Which one of those songs describes your favorite heroine?
Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine, and older romance book heroines were the 'damsels in distress', waiting for their heroes to rescue them. Today's heroines are more like Lara Croft. They strike back at the bad guys; act as if they don't need the knight in shining armor; and aren't afraid to go after what they want.
Yesterday's romance females tended to be big-breasted, always had torn bodices, and were always getting themselves into predicaments. Sometimes you wanted to slap them silly for the choices they make, and in some cases, wonder why the hero would even bother with a 'TSTL' female?
But thankfully, times have changed. Today's romance leads are strong women who (sometimes) know what they seek and go after it. Sometimes what they want is right in front of them and they don't discover it until the end of the book, but hey...sometimes it happens.
Since I gave you a description of a hero last week, here's the heroine:
Physical Attributes:
Then: Heaving bosoms, slender, beauty-queen looks
Now: Average, not-so-slim, and is beautiful to the hero. She may or may not be aware of her looks.
Character Development:
Flawed judgement, especially in family matters or their perceptions of the situation. May not want a man, but find themselves undeniably attracted to one particular man, many times entering into a 'love/hate' situation: I hate to love you, and hate it when my body betrays myself and I fall into your arms against my will...and I can't believe we just slept together even though I've sworn to never fall for your kind ever again!
Disney is catching on to today's heroines, starting with Belle, Pochohontas, and Mulan.
And I've even found myself head over heels for someone I've sworn to 'never go out with', yet ended up in a long-term, satisfying friendship with this person. Okay; two persons. Based on one disastrous childhood 'trauma', I swore to never date a jock. Well guess what? In high school, I ended up being best friends with the Number One Basketball Player. And I ended up marrying a football player who at one time was being seriously considered by the Houston Oilers. Love works in mysterious ways, doesn't it?
Never say never. It will come back to haunt you.
3 comments:
Lara Croft waiting for her prince, perhaps.
Or Larry Croft waiting for his prince.
Mulan's my favorite. She's awesome. But I also loved Doris Day in Pillow Talk, the way she got back at Rock and made a mockery of his apartment. It wasn't normal combat but it was hilarious.
I ended up marrying a jock, too - football and baseball player. He went to a different high school so I didn't think of him too much that way. Now, his constant softball can be annoying when he puts that first...
HA! My football player doesn't like to watch the game, go figure! I think I've managed to find and marry the only non-sports-watching man in the USA.
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