Jacqueline Wilson’s ‘Girls’ series and the message it gives out

[icecreamgirl94]

My 16 year old DSis has chosen to use this series of books for a project she’s doing about the messages sent out in books for teenagers and asked me (27) and DP (31) to read them. These are the main things that stand out to us.

• Nadine is possibly the stupidest girl alive. In the first book she dates a 17 year old who gives her drugs to try and loosen her up for sex. She ditches him but only because she hears that he’s been through loads of girls. In the second book she plans to go to a photography studio alone to have modelling photos taken. In the third book she meets some dodgy guys outside a gig venue and convinced her two friends to come with her and go off with them. They end up locked in a grotty flat with these guys taking drugs and they have to escape out the window. And in the last book she starts chatting to a guy online and goes up to London on her own to meet him where he turns out to be an old perv. She’s only 14, and all of these situations she gets into are just written off as her wild personality.

• In the third book Ellie gets a boyfriend. When they first meet he convinces her to come to the park even though she keeps telling him she’s late home and her parents will be worried. They kiss and he tries to go further but she tells him no. Once they’ve been together a few days he gets annoyed whenever she mentions her friends or wants to spend any time with them, he says he doesn’t know what she sees in them. Over time he continually pressures her to have sex with him, storms off when she tries to finish her conversation with her friends and doesn’t go straight over to him when he meets her from school, steals her original design idea for a competition then tells her she’s overreacting about it, storms off when he sees her talking to a male (gay) friend in the supermarket and basically insinuates that she’s cheating on him, tells her to dress up more for a party, forces her to kiss him when his friends are looking then growls at her not to pull away from him in front of them, and finally she catches him snogging one of her friends at the party so she ends it. She’s 13 btw. But the book ends with her forgiving him and them getting back together!

I’m really not someone who looks for things to be offended about in life generally, but AIBU to think it’s a bit of a dodgy message to send out to young girls that Nadine’s behaviour and Ellie’s relationship is normal? The books are told from Ellie’s point of view and she constantly talks about how wonderful her boyfriend is even though she doesn’t like a lot of what he does. The books are about 20 years old now I believe but DSis tells me most of her friends have read them.

No one said they didn’t do those things I don’t think @Wondermule

Yes I remember I did a lot of snogging, some drinking, definitely talked to some dodgy characters online but didn’t meet them, probably not a lot else until 15+.

I remember my take home from the books at the time was the close girl friendships they had, I felt I hadn’t really achieved that in the same way.

They're utter trash and I won't be buying any for my daughter to read!
Why would anyone encourage girls to read this stuff?
Especially as such an influential age - they give out the wrong messages and put ideas in their heads

Yikes, I read these books when I was 8 and I thought the characters were OLD. As an adult, I can’t believe they were only 13!
I remember Ellie broke up with her boyfriend at the end of the series because he was ruining her relationship with her best friends. Perhaps it’s teaching young people to value real friends over controlling jealous boyfriends.

@tiredmum2468

They're utter trash and I won't be buying any for my daughter to read! Why would anyone encourage girls to read this stuff? Especially as such an influential age - they give out the wrong messages and put ideas in their heads

If you think Jacqueline Wilson books will make your daughter go off the rails then you’re in for a shock

Whether we like it or not, 13 year old girls don’t want to read about ponies and puppies - they’re moving into teenage life, and want to read something a bit grittier and more exciting.

The books show the girls going through perfectly normal teenage angst, and coming out the other side - Ellie overcomes her eating disorder, Nadine dumps her loser boyfriend, Magda reconciles that she will never have a relationship with her teacher, they have tiffs with each other and make up etc

Not all the outcomes are ideal, but that’s life isn’t it? I think it is healthy to have a mix of ‘happy ever afters’ and more realistic outcomes. No teenage girl will be interpreting them as a literal manual.

Personally I find it refreshing that the books reflect girls with very complicated lives, beyond the ‘sweet valley high’ ideal of married parents, perfect figures and a very wealthy upbringing.

I read and loved these books as a preteen /teenager.
Nobody is saying that the things Nadine and Ellie (and Magda?) went through are ok, but they actually do happen. It taught me about the dangers that are out there and at that age I’d rather a book be realistic than all unicorns and rainbows.
Did it make me want to go out and do all those things? No. Did I end up encountering some of those things at some point? Yes. Not because of those books though!

I loved the TV series too. People think teenage girls can’t think for themselves and that is a problem in itself. You can’t wrap them in cotton wool and expect them to never know about stuff.

@tiredmum2468 I hate to break it to you but the ideas are already in their heads, a fictional book about teenage girls getting into scrapes and thinking about having sex with boys are going to be the least of your worries.

@SmidgenofaPigeon
@Wondermule

I'm just saying I've read the books as my stepdaughter had them and I remember her being anxious and troubled by some of the story lines and it upsetting her - she was about 13/14 and I spoke to her mum who had no idea of the content as they'd been given to her by a friend and was as astounded as I was

In my opinion They're trash and not helpful we are all entitled to an opinion

The world would be boring if we were all the same

I'm all for educating my kids but not lining the pockets of Jacqueline Wilson's let's freak the living daylights out of people!!!

[quote tiredmum2468]@SmidgenofaPigeon
@Wondermule

I'm just saying I've read the books as my stepdaughter had them and I remember her being anxious and troubled by some of the story lines and it upsetting her - she was about 13/14 and I spoke to her mum who had no idea of the content as they'd been given to her by a friend and was as astounded as I was

In my opinion They're trash and not helpful we are all entitled to an opinion

The world would be boring if we were all the same

I'm all for educating my kids but not lining the pockets of Jacqueline Wilson's let's freak the living daylights out of people!!!

[/quote]
Crikey, I read them at 13ish and just felt thrilled to be reading something so ‘edgy’! Your SD must be quite sensitive because most girls my age read JW books and loved them.

Wow I don’t think some of the poster here realise how JW books compare to the other books that young teen girls read. JW books are incredibly tame!

I read all her books as a young teen and loved them...it’s the same now as adults watching films it’s just escapism and seeing other versions of life, which young teens want to read stories about going to school every day and going food shopping with your mum on a weekend? 😂

I hated Tracey Beaker, when it was on TV. My children were banned from watching it.
Don’t remember much more about it, as we never saw it, or read the books

They are cautionary tales! Kids aren't supposed to copy the main characters, and even I (as an incredibly naive pre teen when I read them) saw how stupid the decisions the girls made were!
They are intended, as a "what not to do".

I’ve not read the book. But they made a tv series on citv for girls in love. The girls are 13 in the show. Yet the first episode is them talking about sex in a kids programme!

Seriously op, you read these books as some kind of instruction manual telling teenage girls how to act?

I remember reading them as an avid JW fan. I was probably 13 and quite naive but also boy-obsessed. I definitely remember thinking that the girls were doing stupid things and certainly didnt see them as role models. But kids of all ages like reading about people who do things that they would never do - lots of well-behaved children love Dennis the Menace, and even at a much younger age don't copy his actions or see him as a role model. Teenagers can read about adult situations without being ready to be involved in them - it's all just a part of growing up.

I don’t think it’s such a leap to think teenage girls (hormonal, inexperienced, desperate to appear ‘grown up’) would make silly, impulsive decisions like Nadine does. It’s not like she’s a streetwise adult with years of life experience to refer to! Lots of teens fuck things up and make bad choices. I know even I did and I was a real goody two shoes.

I read JW’s books as a preteen and it never seemed glamourised or enticing to me, the characters face consequences for their bad decisions and learn the error of their ways. I also liked that I never felt talked down to or patronised like some books for that age group do. And I related to Ellie as a slightly chubby, awkward teen myself - but that doesn’t mean I wanted to emulate her.

I definitely read the first one and my overwhelming memory of reading it was that it was a cautionary tale. When you were actually reading it you could tell "this isn't going to end well", and then guess what- it didn't! So many of JW's books were like that. There was one called Bad Girls where they got caught shoplifting or something. It certainly didn't glamourise going on the rob.

If you want a real shock have a look at Louise Rennison's books. God those made me howl, and they didn't even have the cautionary aspect of JW's stuff. It was just the self absorbed lead character being obsessed with boys and cheeky to her parents, but my god they were hilarious.

I'm too old to have read them myself, but would read them with my daughter's. In my school I was laughed at for only being able to drink a few alcopops ( really showing my age with that term) at 12, people were smoking weed and at least 10 had babies before 16yo. 13/14 was prime going off the rails age!

I think the perspective of reading a book thst doesn't preach but let's you identify the mistakes someone is making is empowering.

Lots of young girls are easily led and naive like those in the books. I think that's the point really, for those reading to be able to see things from different angles and explore difficult situations without actually being in any danger. The books are a great way to equip them to better avoid danger or to understand how to protect themselves if faced with a similar situation. It is not the books that girls need protecting from!

I loved all the Jacqueline Wilson books as a DC - even when I first read the 'girls' series as a tween I could tell there was a 'message' behind it and the girls were making bad decisions.

As someone who grew up on an estate I liked the JW books because they were a lot more 'representative' of what I saw in friends/neighbours real lives than the boarding school stories I also loved reading.

Not the point of the thread but 'The Illustrated mum' is still one of my favourite books (one for older DC though, the mum has a breakdown and the girls end up in care).

Your opinions are based on your perception from as an adult, whereas girls who read these books will see it from there teenage POV. Both are very different. It makes an interesting angle for your sisters project

I found Girls Under Pressure to be more worrying - it reads like a ‘How to’ manual for eating disorders, probably because it is so well written. Not sure that her revelation about normal eating at the end is enough of a counter balance . But I could be wrong.

I read them around age 13/14. I didn’t think any of the characters were smart, I read them as a cautionary tale. Some kids in my year WERE getting drunk, smoking and having boyfriends (and probably sleeping with them) in year 9. I held off til year 11 on the drinking which was late!

One of my friends DID go meet a boy (man in his 20s) she’d met in a chat room, she thought he was the love of her life. She was 14. She actually did it multiple times (different guys). Thankfully she got caught and didn’t ever get hurt. 20 years ago we hadn’t been taught online safety in school. I knew it was a bad idea, not sure how, quite possibly from the JW book?!

My mum always complained about JW books as no one just had married parents and a boring life, it was all step parents, children’s homes, single mothers and so on. She thought they were a dreadful influence. And yet me and my sister turned out fine. Clearly they weren’t that bad an influence!!!

I did have a word with a year 4 girls mother when I saw she was reading girls in love, mind.

Nadine is possibly the stupidest girl alive

Despite it being fiction, it’s a girl being groomed. Girls who are groomed are not ‘stupid’ they’re vulnerable children who are groomed.

In the first book she dates a 17 year old who gives her drugs to try and loosen her up for sex

Despite it being a fictional text, let’s correct your statement. She dates a 17 year old who gives her drugs to try and rape her

JW’s books are not going to educate teens to somehow stay safe - that’s victim blaming in itself. They do however provide a fictional example to others about the concept of grooming.

In addition, please don’t fall into the trap that your child is not stupid and will not be groomed. It often happens to children with added vulnerabilities - but ultimately any child can be groomed. None are stupid.

@Camomila

I loved all the Jacqueline Wilson books as a DC - even when I first read the 'girls' series as a tween I could tell there was a 'message' behind it and the girls were making bad decisions.

As someone who grew up on an estate I liked the JW books because they were a lot more 'representative' of what I saw in friends/neighbours real lives than the boarding school stories I also loved reading.

Not the point of the thread but 'The Illustrated mum' is still one of my favourite books (one for older DC though, the mum has a breakdown and the girls end up in care).

The Illustrated Mum is an absolutely wonderful novel; I’m thirty and still have it . Very, very important book to me - my mum has a lot of mental health issues and it was enormously comforting to read and realise I wasn’t alone for having that nervous niggle in my stomach 24/7 - I think I read it about 8 or 9 so probably a bit too wee but definitely an ‘old friend’ to me .

She writes strong, maternal, nurturing women very well I find; sometimes she writes teenagers a bit oddly but I remember eg reading Lola Rose and desperately wanting her wonderful aunty to be a real person ... ditto with the teacher in Dustbin Baby ... Cam in Tracy Beaker ... sometimes I regret chucking most of those books out !

The TV series for Girls in Love was absolutely dreadful though - I remember watching that on Friday nights on my gran’s Sky and being bewildered that Ellie wasn’t fat, nor had glasses, and definitely wasn’t thirteen ... That and Ellie wore red or orange in every single episode .