TLDR: I Like Writing Strong Damsels in Distress by Vanessa C. Hawkins

 

 Vanessa Hawkins Author Page

  Hoo boy! So this month's blog post may be a tad controversial, as I aim to pick apart the reasons I enjoy writing strong female characters that have a tendancy to get in trouble and need--in some capacity-- a little help getting out of a jam. 

And I'm also a strong, independant woman!

I think the overarching reason I enjoy the much overused trope of a female in requirement of aid, is due to my increasingly larger than life laziness that is only growing exponentially each and every year. Yes. I COULD take out the trash, yes, I COULD take out the kitty litter, but its raining outside, and it's smelly and oh won't you do it for me you big strong hero because I couldn't possibly...

Even though I really, REALLY tried...

But, as my post should HOPEFULLY suggest, I am in favor of strong heroines who may need a little bit of help every now and then. I don't think that's anti-feminist--just in case some of you here are waiting to pounce on me when I'm not looking--it's realistic! We all need help here and there, and I like the idea of a strong woman who can rely on her romantic partner when all else fails. Even the strongest of us need help every now and then, whether it's with taking out the smelly cat litter that we took too long to empty... or if it's help with putting a giant raging dragon in the hurt locker!

Uhh... little help there, honey?

But it is a give and take. I'm all for the dashing champions coming to help out a dame at her lowest hour, but lets face it, we can't--and probably shouldn't--always rely on those hapless yet huggable heroes. A strong woman should be allowed to shine. Help out those big lugs. And just to be clear, though I am calling these nameless characters heros, the heroine is just as much, if not more, a protagonist as her romantic counterpart!

It actually bothers me nowadays how many female characters are infallible. Yes, many are bada$$ bit%^es that look fine as heck in a leather leotard, but c'mon! They must need help every now and then! Don't put the bar so high that I can't even see it, Hollywood! Because I can't even do a chin up now, let alone find the darn bar so I can keep up with the strength of your females. 

I'm still strong and independant, gosh-darnit!

 But yes. I like damsels in distress. I like Princess Peach--who is so often being captured by Bowser that people are beginning to suspect there is a relationship there *AHEM* Koopa Kids *AHEM* I like Princess Leia and Fiona, who were strong women in their own right, and totally kicked some serious a$$, as well as my own character, Scarlet Fortune, who is a vampire detective in the 20's but also quite capable of screwing up and needing a bit of help from her short statured beau. 

Even George R. R. Martin, who has yet to release his long... 

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG awaited book Winds of Winter, has quite a few kickbutt female characters who need a bit of a pick up along the way. Damsels in distress? Yes. But also damsels doing damage!

   

And sometimes damsels doing too much damage... right, Daenerys?

Eighteenth Century Laundry Day

by Kathy Fischer-Brown

In my last post I discussed some of the more fascinating aspects of researching and writing historical fiction. You might even remember my mention of how incorporating details from the research into the writing helps bring the period and setting alive for me as well as for the reader. These details also go a long way toward keeping the characters in their place and time—and the author from creating annoying anachronisms. These aspects of dress, furniture, food and its preparation, travel, and accomplishing the day-to-day tasks, which we today might take for granted, are among those little motes that add to the “feel” of the time.

This has never been more true when you consider how laundry was done back in the mid- to late 1700s. Here in the early 21^st century, tossing a load of wash into a machine (top loading or the newer, more efficient front loaders), adding your choice of liquid or powdered detergent, softener and whitener is pretty much a no brainer. The cleansing agent even comes with its own handy measuring cup; temperature settings involve nothing more than the turn of a dial (or press of a button), as does the size of the load and water level. In many cases, you can even choose an extra rinse or spin. When the load is finished, the machine beeps, lest you’ve gone on to something else in the 20-or so minutes it takes for the cycle to complete and let it slip your mind. Then you toss the whole mass of t-shirts, socks, towels, and what-not, into the other machine; add a dryer sheet; set the temperature (for wash and wear, permanent press, or delicate); flip the switch; and for another 30-40 minutes you can play ball with the dogs in the yard, run to the supermarket for those much-needed ingredients for your mid-week supper, or catch up on the latest episode of the TV show you’d DVR’d the night before. (Or on my case, you research some more and/or write.)

Even with these modern conveniences as a part of my life, I hate doing laundry. But while writing the opening scene of Where the River Narrows, my contribution (along with Ron Crouch) to BWL’s “Canadian Historical Brides” series (Quebec), I realized just how lucky I am.

First, consider how difficult a task it was to schlep and heat enough water to wash bed linens, under garments, shirts, tablecloths, and a host of incidentals for a considerably sized family and their servants. Consider also that “wash day” (with these and other complications) was more likely a monthly affair rather than the two- or three-times a week event here in the present. And then consider that, even as it was an all-day, coordinated event, it had to be done, and was done in all seasons and all weather.

From an interesting site (http://www.woodvilleplantation.org/Schedule/laundry_day_18th_century1.pdf) I found when looking into this aspect of the life of Elisabeth Van Alen (the book’s heroine), I found the following:

Water would have been carried to the boiling cauldron in buckets carried on the shoulders with a yoke. Assuming that each of these buckets holds 2 ½ gallons, the laundress would be able to transport 5 gallons per trip. … The boiler used to hold the heated water generally held 20-40 gallons of water per individual load, thus requiring a minimum 4 trips per load of laundry. (Not including 10 more gallons for the scrub and rinse water!)

Fortunately for Elisabeth, her family home is situated on the Mohawk River, with a creek flowing down from the hills on the east side of their house. But this little treatise from the Woodville Plantation in Bridgeville, PA, also points out that fire was vital to heating this water, along with the trials and tribulations of amassing enough wood:

Generally on wash day, the laundress and her crew would awaken at 4:30 AM in order to gather wood and prepare the fires used to heat the water. On an average day, cooking fires would require approximately 30 large pieces of wood to prepare all three meals for the day. The amount used on laundry day would most likely be double that amount, or 50-60 large pieces of wood. Laundry fires were generally larger, and the heavier, knotty wood chunks that were unsuitable for the controlled cooking fires would have been used during the laundering process. Assuming that a large piece of split wood weighs approximately 3 pounds, an 18^th century laundress would be required to move 150-200 pounds of wood, prior to even beginning the task at hand.

Then there was the matter of soap. Or the lack of it. And getting out stains (no miracle spray leave-on-and-throw-in-the-machine wonders). 

Commercially-made soap could be bought, but it was very expensive and not always available, especially out on the New York frontier in 1774. So, this was something that was made at home (along with candles) from animal fats and the accumulated ashes from the fireplace(s). Lye was caustic and not easy on the hands, to put it mildly (no pun intended). But it did its job well. This concoction was added to the “copper,” usually a large pot that would also double as cooking vessel, which was placed over the fire built from those unwieldy logs lugged in for the purpose and those 30-40 gallons of water hauled from the creek. It was a hot and sticky job, agitating the contents with paddles, then extricating the steaming articles, rinsing and wringing them before setting them to dry. 

The favored method of drying was to spread the wash on low-lying bushes in the sun, or laying them out on the grass—something about the effects of chlorophyll. (Remember, this description is about what it was like during clement weather; imagine doing laundry in the depths of winter!) There were clothes lines back then, but the clothespin hadn’t yet been invented. And when everything was dry, there was the task of smoothing out the wrinkles.

The iron was an item that not every household could afford. And even if they could afford an iron, they would have to own at least two. These were flat-irons or “sad irons” (from the word “solid,” which is exactly what they were). Heavy, cumbersome beasts, they demanded to be kept close to the fire to stay hot. Which, in turn, led to the unfortunate eventuality of their picking up soot and grime, and…you guessed it…smearing smudge—if not burning holes—over the stuff you just spent the better part of the day sweating and and toiling over to get clean. One innovation of the time was the box-iron, which happily did away with scorching. These irons had a hinged door on the back and were fitted with an iron insert that could be kept hot and swapped out with another to prevent burning your linens. More common though—and a lot less hazardous—was the linen press: a table with a parallel board attached, which, when the screws were tightened over folded linens, did the job just right without hot slugs and scorching irons.

Starching was also done, a task that I am most thankful has lost its popularily. But they did it on a common basis. Without Niagara Spray Starch. Instead, they used water collected after cooking potatoes. (Fascinating how they made ample and varied use of pretty much everything they raised, produced, or created with their hands.)

Most well-to-do families of this period employed servants to do laundry and other menial chores, but Elisabeth’s family lives under extenuating circumstances. These compel her not only to supervise but to take charge and participate in many a mundane task, such as laundry, and organizing the family's meager staff. Qualities that will serve her well later on in the story when the American Revolution turns her world upside-down. When her home and lands are confiscated by Rebels, she and what remains of her family, is forced to flee to Canada. And as Shakespeare once said, “Thereby hangs a tale.”

I hope you enjoyed this little journey into the past. Please check out the first installments of Book We Love’s “Canadian Historical Brides” series of novels. Comments are always welcome :-)

~*~

Kathy Fischer Brown is a BWL author of historical novels, Winter Fire, Lord Esterleigh’s Daughter, Courting the Devil, The Partisan’s Wife, and The Return of Tachlanad, her 2016 release, an epic fantasy adventure for young adult and adult readers. Check out her Books We Love Author page or visit her website. All of Kathy’s books are available in e-book and in paperback from Amazon, Kobo, and other online retailers.

Strong Females Characters and the Death Of Princess Leia by Connie Vines

For those of you that don’t know, Leia is the heroine of George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy. The story follows her attempts to form a rebellion against the evil Galactic Empire and bring balance to the Force. She’s an iconic science fiction character and has been hailed as a role model for young girls everywhere.

Many of Princess Leia's lines (delivered by actress Carrie Fisher) have since become part of the cinematic canon: her repeated, almost hypnotic exhortation, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope”; her wryly unimpressed reaction when Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) arrives in disguise to rescue her from a detention cell: “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?”

Does she live up to her reputation? Let’s find out – but watch out for spoilers!

NOTE: I’ll be basing my analysis off the original trilogy of movies only.

• ·         Does the character shape her own destiny? Does she actively try to change her situation and if not, why not?

Leia spends most of the trilogy leading a rebellion against a thinly veiled Nazi allegory, and she plays a very active role in this. She co-ordinates battle plans, steals the schematics for the Death Star, and literally has to be dragged out of her military base when it starts collapsing around her ears. She does all this at great personal risk. She’s captured more than once, and it’s implied she’s also tortured by that weird slug thing that looks like a cross between a Dalek and a colander – but she keeps her focus on the master plan. She’s very much in control of her own destiny and the destinies of many of the other characters. Great job, Princess Leia!.

• ·         Does she have her own goals, beliefs and hobbies? Did she come up with them on her own?

Leia doesn’t really have many hobbies, but her goals and beliefs are pretty clear: she believes that the Empire is evil, and she makes taking it down her first priority. In the movies, there’s no clear source for these beliefs apart from her own convictions, and so once again, she passes this round.

• ·         Is her character consistent? Do her personality or skills change as the plot demands?

Throughout the trilogy, Leia’s personality and skills both remain fairly consistent. She’s always a fiery, strong-willed character who knows her way around a blaster. Towards the end of “Return of the Jedi” she starts picking up on some of her latent Jedi abilities, but this doesn’t happen in a completely unrealistic way: she only hears Luke’s message to her, rather than suddenly developing the ability to shoot lightning from her hands.

"That's what you think." (image: giphy.com)

The only issue worth raising in terms of consistency is Princess Leia becomes much weaker when she’s captured. She’s perfectly capable of fighting her way out of trouble, but as soon as one of the bad guys grabs her upper arm, she’s completely powerless and all she can do is flail. However, it’s worth pointing out that when she is captured, she’s outnumbered by enemies who are much better armed than she is, so you could make a case that this is a tactical move on her part.

• ·         Can you describe her in one short sentence without mentioning her love life, her physical appearance, or the words ‘strong female character’?

A princess from leading a rebellion against an evil empire and trying to restore peace to the galaxy.

• ·         Does she develop over the course of the story?

Leia doesn’t really develop much over the course of the movies. While she does achieve her goals, and bring down the Empire – she doesn’t really learn anything while she’s doing it.

• ·         Does she influence the plot without getting captured or killed?

Leia gets captured a lot in the Star Wars trilogy. It’s true that she manages to get captured at least once in every film, forcing some of the other characters to come and rescue her, but this isn’t all she does – a substantial amount of her screen time is devoted to making sure that the audience sees her leading the rebellion, taking charge of the other characters and just generally keeping the plot moving..

• ·         How does she relate to stereotypes about gender?

Leia relates to gender stereotypes in a really interesting way. In some ways, she’s very clearly in the role of the damsel in distress, who must depend on the male characters to save her. She’s also absent from a lot of the serious battle scenes (particularly the X-wing fights), often being placed in the rebel base, watching the attack from the sidelines. This plays into a lot of ideas that women are not capable of fighting to the same standard as men.

While she’s absent from a lot of the big fight scenes, it’s shown that she’s a capable fighter, can pilot a speeder relatively easily, and is more than prepared to full-on CHOKE JABBA TO DEATH WITH HER OWN SLAVE CHAIN. What’s more, she’s shown to be a very skilled political leader, who’s more than capable of drawing up battle plans and inspiring her troops. This really undercuts the stereotype that young women are not cut out for political or leadership roles – she is by far the best political leader we see in the original series.

In this respect, Leia’s character can be pretty divisive. While the positive aspects of her character in relation to gender stereotypes cannot be denied, whether she passes this round or not really depends on how much the individual viewer is bothered by her role as the damsel in distress. For my part, I think it’s worth noting that being captured by an enemy doesn’t make you weak (it just makes you a prisoner), and during her captivity she withstands torture and Sith mind games and never gives in.

• ·         Princess Leia has had a huge impact on popular culture.

Aside from being one of the most metal princesses ever, she’s a role model that many of the young girls (have and still) look up to.  While Princess might not stand up to a full-blown character analysis, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s not worth analyzing at all.

However, with the death of another Hollywood Start this 2016, I wonder what strong female character will take her place.

RIP, Princess Leia.

She is the decisive, relentlessly courageous, ever resourceful, slyly funny Princess who saves the day for the galaxy. 

And thank you Carrie Fisher, you will be missed.