The Importance of Strong Female Characters

Characters like Arya are important, because they act as role models for young girls. It is extremely easy to emulate what we read in books, or see in movies and television. Pat Heine, a co-author of Strong Female Characters in Recent Literature wrote, "girls often have to battle messages that tell them they are second best, or victims, or human beings measured by the beauty of their bodies and the pliability of their minds." 
 

Heine and his colleagues compiled a criteria list, to determine if characters serve as strong and positive role models. 

After viewing this list, two characters from fantasy novels came to mind:

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter series)

Hermione, despite being the only female lead character in Harry Potter, is one of the smartest and hardest working wizards in all of Hogwartz. Because of her work ethic and intelligence, she becomes one of the strongest wizards that Hogwartz has to offer. She fits the criteria: she displays emotion, she grows tremendously throughout the series, she works hard to maintain healthy relationships... all of which helped me determine that Hermione is a positive role model. 

Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) 

Katniss is chosen at random to represent her nation in an anual fight to the death tradition called, "The Hunger Games." Though nervous and seemingly fragile at the beginning, Katniss proves to be one of the smartest contestants, and an incredibly bowman among everything else. Though Katniss is a physically strong character as well, she is a positive role model because of where her head is - she is smart and an independent thinker (though sometimes too independent).