Little Girls on the Hero's Journey (WisCon 31 panel)
Feminism, Sex, and Gender•Wisconsin• Sunday, 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Young girls have been featured in fantasy (and occasionally SF) stories from Alice in Wonderland to the Narnia stories to Miyazaki films. Many of these stories follow Joseph Campbell's archetype of the Hero's Journey: separation from home, encountering friends and enemies, gaining tools and skills, overcoming obstacles, and returning home changed. How do these stories reflect or distort the real experiences of growing up female? What can they teach young girls in modern society, and how successful are they at doing that? Does it make a difference whether the stories are told as prose, film, comics, or games?
M: Nisi Shawl, Kate Elliott, David L. Emerson, Rebecca Marjesdatter, Kerrigan Valentine