man-bashing echo chamber

Katniss describes the process as leaving her raw, vulnerable, a plucked bird ready for roasting. It's an interesting visual, what with her mockingjay wedding dress, her role as the girl on fire and a symbol for the rebellion, and of course the outcome of the war. But that's neither here nor there of course.

This passage used to make me genuinely sad as a 13 year old. Again she describes herself as plucked, raw. What's a bird without its wings?

People have taken to calling Katniss a "I'm not like other girls" main character. She repeatedly talks about how freakish the Capitol residents look, how Snow's puffy lips are unsettling, how she dreads being left to her prep team's whims and having yet another aspect of her agency taken away from her. It goes to show how reading comprehension is in the gutter these days. Collins' intent with writing the Capitol as she did couldn't have been more obvious. This is a YA series, of course the social critique is on the nose. Katniss was a traumatized child even before the games, starved and poor, responsible for the survival of her family. Of course these foolish beauty routines seem outlandish to her as an outsider, and that's because they are, people have just grown accustomed to them.

The first time I felt the need to shave my legs was the night of my high school graduation party and by the time I was done with one leg I knew it wasn't worth it. It felt wrong and it still does.

I hope young girls today have stories that depict body hair as a normal, human thing to have. I hope they know this expensive quest to remove all human aspects and render one's body as that of a wax doll isn't worth it.

When we say girls and women should be afforded the protection of sex exclusive sporting events, it's not entirely because of biological differences between males and us. Clearly these differences are less present in certain age groups.