculinity in her work by the same name. (Halberstam, 1998). She claims that female masculinity is not an imitation of male masculinity but a “glimpse of how masculinity is constructed as masculinity” (Halberstam, 1998, p. 1). She regards female masculinity to be superior to that of male masculinity as it is not depended on the process of ‘othering’ women. Hunger Games series which gained much popularity among adolescents and adults alike and has been lauded as an exemplary work of female freedom has also got major female characters performing acts normally associated with masculinity. This study scrutinizes whether the actions of these female characters in the series superimpose or subvert masculinity.
Highlights
Second wave feminism often implied that all gender differences are socially produced
Masculinity theorist Raewyn Connell extends this argument to administer it to male gender and asserts that “male body does not confer masculinity” (Connell, Gender and power: Society, the person, and sexual politics, 1987, p. 83)
This paper looks at female masculinity as depicted in a popular young adult fiction series, Hunger Games series, in order to assess whether it is a subversion or an imitation
Summary
Second wave feminism often implied that all gender differences are socially produced. This work claims that “female masculinity is an independent and original gender that does not imitate an authentic male masculinity” (Gardiner, 2012) She elucidates in the work that “masculinity must not and cannot and should not be reduce down to the male body and its effects” Hunger Games series (2008-2010) by Suzanne Collins is a dystopian story with a strong female protagonist that attracted girls and boys as well as adults into its fictional gruesome world of ‘Panem’ This attraction for the boys and adults is mainly due to the fact that the main character lacks any feminine qualities and is depicted mostly along the lines of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, that is the qualities traditionally associated as ideal masculine characteristics. This paper delineates that it depicts the relationship between female masculinity and power
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