Happy 80th Nancy Drew

I am a day late, since Nancy Drew was published into existence on April 28th(1930). Of course, I am sure the actual idea of her existed long before that, so even that date wouldn't be her official 'birth.' I am pretty sure I never read a Nancy Drew book, and I was never even a huge fan of her male equivilents, the Hardy Boys. I can not deny the effecft she had on popular culture in North America. I know for a fact, that my mom owned several books from the series, and she was a major fan of hers. She would tell me parts of her faovurite Nancy Drew stories, when I was a mere little boy.

I really think that is the biggest contribution the character Nancy Drew provided. She was a strong female role model, during a time when most ficitonal females were either femme fatales or damsels in distress. She was a character of action and was highly intelligent. She didn't need men to help her foil the bad guys' plots. I am not saying she was the first strong female fiction character, because that would be a massive lie, but she was a strong female character during a chauvinistic age (it is more impressive considering her creator wasn't antyhing resembling a feminist -- for one, it was a guy). Nancy Drew would be a great symbol for what females were capable of and a ficitonal icon for the feminist movement.

Plus it was an action/mystery series for girls. I am positive that would have been a very rare thing back then. No shot against novels like "Little House on the Prairie", but those type of books were what was deemed all girls liked. As my mom proved as a little girl, some wanted action and adventure just like the boys had in their stories. Nancy Drew proved that there was a definite market for it, thus really varied the female literary options.

Even though I know very little about Nancy Drew, I can appreciate her place in pop culture and literary history. So, Happy Belated Birthday to you Nancy. You have had a good and impactful run.