Stories for all

A school librarian introduces me before I give an assembly. "Girls, you're in for a real treat. You will love Shannon Hale's books. Boys, I expect you to behave anyway."

I'm being interviewed for a newspaper article/blog post/pod cast, etc. They ask, "I'm sure you've heard about the crisis in boys' reading. Boys just aren't reading as much as girls are. So why don't you write books for boys?" 

Or, "Why do you write strong female characters?" (and never asked "Why do you write strong male characters?")

At book signings, a mother or grandmother says, "I would buy your books for my kids but I only have boys."

Or, "My son reads your books too—and he actually likes them!"

Or, a dad says, "No, James, let's get something else for you. Those are girl books."

A book festival committee member tells me, "I pitched your name for the keynote but the rest of the committee said 'what about the boys?' so we chose a male author instead."

A mom has me sign some of my books for each of her daughters. Her 10-year-old son lurks in the back. She has extra books that are unsigned so I ask the boy, “Would you like me to sign one to you?” The mom says, “Yeah, Isaac, do you want her to put your name in a girl book?” and the sisters all giggle. Unsurprisingly, Isaac says no.

These sorts of scenarios haven't happened just once. They have been my norm for the past twelve years. I've heard these and many more like them countless times in every state I've visited. 

In our culture, there are widespread assumptions:

1. Boys aren't going to like a book that stars a girl. (And so definitely won't like a book that stars a girl + is written by a woman + is about a PRINCESS, the most girlie of girls).

2. Men's stories are universal; women's stories are only for girls.

But the truth is that none of that is truth. In my position, not only have I witnessed hundreds examples of adults teaching boys to be ashamed of and avoid girls' stories, I've also witnessed that boys can and do love stories about girls just as much as about boys, if we let them. For example, I've heard this same thing over and over again from teachers who taught Princess Academy: "When I told the class we were going to read PRINCESS ACADEMY the girls went 'Yay!' and the boys went 'Boo!' But after we'd read it the boys liked it as much or even more than the girls."

Most four-year-old boys will read THE PRINCESS IN BLACK without a worry in the world. Most fourth grade boys won't touch PRINCESS ACADEMY—at least if others are watching. There are exceptions, of course. I've noticed that boys who are homeschooled are generally immune. My public-school-attending 11-year-old son's favorite author is Lisa McMann. He's currently enjoying Kekla Magoon's female-led SHADOWS OF SHERWOOD as much as he enjoyed the last book he read: Louis Sachar's boy-heavy HOLES. But generally in the early elementary years, boys learn to be ashamed to show interest in anything to do with girls. We've made them ashamed. 

I want to be clear; if there's a boy who only ever wants to read about other boys, I think that's fine. But I've learned that most kids are less interested in the gender of the main character and more interested in the kind of book—action, humor, fantasy, mystery, etc. In adults' well-meant and honest desire to help boys find books they'll love, we often only offer them books about boys. We don't give them a chance.

Whenever I speak up about this, I am accused of trolling for boy readers when they aren't my "due." So let me also be clear: I have a wonderful career. I have amazing readers. I am speaking up not because I'm disgruntled or demand that more boys read my books but because my particular career has put me in a position to observe the gender bias that so many of us have inherited from the previous generations and often unknowingly lug around. I've been witnessing and cataloging widespread gender bias and sexism for over a decade. How could I face my kids if I didn't speak up?

And here's what I've witnessed: "great books for boys" lists, books chosen for read alouds, and assigned reading in high schools and colleges, etc. are overwhelmingly about boys and written by men. Peers (and often adults) mock and shame boys who do read books about girls. Even informed adults tend to qualify recommendations that boys hear very clearly. "Even though this stars a girl, boys will like it too!"

This leads to generations of boys denied the opportunity of learning a profound empathy for girls that can come from reading novels. Leads to a culture where boys feel perfectly fine mocking and booing things many girls like and adults don't even correct them because "boys will be boys." Leads to boys and girls believing "girlie" is the gravest insult, that girls are less significant, not worth your time. Leads to girls believing they must work/learn/live "like a man" in order to be successful. Leads to boys growing into men who believe women are there to support their story, expect them to satisfy men's desires and have none of their own.

The more I talk about this topic, the more I'm amazed at how many people haven't really thought about it or considered the widespread effect gendered reading causes. I was overwhelmed by the response to a blog post I wrote earlier this year. To carry on this conversation, I'm working with Bloomsbury Children's Books to create #StoriesForAll. Each day this week we'll feature new essays on this topic from authors, parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and readers. On twitter, instagram, and tumblr, join us with the #StoriesForAll hashtag to share experiences, photos, book recommendations. Discuss: How deep is the assumption that there are boy books and girl books? Does it matter? What have you witnessed with regards to gendered reading? What damage does gendered reading cause to both girls and boys? What can each of us do to undo the damage and start making a change?

I yearn for that change. For our girls and for our boys. 

——————

Shannon Hale is the New York Times bestselling author of over 20 books, including the Ever After High trilogy and the Newbery Honor winner Princess Academy. She co-wrote The Princess in Black series and Rapunzel's Revenge with her husband, author Dean Hale. They have four children.

Comments

[Rosalyn]

Thank you for carrying on this could conversation. I've been guilty of telling my son he'll like a book with a girl MC, even though I should know better. Next time, I'll leave the qualifier off! This male standard is, by the way, part of the reason my debut features a strong girl who is NOT kick-ass: I want readers to see girls can be strong without having to be physically strong in the ways we expect boys to be.

[Kirsten]

Yes, this drives me crazy.
My 10 yo boy just finished all the goose girl books and the first princess academy and loved them (esp goose girl!)... But he is homeschooled, so I guess that doesn't help your data. 😉
(Forgive punctuation etc, on iPad)

[Jen Robinson]

This is such an important conversation. We just had KidLitCon, the children's and YA book blogger conference (w/ Shannon as virtual keynote last year), this past weekend, and the topic of gender and books came up repeatedly. Especially the way you hear of books about a "strong girl" but never about a "strong boy". We agreed that this needed more focus for next year. I'll be following and sharing this discussion via my own and @KidLitCon feeds this week. My daughter is five years old - I would like for her, and her friends, boys and girls, to just be able to read great books.

[J. Scott Bronson]

I am a substitute teacher these days and since having read the blog post on this subject earlier this year, when I let the kids ask me questions about me (elementary school kids especially want to know all about The Sub), I am prepared with these answers when they ask, "What's your favorite book?" and "What's your favorite movie?" To the first question, I answer, "I have a lot of favorite books; one of them is Princess Academy." To the second, I reply, "I have several favorite movies; one of them is Anne of Green Gables." This has sparked a minor debate more than once. I always win when I ask, "Are the Harry Potter books boy books? Are the Hunger Games books girl books?"

[Erin]

i'm one of those guilty of not thinking about gender bias much for a long time, but since you've opened my eyes up to it, i've noticed it happening in my own home where i'm the mother of 3 boys. it's led to conversations like one i had today with my 6 year old who said "pink and purple are girls colors and i don't like them." to which i replied "well, are there any colors i shouldn't like because they are 'boy colors' and i'm a girl?" he couldn't think of any he said and my hope is that by not just shrugging off comments he makes like that but by really talking about them, he'll be able to not see things as boy vs girl or boys are better than girls mentality, but think it through more. so thank you for opening up my eyes to the world around me more. i really want my boys to grow up liking colors, books, shows etc without being afraid to because of gender bias.

[Amy]

I love that you are addressing this. I am also thankful my husband doesn't care who the star character is in the books he reads or the gender of the author. He openly read The Goose Girl and loved it. His father is very much the same way. To them, a good book is just that, a good book. There is no such thing as a "girl" book or a "boy" book. We have six girls and one boy. That one boy is a twin to a girl. He likes My Little Pony just as much as he likes Star Wars. His sister likes Transformers just as much as she likes Cinderella. They both love Ever After High. We have had comments from some people that have been a somewhat irritating; like, "I am surprised your son seems to be all boy when he likes things like My Little Pony so much." My teens and I have this discussion all the time. Why is it that when a girl likes G.I. Joe or Star Wars, she is considered cool, but when a boy likes My Little Pony or Ever After High, he is considered a sissy? My daughters who are old enough to date have helped young men come out of their shell and feel more comfortable admitting they like "girl" books/movies/cartoons. Boys and girls suffer when we keep these stereotypes ingrained in our society. I like to imagine the difference it would make if all children felt free to read any book they liked. Imagine the impact it would have on their future relationships.

[Kitty]

I read Princess in Black this summer to my campers, a boys and girls group. At first the boys protested, but once we made it to the end of chapter 1, they were all hooked and wanted to know what happened next. They were so sad when we finished the book and there weren't more to read. The boys were talking about how they would have to get the next book! The boys called her awesome and said she was one of the coolest supper heroes ever!