September 3, 2010

Sexism in Print

Screw the small talk, I'm jumping right in:

image by Fith Fath
A friend is writing a novel and chose to use a male main character to appeal to a wider audience (which I understand).  We discussed how upsetting it is that females are expected to imagine themselves in a male character's place.  Men and boys are rarely, if ever, expected to put themselves in a female character's shoes.  It's helpful to understand other points of view and male-centric writing deprives boys and men of that exercise.  It also reinforces the men-as-leaders paradigm.

Growing up my mom read to me and replaced male pronouns with female.  Kids' books are rampant with pointless male pronoun-ing.  I didn't realize she'd done this until I read the same books to my siblings.  I babysat two sweet little girls and they got all female leads :D

5 comments:

  1. This is a lovely story. I am blessed to have had parents who, despite being not very good in most other ways, managed to instill in me a belief that I was able to do or be anything I wanted. It was kind of a shock to get into the real world and discover that not everyone believed the same was true for girls. It hasn't stopped me, though! I hope your two young charges go out into the world with the same belief in themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Carol
    Thanks for the comment Carol. The girls I babysat are now adults, believe it or not.

    Your sewing is amazing! I've read your blog in the past and was awestruck. Love your recent knit dresses.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Carol
    Thanks for the comment Carol. The girls I babysat are now adults, believe it or not.

    Your sewing is amazing! I've read your blog in the past and was awestruck. Love your recent knit dresses.

    ReplyDelete

I adore comments! Thanks for taking the time :)

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