Just read this post from one of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale. She talks about how many boys tend to feel, or are trained to feel, that they can’t read books with female leads. “We talk about how girls get to read any book they want, but some people try to tell boys that they can only read half the books. I say that this isn’t fair,” Hale tells her school assemblies. Ms. Hale’s article discusses the way parents and teachers talk to children about “girl” books and even the way she, as a female author, is presented. Shannon Hale’s books include The Princess Academy trilogy and The Books of Bayern (amongst many others), all with strong female leads. A book festival committee member told her, “Last week we met to choose a keynote speaker for next year. I suggested you, but another member said, ‘What about the boys?’ so we chose a male author instead.” When Ms. Hale went to speak with to a middle school recently, the teachers only invited the girls. Yet, with the last visiting author, a male, everyone was invited. What is this teaching these kids?
This post discusses many of these stereotypes we hold about boys and girls and what kinds of stories or characters they will enjoy. I like that Shannon, herself, admits to having been guilty of these assumptions. I know I’ve done it plenty of times. While I love Ms. Hale’s books, I’ve probably shied away from recommending them to boys or have added the caveat, “I think you’ll enjoy this book, EVEN THOUGH it’s about a girl.” That isn’t fair. To anyone. Some say, “It’s just a book and this is nothing to get so worked up about,” but I’m with Shannon. This kind of approach and thinking can plant the seed for toxic beliefs and assumptions. As Hale says, we’ve gotten to the point where, “A boy feels embarrassed to read a book about a girl. To care about a girl. To empathize with a girl.” This way of thinking need to change.
For a reading of this essay and an conversation about this essay, visit KidLitWomen.
“For many years now, girls have been encouraged to stake a claim to everything that is coded as masculine and to claim their right to the entire pie, not just half. Boys have that same right.”
p. 200 of The Swedish Way to Parent and Play
You might also enjoy:
Shannon Hale book list
The Swedish Way to Parent and Play
KidLitWomen