Why I Love Female Comic and YA Heroines

Right now, in preparation for my comprehensive exams and the Dragoncon YA literature panels, I am reading voraciously. I am an avid reader to begin with, but between my theoretical framework course this semester and my comps essays, I am going to be reading even more obsessively than usual. I know, that's scary, right? Friends and family, be warned ahead of time that you might have to drag me out of my cove and take me out for a glass of wine occasionally. I know I have often been the one to initiate social activities in the past, but I can feel that tide starting to shift a bit for the next two years….

That said, my reason for being obsessed with these comic and YA lit. stories about females with supernatural/magical powers is not only academic, but not personal.  For instance, I am currently reading the amazing novel Uprooted by Naomi Novik. The author has an interest in Polish fairy tales, and the academic in me wants to know which ones influenced the writing of this novel. The personal side of me completely relates to the protagonist, Agnieskza. At the start of the book, she thinks she is plain and ordinary compared to Kasia, her best friend. She is sure that the mysterious wizard known as "the Dragon" is going to choose Kasia, since she is beautiful and stands out in the crowd. But then, surprise, the wizard chooses Agnieskza, and I won't give any more away because I want you to read the book, but….her life completely turns around, and she becomes much better at asserting herself and taking charge. She also discovers that she has capabilities that she was not at all aware of.

I can relate to this character because first of all, I do not feel that I stand out in a crowd nearly as much as some members of my family. I do not have straight, perfect blond hair, I am not super thin, and I am not as academic inclined as either one of my parents, my sister, or my cousin. I am more charismatic once people get to know me, but I am not initially a charismatic powerhouse, and some members of my family are, or were while they were still alive. On the surface, I am pretty ordinary compared to the rest of my family, and I was definitely a plain Jane as a child. But then, two very pivotal moments in my life changed my self-perception.

The first was that at age 15, I had reconstructive jaw surgery. The surgery got rid of my rather large and excessive overbite, along with braces, and while I still didn't look like a beauty queen, I wasn't "ugly" either. I no longer felt the desire to wear an invisibility cloak. I was actually okay with letting people see me, in addition to hearing me. Friends who knew me before and after say they saw a change not only in my face, but also in my personality. It's sad that someone has to have reconstructive jaw surgery to feel normal, but that's what it took for me.

Then, in my early thirties, I…drumroll…went back for my Ph.D.! Honestly, there was a time in my life when I didn't think I would do this. I didn't think I was cut out for a Ph.D. program. Although I think I always had the potential for it, I don't think I was mature enough for it in my twenties. Some people are, and some aren't. I don't think I was. My time table is different from other people in my family who obtained Ph.D.'s, but I think we all did it at the right time for us and learned of some of our unrecognized potential.

So yes, I relate to Kamala Khan because she never thought that she, as a Pakistani-American teenager from New Jersey, would become the next Ms. Marvel. But she did, and she's becoming an even more awesome and bad ass superhero as the series evolves:

I think my mom and otter women of her generation would identify with Wonder Woman, the first big superhero who had her own comic. I give mad props to the women who were among the first female doctors, lawyers, professors, and educated women in general out there:

Women closer to my age tend to identify with Buffy and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I would say I am Willow, the academic girl who evolves into a powerful witch. Others are Buffy, the girl with a rebellious streak who is sometimes misunderstood, but actually does really good things for people.  

And yet others will identify with the heroine Echo in another awesome book I just read, The Girl at Midnight. Echo, like many of these other female protagonists, realizes she is way more powerful than she realized: 

For me, getting a Ph.D. has helped me to realize research and writing potential that I never thought I had. I do need to credit the great mentors I've had at UGA, in all of my degrees, for helping me tap into it. Also, I had to learn to believe in myself. So, once at fifteen, and another time at around 33, I shape shifted, or changed into another version of myself that was better. I am not going to say "I became who I really was" because I'm beginning to believe that our identities are constantly in flux and that we should continue to grow and change throughout our lives.  

Everyone's story is different, and everyone's unforeseen potential is different. But if you have someone in your life who perceives himself or herself as ordinary, but actually has great potential, I hope he/she takes heart from some of these superhero stories. They remind us that we all have great gifts to contribute to the world, if we use them right.