writes:
(I always thought that the only reason that girls seem to read all kinds
of books, even if the protagonists are boys, is simply that girls are
more open-minded and all embracing, less gender-conscious or something.
This morning, I suddenly had this terrible hunch that, there might be
another reason why boys react to girls' book much less favorable than girls
to boys' books -- could it be that both girls and boys regard female as a
"secondary" gender?
Boys, since they are socially "superior," they can simply despise reading
girls' books without fearing missing out on anything significant,
whereas girls, being "secondary," do not mind reading about male
protagonists, who are "one step higher" in the social structure. It's a
little bit like how kids accept books with main characters older than
they are and will not touch books with younger protagonists.)
I believe there is great deal of truth in what you are saying here. Part of
the problem is that most of the traditional canon of literature (mainly
classic novels written primarily for an adult audience) deal with male
protagonists in a male dominated society. Both the male and female students
have been required to read this literature, and it has been accepted as
"normal" practice for females to read about male protagonists; males have
not traditionally been required to about female protagonists. In addition,
by the time these kids get into school and begin reading novels, they have
been costructed in such a way as to valorize "masculine" (I am using this
term for the sake of a better one) qualities in our society rather than
"feminine" or even "androgynous" qualities. Although the situation is
gradually changing, very few male adolescents would desire being seen with a
"female" book in their hands, especially one that has a cover like most
"female" books do. Unfortunately, it appears that books with female
protagonists are marketed for female readers only. There is a wonderful
growing list of novels with female protagonists; maybe the males should be
forced to read them in the classroom as the females have been forced to
read novels with male protagonists.
Posted on Wed, 8 Mar 1995 by Vicki Merrill
I am very tired so hope this comes out in one piece. I do want to think
about why boys will not read books where the main character is a girl but
girls will read a book about boys. but ages ago I heard that Scott O'Dell
was told he should change Zia to a male in Island of the Blue Dolphins or
boys would not read it. He refused and boys do read it, but is that
because it is action oriented? I also would love to know if anyone knows
if that comment about the request of the publisher is accurate.
Posted on Wed, 8 Mar 1995 by Linnea Hendrickson
This is an enormous topic. A few thoughts: "Man" has always
been the standard of mankind. Women "other." Tomboys have
traditionally been more acceptable than sissies (defined as males
who take an interest in anything defined as feminine). Girls'
and women's stories have traditionally been about relationships,
men's stories about action and adventure. As "other" women are
expected to know something of the male world, but "women's stories"
are not worth men's bothering about. Someone recently did a
study -- can't find the reference now -- of paperback covers of
books marketed for boys and for girls -- girls and their mothers
buy for girls soft focus, dreamy looking covers. I'm encouraging
the men in my class this semester to read some Sweet Dreams and
Sweet Valley High stories and give us all a report from a male
perspective. Can anyone suggest a similar category of books
exclusive to men that the women should read? Guess not. Seems
like women read EVERYTHING. As students of literature women have
traditionally read mostly literature written by men and criticism
written by men and have identified themselves with the male voice.
I am speaking in generalizations here, obviously, and don't
wish to offend anyone, especially not the thoughtful, sensitive
men who have been brave enough to venture into the women and
children's domain of children's literature!
Posted on Thu, 9 Mar 1995 by Jane Buchanan
On the subject of boys not reading "girls" books, I wonder how much that
has to do with adults not giving them such books to read (because we all
know boys won't read them). I can think of a number of books about girls
that boys read willingly: Patricia Wrede's DRAGON books; Robert Cormier's
OTHER BELLS FOR US TO RING (I think thats the correct title, it's also
about Christianity); Lois Lowry"s NUMBER THE STARS; Jane Yolen's THE
DEVIL'S ARITHMATIC; L'Engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME; LYDDIE; Karen Hesse's
LETTERS FROM RIFKA; Kindl"s OWL IN LOVE; Avi's TURE CONFESSIONS OF
CHARLOTTE DOYLE; Jean Thesman's RACHEL CHANCE; HARRIET THE SPY, just to
name a few. True, most won't tackle ANNE OF
GREEN GABLES or LITTLE WOMEN, but many girls don't have the patience for
that either.
As to editors telling writers to change the sex of the characters, I'd
suggest another editor. There are some out there who simply don't know
what children like.
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 06:07:21 -0800/
From: Karla Walters
As someone currently searching for a title featuring a girl to assign
in the 10th grade, this subject hits home. Our 10th grade lit anthology
was published in 1972 and only has a few African American authors to
represent "diversity" and features NOT ONE female protagonist. This is
the anthology of "classics" and not our YA materials, which are separate.
NONE of our YA titles feature girls, either. I am trying to figure out
where the source of the "conspiracy" lies. All the teachers at the school
(this is my first year at the school) say they have been looking for a
"good quality" book featuring a girl.
Is it the fault of the school board and voters who don't give money
to schools for new books more often? Is it the fault of the teachers,
who when last given the opportunity to purchase new 10th grade books
elected to buy handbooks for teaching writing and speech instead of
new literature books? Is it the fault of the teachers, who if they
WERE to assign something like Little Women or The Blue Sword would
probably face strong resistance from the male students (who are often
more numerous than girls in both weak reading skills and in voicing
agressive complaints)? Is it the fault of the publishers, who are
driven by this complex "market"? Is it the fault of parents who
want to reinforce traditional sex roles in their children?
In the meantime, I hope to read Lyddie and will suggest it to my
department. Since it is about a girl in the world of work, this
just might work with boys.
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 10:34:00 CST/From: Waller Hastings
fairrosa raises the question whether boys may avoid "girls' books," while
girls read both boys' and girls' books, because both sexes see "boys' books"
as representing a superior class - male gender being preferenced over
female.
i think she may be right on this, though it saddens me to say so. in my
"golden age" children's literature class last semester, we had only two male
students out of 20. neither of them had read any traditional "girls' books"
as children (nor had i); several of the female students had read extensively.
one of the male students commented negatively on the absence of "boys'
books" in my syllabus and suggested that he thought it was a waste of time to
read "girls' books" - this from a young man in his 20s who was majoring in
English and might be presumed to wish to read widely. the other male did
not specifically complain but tended to be absent when we were discussing
such "girls' books" as *Little Women* and *The Secret Garden*. this would
suggest that there remains a negative for "girls' books" right through the
college years, at least as far as boys are concerned.
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 12:57:00 -600/
From: Kathleen Horning
I think you've hit the nail on the head, in terms of adult
expectations about what boys will and will not read. Often we
unconsciously (or in this case, consciously!) limit children's
choices by prejudging their attitudes, interests and abilities. In
my work as a public librarian, I make it a point to offer children a
range of books featuring protagonists of both genders and all races
(inasmuch as possible) and I'm pleasantly surprised to see how often
children choose to read about kids who are outwardly different from
themselves. Sometimes an adult accompanying the child will be the
one to question the child's choice ("Are you sure you want a that
one?").
I think we should give boys more credit for being individuals with
varied tastes, instead of feeding them only what we think they'll
like. I have learned this from observing the boys themselves, who
will -- if you listen -- freely ask for Ramona books, Patricia
Wrede's dragon books, and even occasionally, American Girls series
books! The books most popular with boys here in Madison are the
Tamora Pierce "Lioness Quartet" books (with gender-specific titles
like "Alanna," "In the Hand of the Goddess" and "The Woman Who Rides
Like a Man") but I have yet to receive a request from a girl for the
Pierce books. Go figure.
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 16:32:36 -0600/
From: Barbara Kinkead
If you are an educator or parent of boys a "must read" along the lines of
this topic is, *Boys Will Be Boys* , by Myriam Miedzian. It is a
thorough, and I mean thorough, discussion of how our society
molds(intentionally and unintentionally) boys into the boys they are, and
the men they will become. My copy of the book is at home, so I am not
really doing justice to this description, but it really is an
extraordinary societal study. Several case studies are included. It is
not a "light read" but as an educator in an all boys school, I found it
extremely enlightening--and helpful.
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 17:42:12 -0600/
From: Kaia Wood
I find it interesting that you bring this up. I, as a girl, would not
only not read books about boys, but would not read books written by men
(incidently I missed out on M.E. Kerr and S.E. Hinton for a long time
because of this prejudice). In looking back, I believe I thought that I
would not relate to boys, and that men knew nothing about what it's like
to grow up a girl. I strongly supported the idea of feminism in my
primitive way, but I think I secretly thought that girls were NOT as good
and that is why I shouted that they were not only as good but better
every chance I got. Just a thought. I guess I'm saying that might be
part of the phenomena your questioning. I hope this makes sense as I am
in a hurry.
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 19:42:18 -500/
From: Vicki Sweet
I think this is a very interesting issue. I'd like to think that girls
will read "boy" books because we are more open minded, etc. I think that
the issue of boy vs girl books does not really start until about 3rd
grade when the "girl" books start to deal with issues of feelings and
other "feminine" topics. I think that boys don't want to read these
books because they aren't "manly" enough and fear being scoffed at by
their peers. I did have one boy who checked out "girl" books and I must
admit that I always thought it odd. I have to think more about this
whole topic. The other problem is that we lose boys at this age also
because of a lack of books that are "safe" for them to read. I met Bruce
Coville at a meeting and he agreed with me and said that was one reason
why he wrote books.
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 10:43:51 -0500/
From: Renee Fisher
This is my first time---so everyone please be gentle with me.
I agree with you Linnea-
Most of the books I find for my 31/2 year old daughter show her
what she can be when she grows up; a fairy queen, a ballerina, or
a mommy. Although these are all admirable goals for a young girl
to strive for, she does have many other exciting alternatives. I
mean motherhood is an incredible experience, but we need to teach
our young girls to be realistic. As a working mother...I also
have additional personal goals and outside interests besides my
daughter. In addition, most of the fairy tales my daughter and I
read give her the impression that one day a handsome prince will
come and rescue her from all evil. No wonder little boys don't
want to read "girl books."
I have just finished writing a children's book for little girls
ages 3 to 6. The story was created to show a little girl some of
the other options she will have when she grows up and becomes a
woman. I don't really care if boys read my book--On the other
hand, I do care if a publisher (when I find one) asks me to
change the gender of one of my girl characters! Don't you all
think it would be healthy for young boys, and girls, to read a
book which shows a strong female character? Can anyone recommend
some books that will help little girls look more positively at
themselves as well as the multitude of other options they have in
their future? Does anyone know any publishers who would be
interested in this subject matter? I hope this all makes sense,
and I would be interested to know your comments!
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:33:46 -0500/
From: Donna Campbell
A reading suggestion for this topic that bears repeating
is Elizabeth Segel's "As the Twig is Bent: Gender and Childhood
Reading." It appears in the volume _Gender and Reading_, ofited
which one of the editors is Patrocinio Schweikert (sorry about
possible misspellings). --
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995
From: John Dale Fisher
I just gotta tell y'all this: even as a sensitive male, I find too many
female protagonists acting unlike any female teens that I associate(d)
with. Recently, I read a Texas Lonestar selection *Susanna Spiegelman
Gives Up Guys* by (I think) June Foley (I've already returned the book to
the library). Although popular with many of the GT students, I found it
insulting to young ladies and unrealistic in its portrayal of the "teen
dating scene." I also thought the protagonist lost her bet long before
the penultimate chapter; the insult comes in what takes her so long to see
an obvious relationship exists.
I'll shut up before I say more. I thought that for such a highly-rated
novel for young adults, it would be a little more complimentary to popular
females instead of so derogatory. (My librarian agrees with my
assessment. She figures it's popular with the kids, though, because it
provides a quick read for another teacher's novel review. The library
card shows a majority of its readers are females.)