Through the progression of my Blog Tour we’ve discussed how women are viewed, sexually, in contemporary media and literature. There’s the Cougar, and the MILF, both of which take up ample portions of Internet bandwidth and reader’s group discussions. There’s another such archetype factoring into our modern formation of the sexual woman, and I call her the Princess Warrior, to whom I dedicated my newly released novella, Gigolo Seduction.

Carl Jung identified the archetype of the ‘warrior’ in his quest to map the inner self. According to his work, the warrior is the part of ourselves that protects emotional boundaries and asserts our needs. Though more gender-liberated than many of his peers, Jung’s work was largely based on men. Given that, understanding the warrior archetype in literature becomes tricky, as the very values attributed are generally frowned upon for women. Women are not expected to protect themselves in any way—in fact they are to be completely available to everyone, and most definitely they’re not to assert needs. As a result, heroines across history have lived double lives. Thus, the ‘princess’ aspect emerges. The composed, trained lady that she must present is not the truth of the hot, competent woman beneath.

Princess Warriors are young women who on the surface seem demure, intellectually vapid, and socially in check, though they’re culturally courageous, sneakily brilliant, and Kung Fu badasses. In short, the she’s the unobtrusive technogeek who can ruin your life with the click of a button, the fragile schoolgirl who’s a secret ninja, the pretty little cheerleader who slays vampires, the quaint artist who flogs men into submission at night.
Of course my focus is on the latter. Asif, the confident, composed escort in Gigolo Seduction prides himself on being able to please women, all women. However, when his advances are rebuffed by the young, sweet frescoista, Cass, he doesn’t know how to respond. Imagine how his reaction upon learning she’s a Princess Warrior…
Consider some of these historic and literary Princess Warriors:

• Joan of Arc  – Heroine of France
• Cut Nyak Dhien  –   Muslim warrior of Indonesia
• Princess Leia   –  Star Wars
• Willow Rosen   –  Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Buffy Summers   –  Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• O-Ren Ishii   –  Kill Bill
• Xena   –  Xena, Warrior Princess
• Sidney Bristow   –  Alias
• Nikita   –  La Femme Nikita
• Dana Scully   –  The X-Files

What other Princess Warriors inspire you? How do they kick ass in your world?

Originally posted at You Gotta Read.