English - a girly subject?

[immortal_peace]

So - I was just talking to a friend on msn, and he says that English is a girly subject - e.g. Analyse why Romeo loves Juliet. And I proceeded to give him the bashing that he so duly deserves, but that did get me thinking. Why is there such a stereotype, where there are books out there like Despair (by Nabokov) and A Clockwork Orange (by Anthony Burgess) and many more.. classics, yes, but not exactly of the most girl-type nature.

Discuss. And pimp, please! I'd really like some discussion and other opinions about this.