Little Women and feminism (or why boys don't read "girl's books")

[MipMipMip]

Really interesting article. It uses Lityle Women as the basis but it's about far more than that.

Just for you Lass

"This is odd - I always thought George was terribly selfish, and they'd never get anywhere if they didn't have Anne looking after them..."

You said it yourself, what boy thinks "looking after" is interesting?

I have three boys, one is only interested in non fiction, one will read anything but does like YA stuff that usually is slanted towards girls. The other one would probably say 'what's a book?'

I missed out on Little Women because I found the title offputting.
Less justifiably, I missed out on Iris Murdoch and Muriel Spark because their names were so old fashioned to my ear.
And the best character in War and Peace -Dolly-only got through to me after I’d got over the association with Dolly Parton.

Me being a prat? Or internalised misogyny?

Ds1 stopped reading harry potter as soon as the word deatheater was mentioned

Sensitive little soul

Ugh, I could write for ages on this topic as kidlit is my speciality. But I'm not going to because you'd all be bored senseless. In my experience, children who love books will read anything they can get their hands on, particularly if it's talked about with enthusiasm by someone they respect and who has taken the time to get to know them (I love this part of my job!) That's a luxury of time most teachers don't have now, sadly, though I see amazing work happening in some schools. Kids who struggle with reading can still find things they love, again, if someone takes the time to listen and guide - too many kids are steered towards what adults loved in their childhood (which is my great bugbear with that article). IME "boys won't read girl protagonists" is marketing claptrap and parental prejudice - I've discussed books with dozens of boys and girls and what they tell me is that they want a good story, with characters that seem real. I do work hard to provide a diverse selection - generally by this I mean parity of sex, with racial and disability representation (for an older cohort I'd need to include sexuality too) which takes a ton of research and time (which is massively undercompensated, but highly appreciated). All kids should be able to see someone like them in books. Ask me how much I rage about underrepresentation of lesbians in teenage writing these days

It's worth remembering that reading for pleasure and studying for analysis are two different skills - a lot of people don't understand this. I think it takes a really skilled teacher to guide today's kids through books written in such a different time and society.

Thank you. It pretty much covers Fiesta:The Sun Also Rises too.

I read the Hemingway bull fighting one. What a boring twat he was.

I think if they stopped cramming love into "girl's books" it would be a big improvement. You get it occasionly with boys' books but it is far worse with girls. It tends not to be very interesting anyway and how much of our lives do we really spend thinking does X love me? It just gets in the way.

I do wonder if the love element is pushing girls to grow up faster too. If all the books they read cram it in it becomes something expected. How many girls think "I should be fancying boys" instead of waiting for it to happen naturally?

I think it would be possible to argue that over the course of my adult life, I've watched it [Pride and Predudice] get down-graded from great work of literature to "proto-chick-lit", so the arguments in the article apply mutatis mutandum to pretty much any work written by a woman

I think that is something of an exaggeration

I think sadly you are right. If you just look at the thousands of spinoffs, or reworkings, or modernisation etc it gets quite depressing. I've found a grand total of two that are readable -one where a group of people come together because if their love of the books and one from Darcy's point of view. That's it. They all seem to be very lightweight, usually badly written, fluff. It's just a fad right now.

DS loved Ballet Shoes. He likes theatre stuff. Also the Swish of the Curtain. Great way to introduce them to some Shakespeare...

Excellent article - many thanks for the link. Nice to read of all the men and boys who loved Little Women and its sequels!

"I have three boys, one is only interested in non fiction, one will read anything but does like YA stuff that usually is slanted towards girls. The other one would probably say 'what's a book?' "

Yikes. And interesting variety of personality there.

I suppose I am biased from what I read and what my friends read.

silentcrow
very interesting post and I can totally see "they want a good story, with characters that seem real."

MipMipMip allow me to recommend Longbourn
probs not for kids though

very interesting post and I can totally see "they want a good story, with characters that seem real."

That's what they tell me Some kids need to be coaxed out of their reading bubbles (as do we all from time to time!); it's a real pity that the gender stereotypes bubble is the one most children fall into at around seven years old. The market for 8-12yos is really healthy right now with some phenomenal books out there, but I think there's a MASSIVE gap for straight teenage boys and lesbian girls. It really upsets me. There's a real lack of three-dimensional male main characters, and trans/nb creep affects lesbian characters badly. Kids need to see themselves, or people they can aspire to be, and we're shutting them out by following trends.

I properly bang on about there being "no such thing as girl books and boy books", but the kids I work with know that I walk that walk to my very soul and I have read the books they read. That's what makes a massive difference in their willingness to try something new. Kids can spot you bullshitting them miles away. They know who loves to read and who can talk with them intelligently about the things they're interested in.

Um, I did say I could go on about this forever, right?

I’d rather spoon my eyes out than read little women

This. I read it once as a child, and that was plenty. I think my daughters have each read it once but not warmed to it either. My son has almost certainly not read it, but he did read all Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers and St Clare’s multiple times in late primary, so it’s not all about gender stereotypes.

Newt I've read Longbourn and although I finished it for me it was never more that ok. Sorry.