Suzanne Collin’s bestelling trilogy, The Hunger Games, was the spark that ignited a new genre of writing: Dystopian Fiction. The story takes place in a futuristic America where twelve districts are ruled by a corrupt capital, and are forced to take place in yearly hunger games. These “games” where children are forced to fight in a battle to the death for the entertainment of the capital. The main characters, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, take positions in the book that are highly unusual while contrasting them with other well-known novels.. In a majority of books, unfortunately, authors hold true to the idea that the male character is the lead, and he is a strong, confident fighter, while his love interest female lead, who while also being strong and confident, takes a backseat role to their heroism. The Hunger Games completely goes against that societal norm. 

Katniss is a girl who has spent years hunting food in order to feed her family, and when she is in the Hunger Games, does well with her mastery of the bow and arrow. Peeta, on the other hand, does not do nearly as well because his background is that he comes from a bakery. Katniss’s skill is archery, while Peeta’s is baking and cake decoration. While both are applaudable skills, one thing of note is that this goes against traditional gender roles. Peeta takes a far weaker role in the books than Katniss, the symbol of the rebellion, while Katniss is able to take charge and lead both of them out of the games unscathed. It is even commented upon by one of the characters in the second book Catching Fire, Finick Odair, that Peeta would not be there in their Second Hunger Games without Katniss.

It is a striking commentary on gender roles. In nearly every novel, the male protagonist is the strong, confident hero and the female protagonist, while still a hero, follows the male lead many times. In this series, it is the opposite. Peeta is the baker who has no place on a battlefield and only survives because his love interest and fellow protagonist Katniss is a strong fighter who is able to defy the capital and save them both.

Normalizing changes in gender roles such as these is one step further to getting rid of preconceived notions of gender completely. Hopefully one day, these notions won’t exist and females won’t have any problems moving into STEM fields, just as males won’t have any problems baking, knitting, or doing other traditionally “feminine” activities. As authors, artists, or absolutely anyone defy these specific gender roles, the world will begin to become a bit more equalized.