Female Characters (PJO and HoO) - Rick Riordan Crit.
Rick Riordanโs portrayals of females are trash because 1) he believes that femininity equates to weakness, 2) to overcorrect the โfemininity=weaknessโ toxic mentality, he promotes faux girl power which is basically just a watered down crash course on toxic โfeminismโ for impressionable 12 year olds (because thatโs exactly how we want to raise our youth; good job, Rick), 3) any girl who is not able to be part of a romantic subplot is disposed of, and 4) there is little variance among his females.
There are a ton more issues interlaced with this, like the fact that he oversexualizes them as minors [Piper with her โembarrassingly lowโ v-neck dress after Aphroditeโs blessing, or Hazel whoโs 13, dating Frank whoโs 16 (middle schooler dating a high schooler)], or the balance of power between his WOC characters and cishet female characters (like Annabeth being portrayed as the most powerful when a lot of the WOC characters should be more capable *cough* Hazel is literally the daughter of one of the big three, so why does Rick pretend sheโs so weak compared to Annabeth? Could it be that sheโs not whiโ *cough*), but those are separate tangents for another time, so Iโm just going to focus on these four points first.
1) In Rickโs mind, femininity equates to weakness.
The first and probably perfect example of this mentality is Drew Tanaka and the entire Aphrodite cabin. Not only is Drew a terrible portrayal of Asian women, but sheโs the worst โmean girlโ trope. Drew Tanaka is shown as being gorgeous, and itโs stated that she is interested in makeup and fashion and subsequently bullies girls who arenโt as glamorous. Of course, there are actually girls like this, and thatโs terrible, but then Rick turns around and solely promotes โtomboysโ and always, always shames โgirly-girls,โ and thatโs when we have an issue. In only villainizing stereotypically feminine interests, Rick shames girls who enjoy these sorts of things. He uses Piperโs distaste for the Aphrodite cabin like a weapon:
โThey passed the next cabin, Number Ten, which was decorated like a Barbie house with lace curtains, a pink door, and potted carnations in the windows. They walked by the doorway, and the smell of perfume almost made Piper gag.
โGah, is that where supermodels go to die?โ
Annabeth smirked. โAphroditeโs cabin. Goddess of love. Drew is the head counselor.โโ
In this quote, he shames pink, Barbie, and even carnations just by associating it with Aphrodite, and then it shames Aphrodite too. First of all, whatโs wrong with carnations? Theyโre just flowers. There is nothing feminine or masculine about plants. And Barbie? Barbieโs entire brand is that anyone can be anything, and even if there are many flaws in that company, it shouldnโt be shamed like this, and neither should lace or pink. There is nothing feminine about love either. Love is a universal experience: we feel it in familial bonds, platonic bonds, and romantic bonds. Humans have the ability to bond with goddamn Roombas, for Godโs sake. Shame Aphrodite for being a crazy lady, just like the rest of the Olympians, not for being the goddess of love, and do not shame her children for the same. There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking any of these items.
Rick later describes the Aphrodite cabin as despising capture the flag and never participating. (Iโm too lazy to find the quote, sorry). Everyone practically shuns them for disliking that game. Why? Whatโs wrong with having different interests? Whatโs wrong with liking pink and not wanting to get your hands a little dirty? I would love capture the flag, and I still like pink, even if itโs not my favorite color. Why does Rick have to make it a dichotomy? Why do you have to be either pretty or strong? Why must everyone who adores fancy things be rude? Why is Piper praised for not liking these things? Theyโre just different, arbitrary interests. Neither should be superior. Rick seriously missed out on the opportunity to show strength in being softer and kinder.
Some people like to bring up Silena as a counterpoint to this. People like to go to their graves saying, โshe was a hero, not a traitor,โ but the fact remains that the only girl who is more in touch with her feminine roots and not mean ended up spying on the camp for Luke, and her reason wasnโt even completely honorable:ย
โBefore โฆ before I liked Charlie, Luke was nice to me. He was soโฆcharming. Handsome. Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promisedโฆhe promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldnโt hurtโฆCharlie. He lied to me.โ
-Silena, The Last Olympian
We couldโve done without the โHe was soโฆcharming. Handsome.โ part. It wouldโve made the whole thing ten times more honorable. If she had followed Luke because she really thought she was doing the right thing and was just a little naive, if Luke had only blackmailed her with Beckendorfโs life, then she wouldโve been a hero through and through. Instead, Rick just pinned her as a girl who screwed over the camp because she thought Luke was cute. Not really a stellar resume there.
Like I said earlier, Rick missed out on the opportunity to portray strength in being kind and gentle. Some strong women are athletic with bold personalities and speak nothing but the brutal truth. Some strong women are emotional, enjoy dresses, and love children. Some strong women are hard workers and like STEM. Some strong women are extremely maternal. Some strong women enjoy cooking for their friends, family, and significant others.
There is no perfect mold that can form an exact representation of what a strong woman must be. In society, a strong woman is seen far too many times as an ideal man. Theyโre praised for doing the equivalent of a man, and thatโs great that theyโre being praised at all, but women should not be expected to prove their worth in terms of men. While we should continue to highlight when women break barriers and surpass records set by men, women should also be allowed to enjoy activities labeled as feminine. Women are allowed to enjoy โfeminineโ interests without feeling obligated to apologize or fearing that men will think them weak. Women can do what men do and more, but having โfeminineโ hobbies do not diminish any gender in any way.
Being โwomanlyโ has been trained into our senses since we were young. The color pink was associated with femininity, and boys shame other boys for liking it, and girls would proudly announce they liked blue more to gain boysโ respect. Any girl who didnโt like sports in elementary school but liked competition in other ways, like mental sports, or didnโt enjoy competition at all and just liked to have fun were deemed โreally girlyโ by every boy and even other girls. Females have been deemed as less worthy girls for enjoying certain colors or activities, and itโs preposterous. Do not feel obliged to feign love of anything for a manโs approval, and the fact that Rick would push such a ludicrous agenda on young, impressionable girls makes me sick.
2) To overcorrect femininity = weakness, Rick basically spitballs faux girl power.
โIโm not like other girlsโ is basically Rickโs motto for every one of his female characters. He frequently pits girls against one another. As I mentioned earlier, Piper McLean and Drew Tanaka are really good examples of this.
โThere was some giggling from the Aphrodite cabin. God, what a bunch of losers, Piper thought. But it didnโt do much to break the tension.โ
Congratulations on turning Piper into a Strong Womanโข, Rick. Apparently giggling is cancelled too. By depicting Piper as a โnot like other girlsโ girl and then praising her for it, he encourages his young female readers to compare themselves to other girls and participate in this competition of women created by society. I think most people know about Drew and Piper being set against each other, but another one that I think more people forget is the beef between Annabeth and Rachel.
Normally I would say jealousy is a good flaw to give a character. The best flaws are relatable flaws, flaws that regular people have. And people do get jealous. But if thatโs the only flaw Rickโs really going to give Annabeth besides โprideโ (which is also romanticized for absolutely no reason) and then also have no one hold her accountable for it, then I donโt want it. Annabeth is consistently praised and thought of as โfunnyโ for calling Rachel stupid and basically being a bitch about someone else liking Percy, despite Rachel remaining cordial the entire time. Then Rick goes ahead and paints Annabeth as a badass feminist who doesnโt take crap from anybody else. Yeah, okay. Because hating other women makes you really strong. Sure.
The third example is Reyna, pitted against both Piper and Rachel. I wonโt really delve into it because I feel like Iโve made my point for this, but itโs basically the same thing: โI, a girl, am very strong and hate people and I dislike you, another girl, just for fun, and it makes me strong.โ Revolting.
Another tactic Rick frequently uses to portray the strength in his females is making them very shouty and loud and very powerful. While some women really are like that (which is okay too!), not every girl is. Itโs a shame thatโs the only depiction of strong female characters Rick can offer. And then he also takes it too far. Not only are Annabeth, Rachel, Reyna, Thalia, Piper, *insert all his other female characters* really loud and angry individuals, but sometimes they get downright abusive, and itโs supposed to be funny? I think? A good example of this is Annabeth judo-flipping Percy when she sees him at the Roman camp for the first time. (Hurting Percy Jackson, omg sWOoN). Like, what is this? A kink or something, Richard? Strong women do not need to put down men to be strong. Feminism is the belief that women deserve equal respect as men, not that women are superior to males. This whole โtsundereโ look is in bad taste in my opinion.
People often use Hazel as a counterpoint to the โshouty girls.โ And thatโs fair. Hazel is soft and kind, except thereโs the issue I mentioned way, way earlier: Hazel is kind and soft-spoken (unless itโs something very important), and then sheโs also shown as being weak. Because kindness and quietness means youโre weak. Perfect. Good job, Richard.
(I would also like to point out that itโs not just girls putting down other girls either in this whole toxic โfeminismโ agenda:
โSome girls kept looking over at Piper and Dylan and snickering. Jason figured these girls were the popular clique. They wore matching jeans and pink tops and enough makeup for a Halloween party.โ
Matching jeans and tops. Makeup. Oh, the horror. How could they like dressing up? How evil!!!11!1
3) Any girl not part of romantic subplots is thrown out.
This means that Rick associates value in characters with romance, and thatโs disgusting. He does this a bit with boys too, like with Grover who we never see again after getting Juniper, and other examples, but at least they have purposes by themselves. Grover was meant to find Pan, and once he did that, I guess I can excuse dropping the ball with him. But sometimes it just makes zero sense.
Examples: After Percy chose Rachel, Rick really just yeeted Rachel out of the universe. He just said the Oracle canโt date, and we basically never see her for more than a couple moments despite the fact that sheโs really good friends with Percy, was/is super respectful of Percyโs choice to date Annabeth, and is overall just a cool girl who chucked a blue hairbrush at Kronos.
Another example is Thalia. Thalia just randomly joins the hunt. I can see how she joined it to spite her father, or because she didnโt want to be part of the prophecy, but I just find it weird that sheโs super attached to Luke and everything, and then just dips as soon as heโs dead. We deserve to see her still ruffling Percyโs hair, much to his distaste, and dropping by to hang around Jason, and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, hanging out with Annabeth. So, what, just because Luke dies, so does her familial relationship with Annabeth? Bullshit.
Third example: Calypso. In @meclusaโs rant on Leo, she explained this really well, so I wonโt delve super deep into it and will rather redirect you to her blog, but basically, Calypso was just rejected by Percy and then passed over to be someone elseโs prize instead. Sheโs โawardedโ to Leo because poor Leo never got a girl (Alexa play despacito). Revolting. I wouldโve loved to see her get off the island and then go explore the world on her own before even considering being shipped with someone else. I could also totally see her joining the Amazons or the hunt, not because she deserves no page time, but because she just wants to be free and travel from place to place.
The fourth and most famous example is Reyna. After being rejected by both Percy and Jason, what does Rick do? Rather than allowing her to be a strong Praetor whoโs independent and still kickass, he ships her off to the hunt full of twelve year old girls. Praetorship is such an honor, and she worked so hard to get there, and you really think sheโd give it up to run around with prepubescent girls just because two boys didnโt like her? Give me a break.
Female characters should not be disposed of because they canโt be paired with anyone. The same goes for boys, of course, but this post is mainly about his interpretation of females, not males.
Iโm going to give yโall a description, and I want you to tell me which character Iโm talking about: โSheโs strong. Beautiful. She fights really well. Funny. Sarcastic. Sheโs loud and opinionated.โ Confused? Great, so am I. My fourth main point is that Rick gives his female characters no discernable personalities. I mentioned this a bit earlier at the end of point two, but I really want to expand on it here.
When we compare discernibility to the boy characters, itโs a little bit easier. If I say, โHeโs strong. Ruggedly handsome. He fights really well. Funny. Sarcastic. Heโs loud and opinionated,โ we would probably immediately pin that to Percy, right? Heโs the most sarcastic of the boys, besides Leo, but Leoโs not shown as fighting really well or incredibly physically strong, so itโs easier to pick out who weโre talking about. Granted, itโs still not perfect because his development of HoO characters is nearly non-existent, but itโs still easier:
Jason is very much the Good Guyโข, and heโs a leader who always serves the greater good; Percy is loyal to the select people that he loves, and heโs more rebellious and snarky and dark (his hatred of the gods and understanding that he serves his friends first, not the greater good); Leo is supposed to be the ironic comedian with a sad backstory whilst still providing humorous relief (though @meclusa had a very good essay as to why this is a huge L); Frank isโฆactually, I donโt even know what his purpose was, seeing as he had zero characterization other than a buff glow-up (which was fatphobic but whatever); Nico carries the greatest burdens of them all, what with growing up in another time period and struggling with homosexuality as well as the stigma of being a child of Hades, and he has this wonderful nuance and operates in shades of grey, but ultimately, he has a good heart; Luke is Percyโs counterpart, in that they share similar values, but heโs more like the cautionary tale of what happens when you take any belief to the extreme.
In comparison to these guys, the female characterizations fall flat. They have little to no discernable personalities, other than the fact that they have different names, different parentages/powers, and different appearances. They either fall in the category of being weak and powerless and kind, pretty and fashionable and villainous, or Strong Independent Womanโข where they just do and say questionable things while yelling at the top of their lungs and stabbing boys and wearing sneakers but still being oh-so-effortlessly-pretty-how-does-she-do-it-wOW.
Rick has no place pretending that he knows how to write strong female characters. You do not just create Mary Sues and hand them weapons and then market them as the perfect role models for girls. You do not create beautifully nuanced boys (Percy and Luke are my favorite examples for this) and then pretend that girls cannot be as complex and dynamic of characters.
You do not under any fucking circumstance shove these toxic ideas into the faces of young, impressionable middle school girls so that they grow up thinking they canโt like pink and be opinionated and be compassionate and be intelligent and kick ass and look fabulous while doing it all. Humans are not black and white. They are not inherently good or evil. Please extend the same courtesy to your female characters. We deserve to be represented just as well, and we deserve to be given more thought in the writing process just like your boys.
Fuck faux girl power. And fuck Rickโs idea of feminism and female portrayals. If you read through this whole thing, thank you lmao. Iโm sorry if it was a little messy. I was rushing through it, and I could talk about this for hours, but I tried to shorten it.
Also shout out to @meclusa and @finding-my-culture whose criticisms of Leo and Piper, respectively, inspired me to write my own on another thing I despise about Rickโs writing. Yโall really be iconic, and I love you. Oh, and shout out to team seven and other PJO bloggers in the PJO discourse (@valgraced,ย @hazelmagix @caiprisa, @reynaisalesbian, @tridentgum, @dykeplants,ย @hazelslevesquee, @silima, @bunkernine, @mclean, @piperisgay, @pjolesbian, @charlesbeckendorf, etc.) (If you donโt already follow them, go do that right now). I recently followed all of yโall, and your rants are honestly something else. And thatโs on holding authors responsible for their shit.
