Gender and Book Covers: let's look at YA
Hey, guys! It's clearly time to discuss cover art again! Sorry, there's no new photoshoot to go with this post, because I don't think today's subject needs much help to emphasize itself.
I've discussed with a few different people how YA seems to be the go-to genre if you want beautiful cover art right now. There's just a lot of fabulous artwork coming out on the covers of books aimed at the 14-20 age group, and since I happen to be fond of YA books, I am totally ok with the plethora of pretty pretty covers. There's been one trend in particular growing in YA covers lately, and... well, let's see if you can spot it.
Nono, I'm not referring to the homogenous collection of white girls, most of whom are brunettes. I mean, after all, there are a couple of blondes in there, so obviously we have plenty of variety. Geez.
Dresses! Piles and piles of prom dresses! Prom dresses everywhere, as far as the eye can see. Sleek dresses, fluffy dresses, dresses of every colour. Formal dresses are just so practical, y'know?
Now I will be the first to say I think most of these covers are beautiful. Pretty girls in pretty dresses, what's not to like, at least on the aesthetic issue?
Well... you have to admit, they're all pretty passive looking. These covers are more about the dresses than the young women in them. Is this in itself a problem? Well, not really. After my last post looking at gender in cover art, I had a really interesting conversation with Tessa Dare (who is awesome) about feminism, reader choice, and gender in book covers. At one point, she said "...in my opinion feminism can go both ways. A woman is always in control of her reading experience, right? Even if she's drawn to cover art with gender imbalance." And I totally agree! We should all have that right. Just as there are women prone to passivity in real life, there should absolutely be depictions of passive women in fiction, and we should all have the freedom to choose what sort of heroine we want to read and relate to. Not every heroine needs to be armed to the teeth.
They key word there, though, is "choice." And in order for there to be a choice, we have to have options, right? We already have some beautiful but passive covers to choose from, if that's your bag, but what about the books with young women who are a little tougher? Let's take a look at Katniss and Katsa and perhaps a couple of heroines whose names don't start with a K.
Huh. Well, at least that last cover implies there's a person there, right?
*long, uncomfortable silence*
Once again, I think both Graceling and Poison Study have gorgeous covers. Beautiful, beautiful artwork. And The Hunger Games and Sabriel are iconic, well-designed and simple. But, um, why don't we get to see the female protagonists being strong and awesome, doing the awesome things they do?
Well... I suppose this is YA, and maybe we just don't want to have violent (or potentially violent) images on the front of our books. Maybe the dagger on the cover of Graceling is considered risqué enough. I mean, certainly the inside of these books has quite a lot of action, but the visual depiction could be considered different from a written scene, and we don't want to promote that sort of thing in the YA category...
Wait. Wait. These are all YA books, with dynamic figures running around with weapons and being awesome! So I guess we can do that on YA book covers after all... as long as your YA book is about a boy. Girls get dresses, boys get swords, and that's just the way it is. I mean, even lego is segregated by gender these days.
But, um, why? Why don't I get to choose between a girl in a pretty dress and a girl with an awesome sword? The books are varied enough to provide me the options, but you'd never know it from the cover art. And that gives me madface.
Edit: It should be noted I am fully aware that not all the pretty dress covers contain stories about passive women. But this is a post about cover art and the messages being sent from that, and well... may I guide your eyes back up to the collection of prom dresses and passive poses?
I've discussed with a few different people how YA seems to be the go-to genre if you want beautiful cover art right now. There's just a lot of fabulous artwork coming out on the covers of books aimed at the 14-20 age group, and since I happen to be fond of YA books, I am totally ok with the plethora of pretty pretty covers. There's been one trend in particular growing in YA covers lately, and... well, let's see if you can spot it.
Nono, I'm not referring to the homogenous collection of white girls, most of whom are brunettes. I mean, after all, there are a couple of blondes in there, so obviously we have plenty of variety. Geez.
Dresses! Piles and piles of prom dresses! Prom dresses everywhere, as far as the eye can see. Sleek dresses, fluffy dresses, dresses of every colour. Formal dresses are just so practical, y'know?
Now I will be the first to say I think most of these covers are beautiful. Pretty girls in pretty dresses, what's not to like, at least on the aesthetic issue?
Well... you have to admit, they're all pretty passive looking. These covers are more about the dresses than the young women in them. Is this in itself a problem? Well, not really. After my last post looking at gender in cover art, I had a really interesting conversation with Tessa Dare (who is awesome) about feminism, reader choice, and gender in book covers. At one point, she said "...in my opinion feminism can go both ways. A woman is always in control of her reading experience, right? Even if she's drawn to cover art with gender imbalance." And I totally agree! We should all have that right. Just as there are women prone to passivity in real life, there should absolutely be depictions of passive women in fiction, and we should all have the freedom to choose what sort of heroine we want to read and relate to. Not every heroine needs to be armed to the teeth.
They key word there, though, is "choice." And in order for there to be a choice, we have to have options, right? We already have some beautiful but passive covers to choose from, if that's your bag, but what about the books with young women who are a little tougher? Let's take a look at Katniss and Katsa and perhaps a couple of heroines whose names don't start with a K.
Huh. Well, at least that last cover implies there's a person there, right?
*long, uncomfortable silence*
Once again, I think both Graceling and Poison Study have gorgeous covers. Beautiful, beautiful artwork. And The Hunger Games and Sabriel are iconic, well-designed and simple. But, um, why don't we get to see the female protagonists being strong and awesome, doing the awesome things they do?
Well... I suppose this is YA, and maybe we just don't want to have violent (or potentially violent) images on the front of our books. Maybe the dagger on the cover of Graceling is considered risqué enough. I mean, certainly the inside of these books has quite a lot of action, but the visual depiction could be considered different from a written scene, and we don't want to promote that sort of thing in the YA category...
Wait. Wait. These are all YA books, with dynamic figures running around with weapons and being awesome! So I guess we can do that on YA book covers after all... as long as your YA book is about a boy. Girls get dresses, boys get swords, and that's just the way it is. I mean, even lego is segregated by gender these days.
But, um, why? Why don't I get to choose between a girl in a pretty dress and a girl with an awesome sword? The books are varied enough to provide me the options, but you'd never know it from the cover art. And that gives me madface.
Edit: It should be noted I am fully aware that not all the pretty dress covers contain stories about passive women. But this is a post about cover art and the messages being sent from that, and well... may I guide your eyes back up to the collection of prom dresses and passive poses?