Writing for boys

8/23/2011

The New York Times in its infinite wisdom decided it would tackle the troubling fact that most new readers are girls, not boys.(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/books/review/boys-and-reading-is-there-any-hope.html) This has sparked blog post after blog post and not a little heat. Most of the anger seemed to come from the assertions made by the article's author that boys, in effect, don't read stories written by women. And most of the YA novels being published are targeted towards young women.

I don't know if I'm the right person to address this, I've always been a reader, once I got the knack and I've read several authors who happened to be women. But let me chime in my two cents.

The facts aren't really in dispute. Boys are reading less. Boys don't generally read books written by women or with female protagonists. Most YA novels published today are either written by women or have female protagonists. Those are facts. The heat and the anger comes from the conclusions authors, editors and agents are drawing from them.

Several writers and editors posted screeds complaining that girls will read books written by men or with male protagonists, complaining about the Patriarchy, complaining that historically, most authors have been men. Which misses the point and doesn't address the problem. I hope it made them feel better but I don't think those posts did anything else.

Yes, women are more willing to read books written by men or with male protagonists than vice versa. And that's not going to change. Boys are boys. They are different from girls. I know that will shock and anger some people (thought not the ones reading my blog, I suspect) but it's true. Boys are interested in different things from girls.

What do boys like? From my POV of being and having been a boy and with all the caveats that my thoughts are colored by my experience, let me try to answer.

Adventure. Danger. Violence. Sex. Teamwork-friendship-respect. (I'll get back to that last one because its a bit complicated).

Adventure. Boys like going off into the unknown, being self-reliant and overcoming physical danger and discomfort, realizing that they're stronger than they know. That's the kind of adventure boys like.

Danger. Boys like dangerous things, riding fast, jumping off cliffs or out of airplanes. Guns, knives, swords. Adrenaline rushes. A book that can get get their blood pumping.

Violence. Boys are attracted to violence, they're wired for it. They want to overcome bad guys. They also want to protect, sure, but they want to be inside the head of someone who kicks ass and takes names. Some girls like that, sure, but to me it seems more like a 'I'm just as good as you' kind of thing. With boys it's 'I'm better. I can beat you'.

Sex. Boys like girl parts. Bodies. Smiles. Willing partners in the aggravating, ecstasy of sex. Wet, hot, thrusting, pumping sex. I'm not saying boys don't want to be loved, they do. But the balance, especially with boys brimming with testosterone is more daydreaming about naked supermodels and less holding hands in the moonlight.

The Teamwork-friendship-respect thing. This is more complicated that just 'Friendship', which is what I first wrote down. Boys need to know where they stand in the context of a group. They are looking for a role to serve. Some want to lead a group, some just want to be respected and valued for their contribution. Some just want to be left alone and respected as a lone wolf. They want to bond with other boys, they want the respect of adult men. They want friendship with boys that they respect. Guy friendships a

What do girls like? Oy. Maybe someone else can chime in better than I can but from what I can see from the YA books I've read, here's what girls seem to like. Excitement. Danger-in-safety. Relationships. Emotion. Standing out. Acceptance from peers.

There is very little overlap there. Seriously, if you want boys to read, write stuff they like.

10 Comments

Luna Lindsey link

8/23/2011 02:30:25 am

Ooo, one of my hot-buttons. I'm struggling to form a reply that 1) will be short, and 2) will be understood. I'm not sure either is possible.

First, I will agree with you that boys and girls are different. However, I'm in the camp that believes more of those differences are caused by upbringing and society than biology. Science doesn't completely know where exactly the line is between "nature" and "nurture", but some evidence is showing that less of this is biochemistry and more is about environment. Spend a few minutes watching commercials for boy-toys vs. girl-toys and you'll see what you mean.

The fact that I'm much more "male" in many of my tendencies could have something to do with the fact that my parents bought me Legos, and didn't stop me from playing with my nephew's Hot Wheels and Star Wars and He-Man toys. They also encouraged me pursuing math and science, but so many little girls are actively steered away from these activities.

This post bothers me on a deep level, because it continues to perpetuate these societal stamps: Girls want to read wish-washy future-mommie stuff, and boys want to be self-reliant. Boys want to be the best, and girls just want to prove they can compete. (This latter concept angers me the most, because it's a topsy-turvy world where we *have* to prove we can simply compete, because that is where the bar is set. When I compete, and try for the "best", the price of failure for me is so much higher than a male counterpart. If I'm not 100% sure I can win, it's a meta-game strategy to aim for the middle, because then I can remain anonymous. This is worth an entire article itself. But trust me, there are lots of games I'm sure I can win, and I go whole-hog on those.)

Your dismissal of feminist bloggers who complain about these things is also upsetting, because it's a "typical" privileged response. (Yes, I see what I did there.) i.e. it comes from someone who has never had to fight for respect in a workplace simply because of your gender, or earn even acknowledgement in a role playing group because of your gender. You've never had to walk into a gaming store and be told you're in the wrong place. All of these things have happened to me, and more, and I have had to fight just to fit in, in places where I would have otherwise automatically belonged based on my interests and skills.

It's getting better for girls (and boys). But we're still not there. Strong female protagonists in fiction are a huge part of why Gen Y girls will never experience the problems I had growing up as a smart girl. Gen Y girls already know they're the best, not "just as good", and they have models like Hermione and Katniss Everdeen (from Hunger Games) to prove it.

Katniss is more than self-reliant. She ends up saving everyone, including the boys. Her danger is very real and deadly -- She KNOWS she is going to die. She commits acts of violence against other children, and hardly looks back. She experiences pain and continues to press forward. Sex isn't very appropriate to the story, and would be gratuitous, but in a sequel, it does come up.

I don't read much YA, but what I've read, and the synopses I've seen, all or most of your ingredients are included in a great number of other popular works. (Except for that one book with the sparkly vampires, which as a woman (and a writer) I find Twilight's messages APPALLING. My teen girls agree.)

I don't think the problem is that books aren't being written for boys. Nor that women can't write books that include your list of ingredients and therefore be appealing to boys. I think we'll find the answer to be a little more complex, and it will require more than chest-beating to figure it out.

Luna Lindsey link

8/23/2011 02:39:32 am

P.S. I went and read the NYT article, and that male-author had a different conclusion. Boys want to read things they can relate to. And that doesn't necessarily mean more adventure, danger, sex, etc.

I thought this line was interesting:

"This was hard-core boy talk, but it was also book talk — the fictional characters we were discussing allowed us the freedom to express feelings the way girls do. Would this conversation ever have taken place without a literary impetus?"

Mark Andrew Edwards link

8/23/2011 03:21:16 am

Thanks for the thoughts/comments, Luna. I apologize for hitting one of your buttons. I hate these 'battle of the sexes' post sand that's not what I was aiming for. Again, my intent was to talk about why boys don't read and I still maintain that there aren't enough books being written that target them and their interests.

I don't know what girls want to read, not really, but most of the YA stuff I've read isn't 'mommy stuff', though emotion is a lot more front and center. Maybe I'm off base with my read on the motivation of 'girls kicking ass' but that's the impression I got from reading a lot of YA and Fantasy with female warrior protagonists. I do appreciate your insight and thoughts. I don't want to get into my personal dramas but I actually have had those same feeling of having to fight for respect and being told I don't belong. It may not have been due to my gender but I've been there.

The Hunger Games series is awesome (apart from some parts of the ending of Mockingjay that bugged me). I would also say it isn't typical for YA fantasy. Sadly.

Let me try to be a bit more clear, I'm not against any of these books. I'm totally ok with strong female protangonists. I'm glad Gen Y girls aren't going to have the same struggles you have. I'm glad those books exist. My point is, boys aren't going to read those books.

I don't think there are enough YA books that are going to attract boys to reading. Are there books with the ingredients I mention that appeal to boys? Maybe. I'd love to know their names. They are vastly in the minority.

Luna Lindsey link

8/23/2011 07:27:29 am

Don't worry too much about hitting my buttons. :) I'm always up for a good debate, much to the suffering of me getting other things done, sometimes.

I wish I'd read more YA, and also had a better memory for details in what I do read to know if they fit. But what about Harry Potter (read), Eragon (read), Series of Unfortunate Events (read), Lightning Thief (not read), City of Ember (not read but saw the movie), and Artemis Fowl (not read)? These are just what spring to mind, titles I've seen that seem rather adventurous, dangerous, self-reliant, and so on. Maybe not much sex, but that's hit and miss with YA anyway.

We're basically in a golden age of YA novels, so even just playing by the numbers there are more books like you describe now than there were when we were growing up. And the impression I've gotten from reading about the industry is that authors are pressured by editors for YA adventure stories to have male-protagonists for the reasons you describe - that boys won't read female protagonists.

So it can't totally be lack of material -- at least not the type of material you describe.

P.S. on the fighting for respect thing, do you mean within mainstream culture, or geek culture, or workplace, or what?

Steph

8/23/2011 08:28:56 am

This is a very interesting conversation to me, probably because I don't really pay enough attention to issues like these. I mean, forget 'as good as,' clearly I'm better than most guys OR gals :) Lol, just kidding. But I don't worry too much about sexual discrimination because I believe that everyone struggles to be accepted, to be who they are, to be understood, to be in the job they are suited for, etc. - the difference is only in the specifics.

I am not a "typical" girl, and never have been. There are challenges that come from that - for example, I may do a job extremely well, but because I am rather blunt and don't meet some people's expectations of being touchy-feely-gossipy-etc. I might come across as cold, heartless, etc. If I were male, the perceptions regarding the same actions would be completely different. I am also a woman who is good at science, math, mechanical things, and other 'boy' things. I don't fit the mold, and that can be challenging. Some people can be awful.

But I live in this world, at this time, and I believe I am more than capable of dealing with anything people dish out. If it wasn't this, it would be something different. So why complain? I will make a difference by fighting that fight and winning, and I will make it better for others who come after. Talking about these issues will definitely increase awareness, but the biggest breakthroughs in history have been the result of strong people who took action to defy societal pressures. :) Kinda off topic... back to what you are actually talking about...

Thinking about it, I think the core of "boys not reading enough" is more about societal pressures on boys than girls. Media, parents, teachers - everyone pushes boys to be active, sports-oriented, sex-oriented, violence-oriented, etc. I'm not saying boys aren't different than girls. But a boy who is fond of reading, especially if he likes fantasy, will be labeled, ridiculed, and pressured just as badly as a mechanically-savvy girl might be labeled, ridiculed, and pressured to do something more 'appropriate.' For girls, reading is much more acceptable. My brother was a great reader, but even he was reluctant to read certain things because they weren't acceptable in the social jungle. At least until he matured and decided he didn't care.

There are thousands of amazing books out there, and whether boys or girls, the core of a good story is the same. So I don't think this is about content, because if you can't get the kid to pick up a book in the first place, what does content matter?

Luna Lindsey link

8/23/2011 08:48:56 am

Well said, Steph, and I agree with all of it. Especially the bit about doing is better than talking. And the bits about the pressures men are under. I wanted to say something like that before, but didn't feel qualified. :) Men and boys are very much under pressure to fill their roles, regardless of "who they really are".

Earlier I wanted to quote this, from the end of the NYT article, about boys discussing a football-themed book:

"They talked about not trusting coaches who, they said, send you in hurt, and lie about your playing time and play you off against your friends. They felt trapped — they loved the fellowship, the physical contact, the prestige of the game. They even talked, gingerly, about playing because Dad wants you to and how you could be kept in line by the fear of being called a girl or gay. This was hard-core boy talk, but it was also book talk — the fictional characters we were discussing allowed us the freedom to express feelings the way girls do. Would this conversation ever have taken place without a literary impetus?"

What this says to me is that boys really /are/ interested in talking, or at least thinking, about feelings. The book in question gave them a private outlet -- and acceptable public outlet -- for that.

I'm passionate about feminist issues, because I am a woman, but I'm just as in favor of cultural flexibility for all gender roles. Let boys be boys in the way boys want. Even if it means playing with dolls or playing dress-up, or god-forbid, reading a good book. :)

Mark Andrew Edwards link

8/23/2011 11:46:37 am

Hey Luna,

Harry Potter is an excellent example of books that appeal to boys and girls. I wish there were more like it. The Percy Jackson books come closest.
The Series of Unfortunate Events series skews a little odd, some boys read it (besides me) but not is as even numbers as Harry Potter.
I forgot about Artemis Fowl, those are a hoot. I wish there were more. I have seen some new YA novels that look like they would appeal to boys, just the other day in Barnes and Noble.
Hopefully that means there will be more options.

I had no idea that editors were asking authors to change the gender of their protagonists, though. That rubs me the wrong way.
I am glad that they're putting more YA adventure stories out, I'd just prefer encouragement to cohersion. I know one of the editors at Tor at Norwescon two years ago
was specifically begging for more YA novels with male protagonists.

Maybe its just never been 'acceptable' for boys to be into reading. Literacy as being unmanly and all that. I know I got teased a lot for reading but I always assumed that was due to how much and how often I read.
The respect thing, not to get into it, was mainstream mostly but also at some jobs I've worked as well as some extra-curricular activities I dabbled in.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

And Steph, thank you for posting as well.

I've never considered you cold and heartless :) People, no matter what their gender, can be jerks.
I think you may be on to something. I was remember what it was like growing up and I am recalling a
lot of 'teacher's pet' teasing or worse. I had a few friends that read, my gamer friends, but almost none of my
military friends read for pleasure. Boys, even in college, never seemed to form reading groups. When we did read, it was usually pretty solitary apart from Cons where the other geeks felt free to hang out.

Steph

8/23/2011 12:59:24 pm

Lol, I'm glad you don't think I'm cold or heartless... but you don't know me when I'm all business! Seriously, there's focused, and then there's me. :)

I don't think I'm cold/heartless either, and I do have great working relationships with the vast majority of my co-workers. But I am very like my father when working. He is considered a strong leader, no-nonsense, even, and professional. I am not usually perceived the same way, partially because of my gender (and also partially because I don't work in the same kind of professional corporate environment). I am expected to be softer, more interested in personal problems, etc. People don't always like it when their expectations are broken. And I'm sure some of it is just personality stuff. I don't like simplifying things so drastically, and screaming "sexism! Rally the troops!" Still, although I didn't always notice it, I've come to realize there IS an insidious kind of sexism embedded in people's expectations, boys and girls.

It's sad how cruel and unaccepting people can be, as children and also as adults. I mean, what harm is reading? It's the best thing that ever happened to me :)

Jay Noel link

8/24/2011 04:24:34 am

I just posted about this today!

Luna, I'm trying to figure out where you got the information about that whole "less is biochemistry (I assume you're talking about the brain) and more is environment" garbage. Scratching my head on that one.

I think you need to go read any of Dr. Amen's books.

The most recent research proves that boys and girls ARE different. You give a boy and a girl the same word problem/riddle and look at their brain scans via SPECT technology. Girls use both hemispheres of their brain more, and the electrical activity is more diffused and spread out throughout the brain.

The average boy's brain scan shows more focused brain activity, and in only one hemisphere at a time.

So when it comes to reading, girls are able to see the bigger picture and create that emotional response to connect to a book - even if it's a "boy" book. Boys need more stimulation - vivid action, edgy stories, stuff to fire off more parts of their brain.

I really am sick of people trying to treat boys and girls the same. Are you a parent? With multiple kiddos? If so, do you treat each kid EXACTLY the same way? I hope not. It's not only stupid but futile. And it robs each kid of their individual needs. I have 3 kids, each has their own personality, strengths, and weaknesses. To be a good parent I am FORCED to treat them each differently.

I taught high school language arts, and on a daily basis, I saw living proof that girls' communication skills are at least 2 years ahead of boys in adolescence. The average boy takes a little bit more time to catch up.

However, areas of the brain involved in math, for example, mature faster in boys than in girls. (Studies show the average girl is 4-8 yrs behind). Sorry...but that's a fact. As a feminist, that probably pisses you off. Oh well.

Now, does that mean a girl can't be an engineer? Of course not, as these are generalizations after all. In fact, I believe we need to encourage girls to increase their math skills, make them more confident by building up that part of their brain.

And by the way, I am not so "privileged" to dismiss your feminism as I had to fight racial discrimination in the neighborhood, at school, and in the workplace. So please throw that "privileged" crap out the window.

It's getting "better" for girls??? I'm going to pronounce you bonkers specific to YA literature. Go to a bookstore. Lordy. Boys would have to climb over all the books marketed to girls to get to anything they'd like. Talk to someone that works in a bookstore. They'll give you the lowdown. It's GREAT for girls. It sucks for boys in YA literature.

Societal pressure is a MAJOR factor in boys' behavior, but geez, a lot of what we do goes back to biology. We're different, that's the way it is, now get over it.

And before you call me a sexist scumbag, you should know that my oldest son (10 yrs) takes ballet. Yup. And guess who encouraged him? ME. I am big believer in trying to get boys to move outside their comfort zones, beyond the "traditional" sexist/stereotypical roles society presses them to live up to.

BUT I had to first acknowledge the differences between boys and girls, and then use that information in order to strategize my approach to make taking ballet appealing to my masculine son. All of you feminist bloggers and others (i.e. therejectionist.com) that trash Lipsyte's NY Time article are part of the problem. You blame society and the environment for what's staring at you in the face.

Are you going to blame society for the fact that the average male is physically stronger than the average female??? That's insane.

Wonder why Joanne decided to use the name J.K. Rowling on her books. Or go back to S.E. Hinton...they understood. Yeah, it's a little trickery, but gosh darnit, you gotta use what works! They acknowledge the male psyche...that boys are not as willing to read a book written by a female because they assume (incorrectly) that they won't be able to relate to the book.

Stop the madness. Stop trying to create a gender-less world. Let boys read whatever appeals to them. Stop being pissed off that Johnny won't pick up a book with a girl protagonist. He doesn't want to read it. Give him something he'll read, and maybe someday (with or without trickery), he'll be open and mature enough to give Little Women or Twilight a try.

Luna Lindsey link

9/1/2011 02:35:42 am

Whoa there Nelly. I mean Jay. (Sorry it's been a week. I didn't see this. Mark's blog doesn't email me replies to comments so I have to check manually.)

You make a lot of assumptions about who I am and what I believe. You also act as though I live in some kind of echo chamber where I haven't heard any of your points before.

The "nature vs nurture" debate has gone on a long time, throughout all the sciences. Are we who we are (be it gender-roles, emotional disorders, obese, etc) because of genes and biochemistry, or because of environment?

And every time one "side" of that argument seems to be winning, the other "side" gets more evidence. For every gene discovered, there's an epigenetic methyl blocker caused by environmental factors that thwart that gene. This debate is far, far from over, and I suspect science will keep coming up with the same answer: It's both.

I will not deny the studies that show girls mature faster, or toddler boys tend to make more machine-noises than girls, who talk more at play. Yes, there are generalized brain differences. However there are a lot more studies showing that "bigger-picture stuff" matters more, like that girls are taught to be "nice" to be "good", and therefore think that's how you get ahead in a career. When it's not. That is not genetic, and those sorts of models impact gender politics far more than whether girls are genetically predisposed to be slightly worse at math than boys in a vastly general sense.

Those differences are very slight, as slight as how eating a lot of broccoli will make you less likely to get cancer. We're talking tendencies here. A lot of other factors also go into whether you'll get cancer. As do whether you'll be good at math, or be assertive, or love to read. There is no genetic marker in the XY chromosome that says "Does Not Like To Read". There was a time when women were forced to be illiterate because it wasn't ladylike. Then it was all boys reading, all the time. You can't deny that was cultural. So why not look for cultural causes now?

The problem is when men take those generalizations to an extreme. And trust me, I've been discriminated against plenty. (And make a successful career for myself in spite of it.) When men assume that women are bad at math. And then women have to prove that they are somehow the "exception". When the reality is, women who study at it are just as good at math, as grown-ups, as men are.

Women don't go into math and science because they are often actively discouraged from it. By their parents. By their peers. By their teachers. By their school counselors. I was good at math as a kid. Possibly better than you at it at the same age, considering I was getting 85-99th Percentile on grade-school tests, and testing out three grades ahead of my age level. Because my parents encouraged me. I was no different than a boy, at least in that area. I was lucky. Not everyone is. (Just a caveat, I'm not good at math anymore, because I stopped studying it, but I am pretty good with computers.)

And god forbid anyone pick up Twilight. *puke* And not because it has a female protagonist. Why not use a better female-protagonist book as an example, like Hunger Games? Johny might resist reading it, for whatever reason, but most boys would love the story.

One last thing, and it's about kids. I have three kids too. Two girls and a boy, teens. They are individuals, not genders. Their personal interests have nothing to do with their sexes, because we've let them pursue what they want. I've not tried to force my boy to be a girl, nor my girls to be a boy. That's not what "feminism" is about. It's about telling our girls that they can be game designers or go into the military if that's what they really want. Or artists. Or writers. Or lawyers. It's about telling the girls they need to stand up for themselves, set clear boundaries, be assertive and go after what they want, that they have just as much right to make choices as anyone else.

We don't have to tell the boy. Society has already sent him that message. Nevertheless, we tell him, too.

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