KA Applegate - a feminist?

[Darth Zakryn]

Does it seem to any of you like KA, in her writing, really, really, REALLY wants a female leader? I mean, we have two of her series where the presidents are females (Animorphs and Remnants), a queen, and a few other examples. I mean yeah, I wouldn't mind a female leader, but because that female is a GOOD LEADER, not just because she's a female. This strikes me like a feminist. Is KA a feminist? And if so, what spectrum does she occupy? The extreme? Or the moderate? Discuss!

[TobiasMasonPark]

     If I'm correct, you're talking about the woman in the Absolute? If so, I don't think she was president. She may have been a senator or mayor.

[Darth Zakryn]

No, remember? In Book 54? Cassie referred to president as "her."

[TobiasMasonPark]

     Oh. I thought you were talking abogut book 52: the Absolute.

     I remember very little about book 54.

[Stephquiem]

That was 51. And she was governor of California.

And really, I don't see why it's a big deal. A female president is pretty likely, considering Hilary Clinton nearly ran for president, and Sarah Palin was the Republican candidate for Vice-President.

Also, there's nothing in 54 except that the president's female. You can assume whatever you want about her fictional abilities, because that's the only thing there.

[Darth Zakryn]

It just feels like KA only wants a leader to be female for the sake of only being female, for Girl Power or something like that, when I think we should be more concerned with that person's ABILITIES.

[Stephquiem]

Yeah, that's great. It's fiction, though. She can make the leader whatever gender she wants them to be. She's not writing books about those leaders, so who cares? Vote for someone based on their ability in real life. This is fiction. Someone wants to write that in their book, it's their prerogative.

And for all you know, KA feels the same way you do. She just likes writing women into leadership roles in her books.

[transportive]

Feminist does not mean something bad. To be feminist means you believe women deserve equal rights. Just getting that out there, to make sure there's no confusion.

That said, I think that KA's writing does not express a desire to have a female leader just because she's female-- I think that it's far more likely that she likes writing women into roles of leadership because they have not, traditionally, had an equal chance. Women deserve a chance at roles in government-- and it should not be considered that they may not have the ability, just because they're female. Your post kind of comes off like you think that she might not have the ability, just because she's a woman, so it's just her gender that matters. We can probably safely assume that if someone got to a position of power like that, that they're plenty capable.

[LisaCharly]

You keep saying feminist like it's a dirty word. It's not.

It just feels like KA only wants a leader to be female for the sake of only being female, for Girl Power or something like that, when I think we should be more concerned with that person's ABILITIES.

We know NOTHING about the president besides that she's female. I find it insulting that you assume that because she's female, she must be incompetent.

Toby Hamee was smarter than the other Hork-Bajir. Edriss was clearly incredibly intelligent and conniving, not to mention more sane than many of the other Yeerks we saw. The governor in #51 was an outright BAMF who was practical, gutsy and willing to put personal politics aside to help her state. And we're assuming they're incompetent why? Because of their gender?

[Darth Zakryn]

I'm not. Sorry if it sounds that way. I have read feminist philosophy and I agree with a lot of it. However... I HAVE also met with a lot of extreme feminists. So... yeah. I tend to stick my foot in my mouth too often. I have got to learn to control my tongue.

[TobiasMasonPark]

You keep saying feminist like it's a dirty word. It's not.

It just feels like KA only wants a leader to be female for the sake of only being female, for Girl Power or something like that, when I think we should be more concerned with that person's ABILITIES.

We know NOTHING about the president besides that she's female. I find it insulting that you assume that because she's female, she must be incompetent.

Toby Hamee was smarter than the other Hork-Bajir. Edriss was clearly incredibly intelligent and conniving, not to mention more sane than many of the other Yeerks we saw. The governor in #51 was an outright BAMF who was practical, gutsy and willing to put personal politics aside to help her state. And we're assuming they're incompetent why? Because of their gender?

     Edriss doesn't count, does she? Yeerks don't have gender.

[Stephquiem]

No, she doesn't. Yeerks are genderless. The "she" when referring to her just refers to Eva's gender.

[LisaCharly]

Edriss seems to be identified mostly as female (and identifies herself as a mother, which is a gender-specific term). Eva calls her female, and Eva's probably the one that knows best. So I tend to go with Edriss being female.

But like, Yeerk gender is a whole can of worms.

Not to be all 'citations!', but:

"“She has a reason,” Eva said.
“Tell me.”
“She has children.”"

"<I shouldn’t have helped you,> she said. <Even if it did lead to open war, I shouldn’t have helped you. You filthy, evil thing. I thought I’d found something decent inside you. I thought you were a mother, too.>
<I was. I am.>"

"But someday she would know me. I would tell her all about me, all about who I was, how she had come to exist. And she would love me, as a daughter loves a mother."

[transportive]

I'm not. Sorry if it sounds that way. I have read feminist philosophy and I agree with a lot of it. However... I HAVE also met with a lot of extreme feminists. So... yeah. I tend to stick my foot in my mouth too often. I have got to learn to control my tongue.

Fair. There are some extremists-- but there are in any group. This post just came off negatively, that's all. I can understand that.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     It must be the whole brain sharing thing. Edriss thinking of herself as a mother might come from some multiple personality disorder. Not as extreme as Taylors, but an identity crisis none the less. And, like you said in another thread, I don't think she really understand what it means to love and be a mother. I mean, infesting a kid to show love.