From time to time, I get an e-mail or a comment from male readers who enjoyed my goblin books, but are hesitant to pick up Stepsister Scheme or Mermaid’s Madness because they look like they’re for girls.
My guys recently read stepsister and mermaid in quick succession as bedtime stories. They seemed to enjoy them just fine. Glen is just as worried about girl cooties as any boy, but he doesn't seem to have any objection to reading stories about girls or princesses or whatever. I think the "boys won't read" thing is a myth.
I definitely don't want this to come off as me saying ALL boys have this reaction. I've run into more guys who enjoyed the books than I have guys who refuse to be seen in public reading them. But I do get the latter reaction from time to time, and it bugs me.
Where did the myth come from? I've often wondered where that originated, since I know an equal number of boys and girls who read. (And, unfortunately, an equal number who don't.)
Did it come from examining the demographics of who buys books?
sorry, I was rushing and was not clear. There's a publishing dogma that says bboys won't read books about girls. From what i've observed of my son and his friends, it's just not true.
I was thinking you were referencing another bit of myth out there that boys/men won't read fiction. That is one that I have a hard time wrapping my head around, since between the two of us my wife is the one more for non-fiction.
At least she was until I got her hooked on Ariana Franklin and Kristen Britain. ;-)
Yes, I've come across this, too, and it is definitely not true. I think it comes from the fact that girls tend to mature faster than boys earlier in childhood, and are often more eager readers at a young age. My son was one who didn't have much interest in reading until he was 7 or 8, but is now a very avid and advanced reader. The schools do not acknowledge the normalcy of this pattern of development, even though it is 100% perfectly FINE. Too much emphasis on testing and precocious reading.
I'm not sure how it arose, but for a while this fall my son said he was 'only wanted to read non-fiction.' (Yes, his words.) I explained to him about the need for balance, and he gave me that look, the one that says 'I know what I'm doing, silly man. Now go away and let me peruse the DK Eyewitness book about Forensic Science.'
Apparently that was a phase, because he was back to reading fiction again a week afterward.
I wonder if phases like that are how myths like this get started.
But- it was very hard for me- a girl 30+ years ago- to have all the "worthy" books have a male protagonist; often, a misogynistic male protagonist. Because, they said, the male experience was universal, and the female experience... wasn't. Also: girls would read books about boys (harry potter as a modern example?), but boys wouldn't read books about girls...so natutally it all had to be boy-focused!
In what I've read about HP, I don't think I've come across an interview with Jo saying that she chose the protagonist to be male because she wanted to access both male and female audiences. That isn't saying that thought process never went on, just that I haven't read that yet.
From what I have heard, she never made a conscious decision about it, just went with a young boy having an adventure by default--which I can't back up with citation at the moment. That in and of itself is kind of a product of social bias, but wasn't publisher pressure.
What was a publisher boys-won't-read-girl-books marketing decision is displaying her initials instead of her first name. The citation is pretty far down in the column, but is the only quick reference I can find on it.
Until it was brought up here (and in other LJ entries), I'd never considered that a female author might use initials to get around any inherent bias. I guess I looked at J.R.R. and figured it was a marketing gimmick. (Or, if you're me, there's already an author named Mike Lawson out there, so if I ever did turn to writing I could use M.T. instead.)
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Where did the myth come from? I've often wondered where that originated, since I know an equal number of boys and girls who read. (And, unfortunately, an equal number who don't.)
Did it come from examining the demographics of who buys books?
Reply
Reply
I was thinking you were referencing another bit of myth out there that boys/men won't read fiction. That is one that I have a hard time wrapping my head around, since between the two of us my wife is the one more for non-fiction.
At least she was until I got her hooked on Ariana Franklin and Kristen Britain. ;-)
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Apparently that was a phase, because he was back to reading fiction again a week afterward.
I wonder if phases like that are how myths like this get started.
Reply
But- it was very hard for me- a girl 30+ years ago- to have all the "worthy" books have a male protagonist; often, a misogynistic male protagonist. Because, they said, the male experience was universal, and the female experience... wasn't. Also: girls would read books about boys (harry potter as a modern example?), but boys wouldn't read books about girls...so natutally it all had to be boy-focused!
Reply
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What was a publisher boys-won't-read-girl-books marketing decision is displaying her initials instead of her first name. The citation is pretty far down in the column, but is the only quick reference I can find on it.
Reply
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