It’s not every day that a stone cold feminist shows up in literature.  With Lisbeth Salander (aka The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest), Swedish author Stieg Larsson somehow managed to do just that with the book originally titled Men Who Hate Women.  The best part?  He admittedly based this character on his visualization of a grown up Pippi Longstocking.

I have this aversion to jumping on the literary bandwagon.  From John Grisham’s The Firm to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books to (gulp) the Twilight series (yes, I read the damn things long before the great dildo debacle), I mutter a lot about fads and refuse to read popular books on some general principle I don’t fully understand myself.

Anyway, I did it yet again with Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy … and I was completely wrong.  Except for the ending, I found these books to be outstanding works of literature.  If you haven’t read them, you really should.  And just so you know, I’m not going to give away any sort of big surprise in this post — if anything, think of it as an effort to further pique your interest as we examine Salander’s feminism.

Considering my great affinity for lists (and I hope you’re catching the sarcasm here), it seemed like a great opportunity to pay it forward a bit.  Therefore, I am happy to present you with my first list.

10 Reasons Why Lisbeth Salander is a Feminist

1. She does not buy into the stereotype.
Although Salander is described throughout the series as tiny (her height is given numerous times as under five feet), “anorexic-looking,” and even “doll-like,” she possesses great physical strength that, combined with an incredibly quick mind, make her a worthy adversary for anyone.  Even if she didn’t take pains to make her appearance as gender-neutral as possible, her affinity for Billy’s Pan Pizza and Marlboro Lights do balance out her feminine side a bit.

2. She is friends with a variety of people instead of pigeonholing a group that fits with her exterior appearance.
Mikhail Blomkvist, an honest journalist (referred to by Salander herself as a “practical pig”).  Mimmi Wu, a very open lesbian college student.  Dragan Armansky, the director of a prestigious security company.  “Plague,” a 350 pound recluse …

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Creator of the Rape-aXe, South African doctor Sonnet Ehlers, was inspired when a victim exclaimed, “If only I had teeth down there!” Although first developed in 2006, Dr. Ehlers is currently testing 30,000 of the devices in South Africa as the World Cup continues. Inserted like a tampon, the Rape-aXe device is a latex sheath with sharp barbs that latch onto the perpetrators penis, and can cause scarring.

The experience of rape and sexual violence cannot be experienced or essentialized in any one way. Rape and sexual violence can also be perpetuated by different sociocultural and economic factors. Clearly, there is no one solution, no one approach, to both prevent and respond to rape and sexual violence.

A vagina dentata always has various implications, both tangible and abstract and in some ways, this device potentially presumes an inherent vulnerability to the vagina and could also be considered a constant reminder of how one can be victimized at any time. However, I do not in any way dismiss those who may seek out and potentially benefit from Rape-aXe, naturally.

Yet, I do feel this particularly violent and “drastic” anti-rape approach misunderstands the cultural and psychological dimensions of rape. Some societies are considered “rape-prone,” whereas other societies have been observed as less “rape-prone.” For example, Minangkabau in Indonesia has dramatically low rates of rape and is dubbed by some as “rape-free.”
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RapeStop.net, the self-proclaimed proprietor of the “World’s 1st and Only Anti-Rape Condom” has emerged with its newest model of anti-rape protection, the RapeaXe.

Similar to the famed chastity belt, but actually not at all, the RapeaXe is an insert-able “cup” which protects a woman’s nether regions from being penetrated.  The cup, which is lady-part shaped, has protruding plastic barbs on the inside that will surely tear up a man’s wang, should he attempt entrance without a boarding pass.

However, there are probably some valid negatives to go along with the multitude of positives for this new device.

What if the dude gets “stuck”?  How do you logically explain that to a paramedic while simulteneously bashing the rapist’s face in?  What if the assailant is so pissed that his package is caught in a barbed-wire fence that he starts attacking you with fists and teeth?  What if you’re out and about, alone on the town and you actually happen to meet a guy that passes clearance and is go for take-off?  How do you explain the saber-toothed prophylactic extraction?  You can actually find answers to some of these burning, stinging and bloodied questions here.

According to an article out of the Times Online, which was originally published a few years back, Charlene Smith, a rape-prevention “advocate” states:

“This is a medieval instrument, based on male-hating notions and fundamentally misunderstands the nature of rape and violence against women in this society. It is vengeful, horrible, and disgusting. The woman who invented this needs help.”

I have to apologize to Ms. Smith on behalf of all women who have been raped in their lives and subsequently suffered long-term ill effects due to the violent invasion.  These women simply must have “misunderstood” the “nature of rape and violence.”  I must bend my back and succumb to the genius that is Ms. Smith.

I think it’s an interesting concept, but if I’m checking over my shoulder constantly amidst dark alleyways and fearing rape wherever I go, I’ll definitely go the traditional route and stock up on the pepper spray and brass knuckles — but I think I might do my best to steer clear of the penis fly-trap.

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