"Shining" young women -- request for thoughts

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bobledrew

bobledrew

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May 13, 2010
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Hey folks:

Discussion earlier on another thread got me thinking about how King treats pre-teen / adolescent boys and girls who have "the shining" in his fiction.

If you think about children with powers in the library, there are quite a few:
  • Abra Stone
  • Charly McGee
  • Carrie White
  • Kyra Devore (not sure about her, whether it's just the power in the air that acts through her)
  • Jake Chambers
  • Mark Petrie
  • Jack Sawyer
  • Danny Torrance
  • David Carver
  • Seth Garin (does he have anything or is it Tak?)
  • Leo Rockway
It seems to me that the girls in these examples (for sure the first three) have powers that seem on the verge of going rogue, that they are afraid of hurting people with, while the boys don't have those fears.

Playing devil's advocate here, do you think this indicates a level of unconscious sexism in King? Or perhaps that on a fundamental level, he finds women mysterious and unable to comprehend?

Your thoughts will quite possibly end up in a Kingcast at some point.
 
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GNTLGNT

GNTLGNT

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...these "wild talents" seem to be manifest in pre-pubescent females, and mature and become harder to control as the girls come of age(Carrie White's came about after her first menses)...it appears to me to be something governed if you will by the double-X chromosome, which is not sexism but genetic....the males with their more aggressive XY pairing will have less compunctions about wielding power...as far as King being unable to comprehend women????....I give you Dolores Claiborne, Jessie Burlingame, Lisey Landon et al, etc....as examples he's pretty well in touch with his feminine side....
 
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not_nadine

not_nadine

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GNTLGNT said:
...these "wild talents" seem to be manifest in pre-pubescent females, and mature and become harder to control as the girls come of age(Carrie White's came about after her first menses)...it appears to me to be something governed if you will by the double-X chromosome, which is not sexism but genetic....the males with their more aggressive XY pairing will have less compunctions about wielding power...as far as King being unable to comprehend women????....I give you Dolores Claiborne, Jessie Burlingame, Lisey Landon et al, etc....as examples he's pretty well in touch with his feminine side....
Click to expand...

Very well said, Gnt.
 
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PatInTheHat

PatInTheHat

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Dec 19, 2007
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Lair of the Great Kentucky Nightcrawler
The adage 'boys will be boyz' speaks to the very real fact that we don't think a whole lot as youngsters, we just do...well, 'cept maybe some badly thought out plottin' and ill conceived plannin', and most all of that in order to try and 'get away with it'.
If'n ya don't believe me, go hang out in any emergency room:facepalm_smiley:..oh lord we're just like little wild animals:rolleyes:
 
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carrie's younger brother

carrie's younger brother

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Mar 8, 2012
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I always assumed that in the female characters it was a manifestation of puberty and the onset of the menstrual cycle. This is a time when a lot of young women are questioning what is happening to them and what it means for the future. There is also the idea of sex as power. This is obviously the most prevalent in Carrie/Carrie White. With boys, there is nothing that compares to the beginning of the menstrual cycle, so it is not as complex in that respect. Of course boys go through the same thing psychologically, wondering what is happening to them, etc. With girls though, it is something much more physical and overt. That's how I've always seen this issue in SK's writing.
 
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GNTLGNT

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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not_nadine said:
No, I don't either, I phrased that wrong.
Click to expand...
...don't make me mind-meld you!...
funny-pictures-the-vulcan-mind-meld-is-not-working1.jpg
 
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Ashcrash

Ashcrash

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Jun 10, 2015
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Wutsittoyu
bobledrew said:
Hey folks:

Discussion earlier on another thread got me thinking about how King treats pre-teen / adolescent boys and girls who have "the shining" in his fiction.

If you think about children with powers in the library, there are quite a few:
  • Abra Stone
  • Charly McGee
  • Carrie White
  • Kyra Devore (not sure about her, whether it's just the power in the air that acts through her)
  • Jake Chambers
  • Mark Petrie
  • Jack Sawyer
  • Danny Torrance
  • David Carver
  • Seth Garin (does he have anything or is it Tak?)
  • Leo Rockway
It seems to me that the girls in these examples (for sure the first three) have powers that seem on the verge of going rogue, that they are afraid of hurting people with, while the boys don't have those fears.

Playing devil's advocate here, do you think this indicates a level of unconscious sexism in King? Or perhaps that on a fundamental level, he finds women mysterious and unable to comprehend?

Your thoughts will quite possibly end up in a Kingcast at some point.
Click to expand...

Seriously? I would find it surprising if any guy did not find women mysterious and unable to comprehend. As far as the unconcious sexism goes I am a women that read his books as a girl. I never found myself thinking "that author is a little bit sexist." Does it hurt your brain when it makes such big leaps? lol
 
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