THE RISE OF THE KICK-ASS GIRL: EXAMINING NEOLIBERAL, POST- FEMINIST INFLUENCE IN CONTEMPORARY YOUNG ADULT DYSTOPIAN FICTION

Contemporary girlhood is marked by the purported end of gender inequality in our society. Rather than address the impact of gender bias and gender-based oppression on girls, post- feminist, neoliberal messaging instead positions girls as powerful agents of social and economic capital, encouraging an individualized approach to empowerment rooted in personal success and achievement over social change. Popular culture products coming out of and contributing to contemporary girl culture therefore champion empowered, “feminist” girl heroines whose gender never prevents them from kicking ass, but whose commitment to heteropatriarchy is evident in the regressive, traditional gender roles and exercises they participate in and reproduce despite the characteristically rebellious traits and narratives that earn them praise. This “kick-ass girl” heroine is especially prominent in the young adult dystopian series that dominated girl culture and popular culture of the early 2000s. Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games trilogy, Tris Prior of the Divergent trilogy, and Lena Holloway of the Delirium trilogy embody the neoliberal, post-feminist figure of the kick-ass girl in that they are lauded as empowered, feminist role models for young girl readers even as they conform to heteropatriarchal roles concerning gender and sexuality and fail to make any meaningful social change to their societies despite their rebel statuses. And as representatives of rebel girls in popular culture, these kick-ass girls and the Girl Power messaging that shaped them impact the way contemporary society approaches girls’ empowerment as well as how it views girl activists. The influence of such forces leads to girls’ empowerment programs that reproduce neoliberal, post-feminist values of personal success and self-esteem, failing to acknowledge the systemic oppression that hinders many girls from achieving in a neoliberal social structure. This ultimately leads to a social construction of girl activists as heroic, lone of contemporary society, isolating them from the potential support of collective movements for social change while heaping the responsibility of saving the world on their shoulders