Thank you so
much for having me here, Josh! I can
officially vouch for this blog. It’s not
a He-Man Woman Hater’s Club, though I would gladly accept the title She-ra,
Princess of Power! J
I’ve been
curious about the presentation of gender roles in books and movies for quite
some time. My college senior thesis
related to this very topic. For my final
“exam,” I presented a paper tracking the evolving role of women in Disney
movies. Think about it…the earlier
Disney films featured helpless damsels in distress saved by dashing, strong
princes (usually by his kiss--for example, Sleeping
Beauty and Snow White). Fast forward a few decades to find Mulan
kicking butt and taking names while saving the male lead or Merida in Brave without a male counterpart at
all. I personally prefer the ones where
the male and female help one another like Beauty
and the Beast or Rapunzel.
Interestingly,
I think the role of boys in books has gone the opposite direction--from main
characters to supports for the main female characters. When I think back on the MG and YA classics I
read, most had male leads (sometimes male animal leads). I enjoyed Tales
of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Super Fudge
(and all the related Fudge books), Charlotte’s
Web, Ralph S. Mouse, The Outsiders, The Hobbit, How To Eat Fried Worms, Shiloh, Stuart Little, Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches… I could go
on, but you get the picture. Side
note: Many of these books were written
by women though they contained male main characters.
I wonder if
people freaked out because girls appeared underrepresented and sought to create
more female main characters. In trying
to create a balance, the pendulum swung back the whole other way. For a while, female main characters dominated
MG and YA and, for the most part, still do.
Boys went from being the heroes of the tale to the love interests helping
to facilitate the story.
I applaud
the efforts of writers like Rick Riordan who are bringing back the strong male
lead while including an equally strong female lead as his complement. Like Beauty
and the Beast and Rapunzel, the
Percy Jackson series seeks to strike a delicate balance, engaging and uplifting
both males and females.
I’m curious
to hear your thoughts. What books do you
think strike a good male/female balance?
Do you prefer male main characters to be written by males, or do you
think females can write from a male perspective just as convincingly?
For those
interested in knowing more about me and my upcoming novel, The Prophecy, please like me on FB (Erin Albert Books), follow me
on Twitter (@ErinAlbertBooks), and/or subscribe to my website (www.erinalbertbooks.com).
Thank you
again, Josh!
Until next
time,
Erin
