Evolving Feminism in The Hunger Games Series

By Ellie Cook

My project analyzes the differences in feminine gender performance between Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of the original The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and Lucy Gray Baird, the protagonist of the prequel novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It analyzes the two characters from an intersectional perspective and argues for the importance of cultural, economic, social, etc. contexts when accounting for differences in gender performance, as these factors are all intertwined with gender norms. From the basis of their contrasting gender performance, the paper then delves into agency as a theme and how each character’s relative agency impacts their feminine representation. These differences in gender performance and agency show a different archetype for a young adult feminine heroine over ten years after the original trilogy’s publication. 

From the end of May to mid-July, I completed the background reading to prepare for writing my paper. I read critical theory such as Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble, Undoing Gender, and Who’s Afraid of Gender? as well as Butler Matters: Judith Butler’s Impact on Feminist and Queer Studies by Warren J. Blumenfeld and Margaret Sönser Breen. I also read scholarship about The Hunger Games series that focused on gender and feminism. Some of these texts include: “You Love Me. Real’: Gender in the Hunger Games Trilogy” by Bienvenue Bray and “I Hunt. He bakes.’: Constructing and Deconstructing Gender Identity in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games Trilogy” by Rakchuda Thibordee. I also read books that gave a general overview of the young adult dystopian genre, such as Female Rebellion in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction by Sarah K. Day, et al. and Contemporary Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults: Brave New Teenagers by Carrie Hintz, et al. Using these texts, I completed an annotated biography.

I met with my Apex mentor, Professor Caroline Gelmi, in mid-June, mid-July, and mid-August to check my progress. From mid-July to the end of August, I completed the first draft of my paper. I will continue to work on it with Professor Gelmi throughout the Fall 2024 semester and will finish my final draft at the end of the semester.  

I am grateful to Professor Gelmi for her feedback and mentorship and to OUR for supporting this project through a summer research grant.