Feminism is, simply, the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. But, since we still live in a patriarchal society, women need to fight every day for their rights and raise their voices to be finally heard. Sometimes, the only way to express our feelings and desires to the world towards a particular subject is through writing. And many women did just that: they decided to use literature as a tool for speaking and listening.
Thinking about it, Her Campus Casper Libero prepared a list of 5 books which explore the thematic of dystopian futures to talk about relevant gender issues. Here you’ll find a bunch of powerful female characters fighting for what is right, facing many dangers fiercely in a slightly different universe and, mostly, showing that not only men can save the day. Go on, and meet these strong women on the list below!
- “Red Queen”, by Victoria Aveyard
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Red and silver. Two types of blood. Silvers have every sort of powers and are considered the nobility. Reds are normal people that struggle to provide for their families and are forced to go to war. Then, that’s it? Only two ways of living? Well, Mare Barrow is here to show you otherwise.
Barrow was born with red blood, but, after a near-death experience, her electrokinetic powers are triggered and displayed to all the Silver nobility. For them not to suspect her true identity, she is kept in the castle and has to live a lie: pretend to be a Silver of a noble family, the Titanos, who was adopted by the Reds in the war zone after the death of her parents.
While trying to live this new life, Barrow joins the Scarlet Guard – a group of Reds that claim equal rights – and tries, with the help of Julian Jacos, to understand what she is. Soon enough, we find out that her powers are even more mighty than the Silvers’, and that there are more people like her.
But, throughout the whole series, Barrow is betrayed more than once by the people she trust and love. This situation forces her to trust only in herself and her powers, while being her own hero. With the help of the Scarlet Guard, also commanded by the powerful and fearless woman Diana Farley, Mare embarks on a great and dangerous adventure of self-discovery, seeking justice for both Reds and Newbloods – Reds with powers.
- “Divergent”, by Veronica Roth
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In a post-apocalyptic Chicago, five different factions divide the society: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite – and you can belong to only one of them. At the age of 16, every teenager has to do a test that shows which faction they belonged to.
But Beatrice Prior, a member of Abnegation by birth, is not like everyone else: her test was inconclusive, which means that she belongs to more than one faction. She is a Divergent, a fact that is considered a big problem to the system, since this “bugged” person can be the trigger to a rebellion or revolution. Because of the threat to her life, she needs to keep the result to herself and choose one of the groups. And that’s what she does: On the day of the ceremony, she chooses Dauntless (one of the results from the test) and starts a new training and life – full of secrets.
The problem starts when all the members of Dauntless are injected with a serum that controls their brains. Since Beatrice is a Divergent, she is not hypnotized by the medication and is able to discover the whole plan they are being put on: she and the other members of her faction are going to attack Abnegation, and Erudition is also part of the devil plan.
For the whole time of this oppressive approach, Beatrice tries her best to do what is right and to save the people she loves. She does it all alone, since her brave friends and love interest are mesmerized.
- “The Heir”, by Kiera Cass
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After America and Maxon’s happily ever after, the author of “The Selection”, Kiera Cass, decided to continue the saga by telling the story of Princess Eadlyn and her Selection. From the beginning of the book, Eadlyn makes it clear that she doesn’t want a contest to choose her future husband, but, to distract people from occasional fights due to post-caste discrimination, her parents suggest that she still participate in a Selection of her own. After opposing fiercely, she comes around and starts the preparations to receive thirty-five young men at her home.
Only at the end of the book, after her mom’s heart attack and her brother’s eloped marriage, she realizes that she needs to open up for love and find someone that she loves among the remaining lads. Before her realization, she struggles to enjoy her Selection and tries to make the people, who are watching everything, happy and satisfied with what she is doing.
And, although Eadlyn lives in a different world and society than ours, her fight is the same. During the whole book, we see glimpses of actions that are still very common in our reality, like criticizing women by their actions, harassment, and being cursed because of a rejection. But, even with these struggles, she is strong and not afraid to do what she wants or thinks it’s right.
- “The Kiss of Deception”, by Mary E. Pearson
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She didn’t want to marry an unknown prince from another kingdom just to bring peace to the reign. So, on the morning of her wedding, she ran away. This amazing woman is Lia, the princess of the kingdom of Morrighan.
Since the first page of the book, it is clear to us that she, besides being a strong woman, is not afraid to be in charge of her own life and do what she desires, without any approval (in resume, she wants a life completely different from the people on the castle). Seeking a normal life after escaping from the fancy and overwhelming old herself, she starts living in a small village, working and making new friends and discoveries every day.
What she doesn’t know is that her two new friends aren’t who they claim to be: one is the prince she was supposed to marry and the other one is an assassin from another kingdom. Both of the men have their duties: bring her back to Morrighan safely, and kill her, respectively.
Throughout the entire first book, we have a broad and detailed view of how Lia is living her dream life, adjusting to a completely different society, and succeeding in it. Even though we have some romance here and there, her self discovery and determination to change her life upside down are the most important and captivating aspects.
- “The Handmaid’s Tale”, by Margaret Atwood
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A society controlled by men and based only on the Old Testaments of the Bible. It all started when a radical group launched a revolution. After killing the President of the United States, the group took over and turned the free country into a military dictatorship, named the Republic of Gilead. In this new community, people were dressed according to their sex, occupation and caste, and were separated by categories. Each and everyone had a role, a duty.
The situation for women wasn’t great. They were forbidden to read, write, have a job, vote, have money or possessions, and were seen as property of and subordinate to the man in the house. Sadly, there is more: some ruling families were unable to have babies due to infertility, so, using a passage from Genesis, it was settled that fertile women would bear the babies for them – but this decision wasn’t consensual!
After being assigned to a Commander, one of the rulers of the Republic, the woman gained a new name, which came from the preposition “of” plus the name of the man: she becomes his property. Besides the name, to conceive the child, the Handmaid was supposed to perform, with both the Commander and his Wife, a horrible and disgusting ritual called The Ceremony.
Although this society didn’t leave too much space for a revolution against them, the Handmaids, alongside the Marthas (infertile women who have domestic skills), help themselves, and try to bring this patriarchal and oppressive state down.
Without feminism, books like this, written by women and with self-owned female characters fighting against sexist and oppressive behaviors and societies, wouldn’t be a reality. It is the reflex of what we achieved throughout the years, when we raised our voices and didn’t let anyone dictate our lives. With these books out in the world, feminism will still have its place as an important matter to be discussed and seen by everyone.
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The article above was edited by Helena Cardoso.
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