a changing perspective on the Blue Sword

One of the common threads of many books that I read growing up is that Boys have Adventures. Girls don't. Treasure Island? The only female character I can think of (Jim's mother) is left safely at home. Kidnapped? It's about a boy having an adventure. All those stories about King Arthur and his knights? The knights are the ones who have adventures; women aren't knights, they stay home while the men have adventures. Any of Chesterton's novels? Chesterton firmly believed that men had adventures, and if you look for that, it's pretty obvious. There were some exceptions, but the adventure books I read were mainly about boys (the stories about girls tended to be more domestic, such as the Anne books or Louisa May Alcott). There were certainly exceptions, such as the brilliant depiction of Maid Marion in the The Sword and the Stone (although it is still primarily a story of Arthur's adventures), but the trend was there. 

I think this is why, when I first discovered McKinley's the Blue Sword, I thought of Harry as an active female character( spoilers for The Blue Sword abound )

I think that I now have a clearer picture of Girls who have Adventures. I've watched Buffy, Angel (especially Fred), Firefly (all the female characters), Stargate:SG-1 (especially Samantha Carter), Stargate: Atlantis (especially Elizabeth Weir) and such. I've read Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy. I have a much clearer idea about what it means to have an active heroine who Does Things and has Adventures. 

So, with that in mind, I think that Harry is( a few more spoilers )

I'm not trying to criticize The Blue Sword. I'm just noticing how my perception of the book has changed.