At the end of 2013, there was an article on the BBC asking “Where Are the
Daughters of Buffy?” Not the characters who can fight, but the women who
are well-rounded. Women who have meaningful relationships
with other women. And that's the part of the article I really found myself stuck on. I love a good
bromance, but where are the female equivalents? Buffy and Willow, sure, but as
that article points out, it’s been ten
years since Buffy went off air. But Buffy is a TV show. This is a blog about writing. So, where are the best friends of YA?
My female friendships have always meant a lot to me. We’ve been
through a lot together over the years, and you know where you should be able to read about
female relationships? YA. Why? Because many of the friendships I forged with other
girls at that age still matter. The boyfriends I had in my teens? Yeaaaah, not so much.
FEMALE FRIENDSHIP PHOTO MONTAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!!!
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| One from when we actually were teenagers ;) |
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| Friends who Trek together stay together |
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| Pictured: ADULTS |
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| Pictured: MORE ADULTS (with additional men) |
(My male friends are also very important to me. But this is a post about female friendships, sorry dudes!)
Why doesn’t YA have more friendships at their core? Sure, friends come and go. That's natural. It's sad, but it happens, probably more during the transitions between childhood and adolescence. It doesn't diminish anything you went through together or how close you were. Life is all about changes, especially when you're a teenager because those changes happen so fast. Sometimes your friends are the only thing that do stick around. Most of mine did, and we had so much fun. Sure, we had some ups and downs, but those friendships that survived trying circumstances are the strongest I've ever had. That's the thing about writing well-rounded characters: they're going to have disagreements. The strength comes from how they move on. And trust me, it took a lot of strength to deal with some of the stuff my friends and I threw at each other when we were teens. We're not perfect, and even our best friendships have their trials.
And the great thing about writing fiction? You can take those friendships and throw anything at them. Zombie apocalypse, Unexpected Adventures, terrible trauma, exciting opportunities, SPACE TRAVEL (Colony, whassup?), trouble at school, trouble at the part time job, fun on the beach... Anything you can think of, you can throw it at a friendship and see what happens. That's what I find exciting.
(Picture number four up there shows how my friends and I would deal with any zombie or other creature-based apocalypse scenario.)
And the great thing about writing fiction? You can take those friendships and throw anything at them. Zombie apocalypse, Unexpected Adventures, terrible trauma, exciting opportunities, SPACE TRAVEL (Colony, whassup?), trouble at school, trouble at the part time job, fun on the beach... Anything you can think of, you can throw it at a friendship and see what happens. That's what I find exciting.
(Picture number four up there shows how my friends and I would deal with any zombie or other creature-based apocalypse scenario.)
I find it
sad that something that defined my teens doesn’t crop up in YA books
more. Suffice to say Colony has a few female friendships going on.
Any recommendations for really intriguing relationships between female characters? John Marsden’s Tomorrow,
When The War Began series is brilliant. And Malinda Lo is an excellent author writing books focusing on women. Who else? Share your favourites!
