The trouble with gendered reading

It is not the child that categorises books as 'boy' and 'girl' reads; it is adults who put such ideas in their heads.su

Some requests for book recommendations that I get are very specific — “Please suggest ‘boy books’.”

To put it mildly, I don’t like the terms ‘boy books’ and ‘girl books’. Broadly speaking, books about action/adventure/sports are labelled ‘boy books’. Books that deal with friendship/feelings/empathy/character growth are labelled ‘girl books’. Generally, it is seen as okay for both boys and girls to read ‘boy books’, but only girls are expected to read ‘girl books’.

It is not the child that categorises books this way. It is us adults who put the idea into their heads. The parent/teacher separates books into categories before handing the ‘right’ category to the child, according to the child’s gender. The bookstore/library itself stocks ‘girl books’ and ‘boy books’ in different aisles/sections. The book publisher indicates in their marketing plan, whether the book is for boys or girls. Why should an outside entity decide what a certain little child might like or not like? With so many gatekeepers in the way, what are the chances that a child will get access to the entire range of books out there?

This is disturbing on many levels.

We’re stereotyping and making broad assumptions, that, for example, all boys like action/adventure. What about all those boys who don’t, and would rather curl up with a warm, comforting read, but don’t even know such books exist, and end up thinking that they don’t like reading at all?

By saying that ‘girl books’ are only for girls, we’re assuming that the values in these books, like kindness, empathy, consideration, exploring feelings and cherishing relationships, apply only to girls. Why shouldn’t boys have all these values, pray tell me?

Wrong messaging

Besides, the messaging that a ‘boy book’ is for a universal audience while a ‘girl book’ is only for girls is highly damaging. It indicates that stories about girls don’t deserve to be universally known; that they don’t matter as much as those about boys.

I know it can be hard. The world can be unkind. I’ve heard about boys reading princess books in secret, afraid they will be teased if their friends find out. But the children are not to blame; adults are to be. I know a number of boys who enjoy and even seek out ‘girl books’, mostly because the adult gatekeepers in their lives exposed them to all kinds of books when they were learning to read, and the concept of ‘boy books’ and ‘girl books’ is alien to them.

If a boy, after reading extensively, finds that he prefers books about boys, then hurrah for him! It’s his choice! My daughter prefers books that have a majority of girl characters, and she has arrived at this preference after years of reading all kinds of books. So, good for her.

But, in their formative years, we gatekeepers owe it to children to at least let them know what is available out there so that they can make their own choice!

The author has written 12 books for children and can be reached at www.shruthi-rao.com

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