Shiver: Aggressive Females and Knightly Males

Blurb:

From a dazzlingly talented young writer, a haunting and original supernatural romance in the vein of TWILIGHT.

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Topic of Choice: Aggressive Females and Knightly Males

I know this sounds like a strange topic of choice but hear me out. 

In a lot of paranormal romance there is this trend of aggressive females and knightly males. What do I mean by aggressive females?

Well, it's very simple: The type of ladies who attack their males to have sex with them when the men simply do not want it.

And knightly males?

They are the men that every women dreams of: courteous, respectful and wants to wait to have sex.

Now the perfect example of this is in Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Grace wants to have sex with him and practically tears off his clothes to do so.

And the knightly male Sam constantly tells her no. Until he caves.  

Now, this aggressive female/knightly male is appearing all over the place, and I wonder if people are really getting the message behind what all of these authors are saying.

And don't fool yourself: There are multiple authors who follow this trend.

Here are some examples that I can think of:

Becca Fitzpatrick

Stephanie Meyer

Amy Plum

Simone Elkeles*

*Okay, so she's not in the paranormal romance genre but still, it's shown in her books too.

I'm sure there are plenty more, but I just started reading books in the paranormal romance genre, so bear with me on that one. 

Now what does this say about females and males in general? What should we the audience think about what the authors and readers eat and produce continually?

That it is okay for a female to practically rape a man?

I'm not saying that the characters did in any of the novels, but the illusion is still there. As long as "Well, he really wants me and loves me and I have to do everything in my power to keep him.", is that all right then?

Where's the line drawn in the sand between reluctance and rape?

There is also something under the surface that I really don't like: That females are sluts and the men are these noble creatures.

This is really the core of the issue for me: That certain authors think it is okay to portray females like this.

Do they know that younger females look to Bella as their role model?

Do they know that young girls may think that this is natural?

And don't get me wrong: There are females like this. I've seen girls act this way and to me it's just makes me question their worth.

How much self esteem do you have if you have to force somebody to sleep with you?

What does love mean to you if you think love=sex?

And I'm not saying that sex is wrong. Not even hardly. But I think sex is something that's precious and delicate. That when two people come together to have sex, that it should be meaningful and not just used as a desperate measure. Or as a "You have to prove to me that you love me! Or else!"

Which is something I conquer in my own paranormal romance young adult novel, Angel Diaries.

But enough about that, let's get back to this topic.

Let's view this from a cultural standpoint.

I haven't really seen this trend pop up in television shows except for the obvious one:

Gossip Girl

But other than that, I haven't really seen it lately. But it reminds me distantly of the Maury Show.

For those who do not know what the Maury Show is then I'll explain it in lamest terms: It's where young ladies come to a show and find out who the father of their child are (most of the time). 

Sometimes women tests 100 guys, and yes I'm not lying, 100. 

Where is their self-worth?

Between their legs?

What is the point of being in a relationship if you have to chase a guy or force a guy to love you?

I just don't get it. Why is our culture glorifying men and demoralizing women?

On the one hand, we are seen as the child bearers. These strong women in movies and television shows but we are weakened by our sex. By our beauty since in order to become the Megan Fox's of the world and be strong and powerful, we have to be sexy.

Which is a whole topic altogether but more to the point:

We are treated and portrayed as trash. 

By our own gender: Women!

That's where my mind is blown. Why are we attacking ourselves? Is there a point where men are seen as the saviors and women are seen as the evil doers?

Are we forever trapped by the Adam and Eve contempt?

Will we ever be seen as equals?

It's almost like we are given so much power and prestige that is well within our reach yet these messages bombard our goals like women being weak in the science and math because simply we are females and our minds are for english and history.

We are bombarded by mix messages that states that in order to be safe we have to travel with men. That in order to be happy we have to have a family which should consist of a man and children.

The more the better (children wise).

And we fail as women if we end up 50 years old with a great business but no family life whatsoever. We are constantly told that a life without love is nothing.

Yet in order to get the love of our life we have to spread our legs and take what we can.

Is that the message we should tell our kids?

Is that the message men get?

Absolutely not!

Marriage is an option for men. For women, it isn't. It's a requirement and an obligation to our race as humans that we have to reproduce. 

All of this to say: We cannot survive without men.

Now, I'm not saying I hate men. Because just the opposite is true: I love men. I think men often get criticized too much in our society about weight, height and what it truly means to be a man (a.k.a. men don't cry). 

All I'm saying is: Why do men have to be the center of any women's life? Why should men make the world go around?

Why are men the "good" ones and women the "bad" ones? Why are we the aggressive ones when usually it's the men who are aggressive?

There seems to be this acceptance that men can be the gentlemen and there's the splinter in my spine.

Why can't women be seen as the saviors/"good" ones?

Where are the good strong women?