Sunday 27 April 2014

Back to the Future

I was quite surprised to hear that there were rumours going around about the undertones of the movie Frozen, which I loved more than any other Disney movie ever made. Finally: a book about a girl saving herself instead of waiting around for Prince Charming to do all the work! I’m thrilled. Unfortunately, it isn’t unanimous. I really don’t know how people can take something as beautiful as sisterly love and as powerful as believing in yourself and twist it into something else. And even if it were all about coming out (which would be a good thing), what they said about bestiality is just silly. Okay, it is a free world and everyone is allowed an opinion but I sometimes think given the chance people would find something wrong with things as innocent as puppies.

“...Greydanus argues that the Oscar-winning song “Let It Go” shows lead character Elsa “celebrating her acceptance of her true identity” and essential “coming out”, while her lack of interest in male suitors implies lesbianism...
...As for the so-called bestiality, Greydanus points to a line in the film’s “Fixer Upper Song” about hunter Kristoff's relationship with Sven the reindeer: “His thing with the reindeer/That’s a little outside of nature’s laws!”...”

Stupidity at its peak it seems!

I was also recently informed that my female characters are much too bold to be Asian girls. Apparently, I’ve not been setting a very good example by introducing young, female characters who go off and save the world. Their boisterous opinions and sometimes not very ladylike language have come under scrutiny. And all I can say is, Yay! Girls can do anything a guy can...in high heels at that!

Why is it that our society thinks that once girls start thinking in a certain way, they stop being feminine? When I was growing up, it was all about empowering women and strutting about in pants suits. Now pants suits are aggressive and female characters get lesbianism thrown in their faces if they so much as step out of Prince Charming’s shadow. A woman can be strong and feminine at the same time. Just like a man can be strong and sensitive too.

So what happened? Are we moving backwards? Back to the ages where women were supposed to sit around in towers with their hair growing out long enough to climb up (nursing a major headache in the process!)?

“Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity.” – Gandhi

“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.” -- Eleanor Roosevelt

"The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world." -- Charles Malik

Book two of The Scarlet Omen trilogy is coming out in a few days...filled with kick ass women! Let’s see what people have to say about my female pirate captain, junkie fairy, hormonal teenager, a witch set on revenge and a girl who tries to do the right thing...despite everyone telling her to cut it out. I can’t wait.