Books for boys are emasculating?
by sassymonkey

This past week on CNN Glenn Beck and his guest, author Ted Bell, raised a few hackles with both male and female readers. It seems that because boys don't go around running to the rescue of girls in stories anymore boys are being emasculated. Yes, we're damaging young boys by not writing and publishing books with strong male characters, because boys (and men) can only be strong when girls (and women) are weak. Who wants to join me in the "Give me a break!" corner?

Not being an avid watcher of CNN, or TV in general (sorry Mr. Beck, I'm too busy reading), I first heard about it and watched the coverage on the Guys Lit Wire blog - a blog dedicated to good Young Adult fiction for boys. We've all heard people say that finding books for girls is easy and that finding books for boys is hard. There really are more books out there for girls (not all of which would fall under the "good" category) but that doesn't mean that the quality of books for boys is bad. There's a lot of good books out there and on Guy Lit Wire you'll find them along with some good conversation. Including this post questioning do teenage boys need books with weak females?

There are a couple of things that bother me about this discussion (between two adult men without a teenager in sight by the way). First it is that for a boy to feel heroic he must rescue a girl - and the girl also needs to be rescued. I'm sure the sociologists would have a field day over all this but I can't believe that anyone in the 21st century would believe that such antiquated notions of what it means to be a hero have any place in a worthwhile discussion.

One of the points brought up by Beck and Bell is that in Bell's book, Nick of Time, the little sister tells the bad guys that they better not do anything to her because her brother was going to come save her. And Bell and Beck thought that the girl not trying to save herself and waiting for the big brother was simply fantastic. Perhaps it worked in this book (I haven't read it so I can't comment on it) but as a general statement about books and boys? No. Scratch that, make that a heck no.

Let me be clear, I have no problem with a boy being the hero nor do I believe anyone else who is involved in this discussion believes that either. What I, and I believe many others, have a problem with is the statement that girls should not be heroes and that when they are it's threatening and damaging to boys. Libr*fiti doesn't mince words on this point.

Ok the whole brother not saving the sister anymore?????? I have no other way to say this - that is a load of crap.

Anna Jarzab isn't buying what Beck and Bell are saying either.

All YA is not emasculating to boys, and anyway their idea of “emasculating” is pretty narrow. They think that if the boy isn’t swashbuckling and rescuing damsels, then they’re not “learning to be a man”. Well, guess what? That sort of “adventure”, in our current times, has nothing to do with “being a man”. If they were bemoaning the lack of books that teach boys about respect or dignity or self-understanding or human connection, if they were saying that all books are like The Rachel Papers, filled with cheap sex and narcissism, that’d be one argument. But if it’s just that girls do all the rescuin’ in today’s YA market, well, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

The men on these blogs aren't getting behind Beck and Bell either. Raising strong independent girls does not mean we're raising weak boys. Maybe Beck and Bell are just a few too many generations removed to understand that. Perhaps they need to wander down to their local brick and mortar or library and check out what is actually on those shelves. Maybe they'll find a book that's actually been published in the last 50 years unlike the books they referenced on air. Or maybe they should let their fingers do the walking and find some great books online at the blogs above. Maybe they'll go to an online bookseller and realize that Bell's book is not even being marketed to teens but to tweens. I'm not holding my breath though. What about you?

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Submitted by sassymonkey (view blog) on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 12:32pm

Comments

 

Wow.

I don't even know where to start in response to this emasculating teen boys thing. Wow. Just wow.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Submitted by Denise on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 12:52
 

My son doesn't need sexism to be a man, good
grief!

"Who wants to join me in the "Give me a break!" corner?".... I DO! 

Yeah, wow is right. Boys don't NEED to be the heroes to keep their masculinity. That is honestly pretty disrespectful to boys, it underestimates them, they are not SUCH simple, weak creatures that they need that sort of overdone extreme reinforcement. There should be heros, leaders, examples. Our kids need them. Men and women heros alike. But not having a bias of male hero princes saving weak princesses trapped in towers will NOT make my son any less confident or secure in his manliness. For real. Just shaking my head over here.

Caroline

http://morningsidemom.wordpress.com/

Submitted by TCMom on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 15:04
 

Okay I think the sadder fact

Okay I think the sadder fact is, with video games and TV, not much reading is going on by todays youth. 

One of the most popular books for young children in the past decade was Harry Potter which I felt had strong female and male characters. 

The most popular stories for girls, at a vey young age, are the fairy tale princesses where the big strong man saves her.  Yes we have come a long way but I would still love to see more strong female characters in the books my children read. 

http://lilmomthatcould.com/

Submitted by lilmommythatcould on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 15:13
 

Well...

 My first thought was "err...the boys that read are not really considered that "masculine" in the first place"

Besides, YA is an artificial construct. If a child can read and wants to read YA, they can read adult books, where there is of course, plenty of "masculine" energy. 

Lilmom, my kids read a lot. Boy child actually prefers books on cd but...but my 12 year old probably outreads 90% of the U.S. adult population. Need to entertain her for a day? Hand her 6 or 7 YA books and she is good to go. 

For finding great books for both girls and boys (as well as adults), I highly, highly recommend Chinaberry books. (http://www.chinaberry.com/) Every book is screened for sexism, violence, etc. They are positive, wonderful books without being fussy or narrowminded. (ok unless you are really anti environment) 

Oh crud...I stopped by thinking I would grab  the link...instead I am daydreaming in beautiful books. 

~TW
Retro-Food

Submitted by TW on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 15:43
 

Great link

Chinaberry: what a great site! I didn't have them bookmarked, but I do now.

Thanks! 

Notions of Identity

Submitted by Laracolvin on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 16:14
 

Good Topic

The points you made about feminism and masculinity in regards to heroism
were interesting, especially when you relate it to books.

Because of traditional male and female stereotypes, it seems that people
have developed false perceptions. The reason I say this is because as times
have changed, we need to start realizing that women have good qualities just
like men. It is definitely true about what you said in how the media portray males
as always being the heroes and comes to the rescue of the girls, even in books.
That's a good point too, how you mentioned that males would be ashamed if a
girl came to their rescue or weren't mentioned as the hero. This is all because
of how the media have always portrayed males. We really should turn the tables
and sometimes allow the women to be heroes to demonstrate a women’s' equality
with men today. In fact, women are heroes in many different ways when you look
at the whole big picture.

Although women may not necessarily be as strong as men from the physical
body building aspects, women have demonstrated their ability to be strong in
other ways such as being independent by working and supporting themselves and
their children and in some case their families. I think a woman who can do
those things by taking care of her family and bringing in an income would fit
in the category of being a hero. Therefore, there are many ways in which women
can be heroes if we think about real life situations.

I think women are also better than communicating than men and are able to
listen when a family member or a friend has a problem. Women can also be
supportive of their husbands or significant others and their children when they
are going through a crisis. Really, I think women have always been heroes even
in the old days. Women took care of the home, raised the children and worked
hard. I don't think you can ask for better heroes than that. I also believe
that nowadays people do not care that much about gender roles as much as we
used to, especially when you see men performing traditional jobs of women and women
performing traditional male jobs. So really, it doesn't matter. We just need to
start turning things around. Hopefully, someday the media can recognize this
too, that not just men are the heroes.

 

Submitted by cayetano2222 on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 22:19
 

So typical for Glenn Beck.

This is the same guy who tried to exert pressure on Volvo not to pick a particular ad agency in a pitch because they have a funny ad on their reel of award-winning Volkswagen work that portrayed a goofy dad character. It was, in his words if I recall, "emasculating."

He's like this crazy guy I remember in NYC in the 70s who used to walk around parades with a placard demanding equal rights for men. 

 He is way unworthy of such a thoughtful assessment from you SM.

Mom-101
Cool Mom Picks.com

Submitted by Mom101 on Sun, 06/22/2008 - 18:28
 

Ugh...

Having debated Glen Beck on GMA in October, I must say that I am hardly surprised. But for those of you who may actually have sons who aren't super jocks or stereotypical alpha males (or for those of you who want to teach your kids that there are all kinds of people out there), there is a great book called, Oliver Button is a Sissy. Seriously, that's the title. And it's about a boy who is a wonderful dancer and doesn't fit in with the rest of his peers. Needless to say, it all turns out well in the end. 

Fondly,

Logan Levkoff, Ph.D.

Sexologist & Sexuality Educator

Author, Third Base Ain't What it Used to Be 

Submitted by Logan Levkoff on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 07:55
 

Good grief!  Boys are being

Good grief!

 Boys are being emasculated in school, because girls are doing better than they are on standardized tests and earning more higher degress.  Men are being emasculated by all these women in the workforce.  Now they're being emasculated by books. Yeah, right.

 I agree that adventure stories in which a boy must rescue a girl aren't even accurate reflections of masculinity because they do not reflect real life.  What on earth is a boy going to learn about masculinity from a FANTASY story?  Nothing.

 Are people going to start calling for banning books because they're "emasculating"?  Probably not, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried.

Submitted by earlgreyrooibos on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 08:07
 

I was almost

I was almost surprised until I saw you were talking about Glenn Beck.  This is the same guy who was asking why it's racist to call black people "monkeys," of course he has a problem with children's literature that isn't blatantly misogynistic.

-- Mz. Jack Scheerer

Submitted by QueerLiberation on Tue, 06/24/2008 - 10:39
 

Guys Read

These men need to have a talk with author Gary Paulsen. His books show very independent boys and young men as well as fascinating girls and women. He doesn't need to have the old fashioned gender roles to create a good story.  

Daisy, an elementary teacher who LOVES teaching reading to both girls and boys

Submitted by Daisy on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 18:37