Literature

 
May 9, 2013

Pink unicorns and pastel bling: Maureen Johnson calls out gendered covers

by

When author Maureen Johnson tweeted on Tuesday, “I do wish I had a dime for every email I get that says, ‘Please put a non-girly cover on your book so I can read it. – signed, A Guy’,” she issued a follow-up challenge. “Also: PROJECT! Redesign covers by Literary Dudes. Imagine they have been reclassified as by and for women.” The “coverflip” responses that emerged are worth a gander.
Johnson discussed the problem of stereotypically “girly” packaging on The Huffington Post:
…If you are a female author, you are much more likely to get the package that suggests the book is of a lower perceived quality. Because it’s ‘girly,’ which is somehow inherently different and easier on the palate. A man and a woman can write books about the same subject matter, at the same level of quality, and that woman is simple more likely to get the soft-sell cover with the warm glow and the feeling of smooth jazz blowing off of it.
Let’s pretend ‘girly’ packaging does appeal to the vast majority of women. In that case, all books would look like this. Jonathan Franzen‘s Freedom really would feature a little heart on its cover. Despite those emails from wistful male readers in Johnson’s inbox, women are the ones buying and reading books. Women are the market for books, or at least for fiction.
Years ago, Ian McEwan proclaimed in The Guardian, “Reading groups, readings, breakdowns of book sales all tell the same story: when women stop reading, the novel will be dead.”
Why do men get the serious covers? Why do they escape the “girly” treatment? Not just because society takes men more seriously or because men won’t read books with fluffy covers—though that’s part of it. Rather, women don’t give a fuck about “girly” covers. We don’t pick up a book because pink unicorns frolic on the front. If we did, I promise you: even Philip Roth novels would feature some pastel bling.

Abigail Grace Murdy is a former Melville House intern.

June 6, 2013

Needed: Gender-neutral covers, especially for boys

by

 

“If The Hunger Games had featured Katniss on the cover instead of a gold medallion against a black background, sales to boys would have been fractional.”



Shortly after Jane Eyre was first published, a skeptical male critic picked up a copy and started reading. “I found myself unable to put it down. At midnight I was on the moors with Jane Eyre, and at 4:00 A.M. I married Mr. Rochester,” he wrote. You won’t hear boys today issuing statements like that, partly because of the way books featuring female protagonists are packaged.
Novelist Alison Croggon participated in a panel on gender and YA literature at the Reading Matters conference last weekend, and yesterday she described her experience in The Guardian.
“A shelf of YA books might still suggest a world in which boys and girls make their reading choices based upon their gender. Almost from birth, readers are coralled into the pink and blue worlds of sparkle for girls and adventure for boys,” Croggon wrote. Obviously these stereotypes are problematic, but they’re especially problematic for boys.
Girls tend to read widely, glibly crossing the gender divide. They can read “boy books” without encountering social stigma. Not so for boys, who learn early on to feel ashamed of dipping into a “girl book.” And what determines the girl-ness or boy-ness of a book? The cover—not the content. As Elizabeth Bluemle lamented in Publisher’s Weekly,
If The Hunger Games had featured Katniss on the cover instead of a gold medallion against a black background, sales to boys would have been fractional. This is a frustrating truth. And it’s our fault. We steer kids—no, we steer boys—away from stories they might respond to from a very early age.
“If you categorize books as for boys or for girls, the message is that boys don’t need to be concerned about the female experience,” said YA author Libba Bray at the Reading Matters panel. In a climate of increased violence against women, boys should be encouraged to reading books that will help them not avoid but instead empathize with their female peers.
YA author Shannon Hale described a typical book signing on her blog:
Most of my line is made up of young girls with their mothers, teen girls alone, and mother friend groups. But there’s usually at least one boy with a stack of my books. This boy is anywhere from 8-19, he’s carrying a worn stack of the Books of Bayern, and he’s excited and unashamed to be a fan of those books. As I talk to him, 95% of the time I learn this fact: he is home-schooled.
If we want more boys in the book signing line—marrying Mr. Rochester, you might say—we need more gender-neutral covers.
Abigail Grace Murdy is a former Melville House intern.

No comments :

Labels

Giveaway ( 3088 ) Excerpt ( 1336 ) blog tour ( 942 ) Book Blitz ( 864 ) Cover Reveal ( 543 ) Guest post ( 518 ) Teaser ( 347 ) Book blast ( 283 ) Interview ( 260 ) Culture ( 245 ) Books ( 242 ) Trailer ( 228 ) freebie ( 227 ) Art ( 226 ) Funny ( 225 ) History ( 219 ) Promotion ( 207 ) Science ( 202 ) Articles ( 181 ) free kindle ( 145 ) Literature ( 142 ) Release Day ( 131 ) Review ( 120 ) Photography ( 115 ) nature ( 113 ) kindle ( 112 ) Gender ( 105 ) Book tour ( 90 ) Authors ( 89 ) myth ( 77 ) new release ( 77 ) Coffee ( 76 ) newsletter ( 71 ) Children ( 70 ) Music ( 66 ) box set ( 60 ) Archaeological ( 59 ) illustration ( 56 ) food ( 50 ) spotlight ( 50 ) PLAYLIST ( 49 ) social ( 48 ) 0.99 sale ( 46 ) YA ( 45 ) contest ( 43 ) fantasy ( 43 ) Mythology ( 42 ) Grand Finale ( 41 ) sale ( 39 ) blog hop ( 37 ) words ( 37 ) Poetry ( 35 ) artist ( 34 ) Characters interviews ( 32 ) Game ( 32 ) syfy ( 32 ) language ( 30 ) quotes ( 30 ) recipe ( 30 ) Release Party ( 29 ) Expert ( 27 ) ads ( 21 ) mystery ( 21 ) Photos ( 20 ) reading ( 20 ) Romance ( 19 ) Animals ( 18 ) Design ( 18 ) Education ( 18 ) Street Photography ( 18 ) book highlight ( 18 ) facts ( 18 ) comics ( 17 ) health ( 17 ) writing ( 17 ) Folklore ( 16 ) Holidays ( 16 ) Movies ( 16 ) poem ( 15 ) Biology ( 13 ) top 10 ( 13 ) Book release ( 12 ) Maps ( 12 ) covers ( 12 ) Book trailers ( 11 ) Cash Giveaway ( 11 ) Giveaways ( 11 ) Twitter Blast ( 11 ) Valentine ( 11 ) Friday revel ( 10 ) Libraries ( 10 ) Paranormal ( 10 ) Release blitz ( 10 ) agriculture ( 10 ) events ( 10 ) sport ( 10 ) Characters cast ( 9 ) Publishing ( 9 ) Sneak Peek ( 9 ) dream cast ( 9 ) work ( 9 ) BOOK SIGNING ( 8 ) Steam-punk ( 8 ) astronomy ( 8 ) interviews ( 8 ) plants ( 8 ) technology ( 8 ) Free Book ( 7 ) Halloween ( 7 ) NA ( 7 ) Thanks Giving ( 7 ) blog ( 7 ) blog blast ( 7 ) economy ( 7 ) letters ( 7 ) street art ( 7 ) Christmas ( 6 ) Contemporary Romance ( 6 ) Genetic ( 6 ) Goodreads giveaway ( 6 ) This and That ( 6 ) YA RELEASES ( 6 ) news ( 6 ) short story ( 6 ) writing tools ( 6 ) Amazon. ( 5 ) Audio ( 5 ) Philosophy ( 5 ) Spring ( 5 ) YA Fantasy ( 5 ) hosting ( 5 ) jobs ( 5 ) mother day ( 5 ) top 5 ( 5 ) Black Friday ( 4 ) BookRave ( 4 ) Fun Facts ( 4 ) Grammar ( 4 ) Song ( 4 ) Sunday Read Recommendation ( 4 ) Weather ( 4 ) Web ( 4 ) cakes ( 4 ) deals ( 4 ) evolution ( 4 ) gift card ( 4 ) horror ( 4 ) lol ( 4 ) photographer ( 4 ) soundtrack ( 4 ) studies ( 4 ) video ( 4 ) Architecture ( 3 ) Book Swapping ( 3 ) Book tor ( 3 ) Cartoon ( 3 ) Characters ( 3 ) Computing ( 3 ) Dance ( 3 ) Easter ( 3 ) Erotica ( 3 ) Indian ( 3 ) Kindle Fire HDx Giveaway ( 3 ) St. Patrick's day ( 3 ) Suspense ( 3 ) TV series ( 3 ) Thriller ( 3 ) Translation ( 3 ) bookstore ( 3 ) chapters ( 3 ) chemistry ( 3 ) contemporary ( 3 ) ecology ( 3 ) fall ( 3 ) film director ( 3 ) guest review ( 3 ) hope ( 3 ) icon ( 3 ) launch day ( 3 ) math ( 3 ) story ( 3 ) summer ( 3 ) syfi ( 3 ) urban ( 3 ) winter ( 3 ) 10 Fun Facts ( 2 ) 10 things ( 2 ) 4th of july ( 2 ) Adventure ( 2 ) Audiobook ( 2 ) Awards ( 2 ) Blogger Appreciation ( 2 ) Book reveling ( 2 ) Bookstores ( 2 ) Characters bio ( 2 ) Clean Sweep ( 2 ) Cover wars ( 2 ) Crime ( 2 ) Debut Author Challenge ( 2 ) Dystopian ( 2 ) Family ( 2 ) Free Shipping ( 2 ) Fun ( 2 ) Gifts ( 2 ) Graphs. STAT ( 2 ) Hop International ( 2 ) Introduction ( 2 ) Literature awards ( 2 ) Nostalgic ( 2 ) Ocean ( 2 ) Psychological ( 2 ) Psychological Thriller ( 2 ) Reading Contest ( 2 ) Release week ( 2 ) Selfies ( 2 ) Summer Reading ( 2 ) Summery of the year ( 2 ) Tablets ( 2 ) Tea ( 2 ) Titles ( 2 ) add ( 2 ) art Articles ( 2 ) birds ( 2 ) book bash ( 2 ) book contest ( 2 ) bread ( 2 ) cell & molecular biology ( 2 ) children’s literature ( 2 ) climate change ( 2 ) codes ( 2 ) discussion ( 2 ) dragons ( 2 ) ebooks ( 2 ) epic ( 2 ) extreme ( 2 ) facebook ( 2 ) facebook Blast ( 2 ) games & gadgets. test ( 2 ) ilustration ( 2 ) immunology ( 2 ) incredible ( 2 ) internet ( 2 ) labels ( 2 ) lists ( 2 ) lunch blitz ( 2 ) martial ( 2 ) min-interview ( 2 ) monsters ( 2 ) physics ( 2 ) poets ( 2 ) sea ( 2 ) tips ( 2 ) tv ( 2 ) water ( 2 ) wolf ( 2 ) 5 Fun Facts ( 1 ) 5 Rapid Fire Round ( 1 ) A vote ( 1 ) Action ( 1 ) Adult ( 1 ) Adult Historical Fantasy ( 1 ) Adult fiction ( 1 ) African-American Lit ( 1 ) Amazing ( 1 ) Amazon ( 1 ) Amazon.Tech ( 1 ) Announcement ( 1 ) Apology ( 1 ) April ( 1 ) Atlit Yam ( 1 ) B-day ( 1 ) Badass heroes ( 1 ) Baking ( 1 ) Bibliophile ( 1 ) Black & White ( 1 ) Blogoversary ( 1 ) Book Hop ( 1 ) Bookfest ( 1 ) Booklikes ( 1 ) Bravery ( 1 ) Bundles ( 1 ) Catalog ( 1 ) Concepts ( 1 ) Critique ( 1 ) Cut Scene ( 1 ) DVD ( 1 ) Did you know ( 1 ) Discovery ( 1 ) Disney ( 1 ) Donation Campaign ( 1 ) Earth Day ( 1 ) Etymology ( 1 ) Extravaganza ( 1 ) FAQ ( 1 ) Falafel Day ( 1 ) Favorite Reads ( 1 ) Folklure ( 1 ) Gadgets ( 1 ) Garden ( 1 ) Geography ( 1 ) Greating ( 1 ) Happy New Year. greatings ( 1 ) Heroes ( 1 ) High-Rise Buildings ( 1 ) Highlights ( 1 ) Holocaust ( 1 ) Infographic ( 1 ) Inspiration ( 1 ) International ( 1 ) Japan ( 1 ) Jazz ( 1 ) Kindness ( 1 ) Linguists ( 1 ) Literary Fiction ( 1 ) Maleficent ( 1 ) Meet the author ( 1 ) Misconceptions ( 1 ) Multicultural ( 1 ) New Adult ( 1 ) New Adult fiction ( 1 ) New Series Releases ( 1 ) New Year ( 1 ) Offers ( 1 ) PRE-RELEASE ( 1 ) Parental ( 1 ) Passover ( 1 ) Personal message ( 1 ) Picture Revision ( 1 ) Piracy ( 1 ) Pirates ( 1 ) Preview ( 1 ) Print Design ( 1 ) Psychology ( 1 ) QA ( 1 ) Query Contest ( 1 ) Quet ( 1 ) Quiz ( 1 ) Quize ( 1 ) Random Facts ( 1 ) Rapid Fire Round ( 1 ) Recommends ( 1 ) References ( 1 ) Religion ( 1 ) Reveal ( 1 ) Rhymes ( 1 ) Romantic Suspense ( 1 ) Scavenger Hunt ( 1 ) Scots ( 1 ) Sleeping Beauty ( 1 ) Sparkiversary ( 1 ) Target ( 1 ) Tax day ( 1 ) Tour ( 1 ) Tour Highlight ( 1 ) Tourney ( 1 ) Trivia ( 1 ) Typography ( 1 ) Unbelievable ( 1 ) Urban Fantasy ( 1 ) Vintage ( 1 ) Virtual Book Tour ( 1 ) Visa ( 1 ) WWII ( 1 ) Waiting on Wednesday ( 1 ) Western Historical Romance ( 1 ) What I'm reading ( 1 ) Women ( 1 ) Women’s Fiction ( 1 ) Women’s Lit ( 1 ) YA nonfiction ( 1 ) academic ( 1 ) alternative medical ( 1 ) angry robot ( 1 ) anima ( 1 ) author blog ( 1 ) available ( 1 ) book hunt ( 1 ) book industry ( 1 ) book sketch ( 1 ) book swag ( 1 ) brain ( 1 ) calligraphy ( 1 ) ceremony ( 1 ) challenge ( 1 ) clips ( 1 ) clocks ( 1 ) confidence ( 1 ) convention ( 1 ) crazy ( 1 ) creative ( 1 ) cupping ( 1 ) daimonds ( 1 ) diet ( 1 ) digital copy ( 1 ) discount ( 1 ) drugs ( 1 ) east ( 1 ) editing ( 1 ) essays ( 1 ) fairy tales ( 1 ) fashion ( 1 ) fiction ( 1 ) fool day ( 1 ) genre ( 1 ) gift ( 1 ) global warming ( 1 ) gov ( 1 ) green ( 1 ) greeting ( 1 ) guns ( 1 ) harvest ( 1 ) help ( 1 ) ideas ( 1 ) indi ( 1 ) infectious disease ( 1 ) info ( 1 ) insects ( 1 ) intro for audio ( 1 ) introducing ( 1 ) labor day ( 1 ) lego ( 1 ) make up ( 1 ) manga ( 1 ) meaning ( 1 ) message ( 1 ) money ( 1 ) monthly ( 1 ) mystical ( 1 ) names ( 1 ) names.culture ( 1 ) new cover ( 1 ) note ( 1 ) olympic ( 1 ) organic ( 1 ) out takes ( 1 ) outage ( 1 ) packing ( 1 ) palentology ( 1 ) party ( 1 ) pepco ( 1 ) physiology ( 1 ) pk ( 1 ) protein ( 1 ) protein foldingץ ( 1 ) protest ( 1 ) public transportation ( 1 ) pulp fiction ( 1 ) rare ( 1 ) recommendation ( 1 ) rescued ( 1 ) retail ( 1 ) reveal tour ( 1 ) revel party ( 1 ) shopping ( 1 ) solutions ( 1 ) songs tracks ( 1 ) support ( 1 ) surfing ( 1 ) survival ( 1 ) swords ( 1 ) tags ( 1 ) theater ( 1 ) title reveal ( 1 ) top 12 ( 1 ) trees ( 1 ) update ( 1 ) visual ( 1 ) winner of giveaway ( 1 ) wo ( 1 )