The journey of the heroine vs that of the hero

 Both the hero's journey and the heroine's provide a lens for us to critically examine the media we consume through a common thread. Where they differ of course is in the path a heroine takes versus a hero. While a hero's journey begins with a yearning for something greater, a noble cause to go into the great beyond, a heroine's begins with betrayal. It is not so much about attaining some abstract "boon" which elevates them, but rather returning to the world they once loved and enjoyed, rather than obtaining something new. The yearning is just to once again be satisfied with life, and in Victoria Schmidt's model the struggles are inherently interpersonal, rather than the grandiose adventures one might associate with the hero's journey. 

    Another important distinction is the role of gender in both constructs. In the hero's journey, gender plays a somewhat minor role. Joseph Campbell's cycle includes a few depictions of gender, but they are sparse- one is with the goddess/motherly figure, and the other being the temptress. Both of these reflect a very male worldview, especially in terms of representing male lust in the "woman as temptress". It is almost an inescapable fact in Joseph Campbell's monomyth that the hero will be somehow distracted from his plight by his own lust and desires, by a woman who embodies nothing more than a hinderance, but the hero's masculinity is never tested. The journey serves as a realization of that masculinty. Conversely, in the heroines journey she is constantly at war with her own identity. While the Hero's journey can be understood as vaugely representing the idea of manhood, the heroines is inherently tied to it, and as such it consists mainly of gender-based struggles.

    An important difference to highlight between the two is also the much more solitary nature of the heroine's journey. Only in step 6/9 does the heroine ever accept any type of support, which is in stark difference to the Hero's journey, where before even leaving his home he finds a mentor to guide him and give supernatural aid. Of course, for a mostly internal struggle like the heroine's journey it is much more difficult to find a "mentor" per se. It is not possible when you are dealing with your wounded femininity to simply call on someone else to fix it for you. Rather, it is only guidance you can find but at the end of the day it comes from within you. A mentor figure in the Hero's journey, conversely, might bail out the hero at crucial times to prevent too much damage from being done. A heroine simply finds it within herself to tackle her problems.

    Lastly, there is a difference in the resolution. Typically, a heroic narrative ends with the return of a boon to the place of his beginning. But in a heroine's, it is likely just the healing of the wounds that opened within the first moments of the narrative. The hero may return with the object of his desire, but the heroine never wanted anything but to heal the aspect of herself that was damaged. This is the biggest contrast between the two: while the hero's journey is about an intrepid explorrer venturing into the unknown to reap unforeseen riches, the heroine's requires her to first venture within herself before she can ever have any hope of continuing. In the words of Campbell himself, he describes the hero's journey as "A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man". This is in complete contrast to the heroines, who Maureen Murdock describes as "The feminine journey is about going down deep into soul, healing and reclaiming, while the masculine journey is up and out, to spirit."

-David, 3/13