tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7405754997083797116.post1070975620995684603..comments2023-11-02T04:48:25.075-07:00Comments on Amber's Editorial Dream: Gender in YAAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04365548143774954530noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7405754997083797116.post-29698354248134181222010-02-11T13:24:19.316-08:002010-02-11T13:24:19.316-08:00what these adult books with male protagonists have...what these adult books with male protagonists have are characters they can relate to, or in some way answer the burning questions they have about what it means to be a guy. not always, but as a rule.<br /><br />as a reviewer i see a LOT of YA with male protagonists that doesn't satisy me as a reader, and my wanting to understand why is what drove my research.<br /><br />yes, boys will read about girls, and about love, but the characters have to ring absolutely true to them or they're out of there. holden caufield is the voice of every boy reader when he talks about his disdain for phonies. and what i have seen are a lot of unrealistic male portraials in YA.<br /><br />also, anecdotally, i've had some boys tell me they don't like happy or uplifting endings tacked on, which runs counter to a HUGE movement in YA that insists YA must have a hopeful ending.<br /><br />i think the answers are out there, but too many writers are too busy defending what they write to the point where they don't feel that they need to consider the audience. for many i have talked to it's "i write they story i have to tell" which isn't necessarily the story a boy wants to read.david elzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7405754997083797116.post-34986435559923153172010-02-11T13:13:08.063-08:002010-02-11T13:13:08.063-08:00I have noticed that when guys do read, they do rea...I have noticed that when guys do read, they do read a lot of adult books. But my question is this: do these adult books have male protagonists? Do they read books with female protagonists. I don't have the answer. However, from what I've seen, the books mostly have male protagonists. And if the latter is true, I really want to know why.Amberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04365548143774954530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7405754997083797116.post-90810536033349179512010-02-11T13:05:17.408-08:002010-02-11T13:05:17.408-08:00the gender of the protagonist is not the issue - b...the gender of the protagonist is not the issue - boys will read about boys or girls so long as the character interests them. <br /><br />the question about gender in YA has more to do with the expectations of the readers, and the thorniness the topic engenders (as witnessed in the twitter chat #genderinYA).<br /><br />some recent research i've done for my MFA on what boys are drawn toward in their reading has lead me to post that information in sections on my own blog.<br /><br />http://fomagrams.wordpress.com<br /><br />as i see it, the problem with boys not reading has nothing to do with the gender of the author and everything to do with authors not delivering what boys want from their reading. boys and girls are different (we have to agree on that point at the very least) and, for whatever reason, they want different things from books.<br /><br />now there's still the whole problem with whether or not the culture drives the expectation, or vice versa, but in YA at least the reason buys often jump to adult books is because they aren't finding what they're looking for elsewhere.david elzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com