When I was in the book store yesterday I was looking for the new paperback Harry Potter book for Hope. As I looked around the new books for youth, I saw the book above and could not help but pick it up. It looked too provocative to be next to Out of the Dust, Kira-Kira and Island of the Blue Dolphins. So, I looked it over and here is what it said on the back:
"Every girl dreams about it. Some just have it. How far will one girl go to become...The It Girl
Popular GOSSIP GIRL character Jenny Humphrey is making a splash at Waverly Academy, an elite boarding school in New York horse country where glamorous rich kids don't let the rules get in the way of an excellent time. It's less than a week into school, but Jenny's already been caught with her roommate's boyfriend (in bed!), flashed the whole school at a field hockey game, and gone up against the Disciplinary Committee. She's become notorious, just like Tinsley Carmichael, Waverly's former-it girl, who was expelled last year and is rumored to be jet-setting around the world. So what happens when Tinsley arrives back on campus and moves in with Jenny? After all, there can only be one It Girl..."
I am not prudish, but having a daughter who will turn 13 in two weeks made me wonder about the type of books Hope, and the other girls around her are reading. Hope reads nothing if it does not involve Harry Potter, wizards or animals, but I know a lot of girls her age read things like this and it really influences their way of thinking. The girl on the cover of this book is so thin and blond. We have all seen the high-school girls, and 40 year old women for that matter, that do one reckless thing after the other to be the "It" girl. Who feel that they must be the center of attention. Books like this really encourage this type of competition between girls who will eventually be women. I guess teen books have always had the theme of "belonging", but in the past, they seemed to encourage difference. Being different was something to be proud of, at least by the end of the book. Not so anymore it seems. What do you think?
8 comments:
I don't even know where to begin on this topic. As liberal and open about things as I believe I am, it does bother me that young girls are fed these images. I am not so ignorant to think that they might not be exposed to them elsewhere in life, but to hand a confused, developing girl a copy of a book written for her age group that promotes these stereotypes gets under my skin. The image of a woman being thin, fully beautified and often unrealistic has permeated its way fully into the image of young girls - not simply their dreams or imagination- but their reality. Having books that promote these ideals so readily available, young girls are becoming these characters. I saw a girl no more than 14 years old walking down the street in what I can only assume to be shorts (possibly denim underwear?)and what is disturbing is no that she was wearing them - I am aware that many girls rebel - but that just after I saw another large group of Girl Scouts no less wearing skirts and shorts of the same length. So, here we are, publishing these books, manufacturing these clothes, promoting these images, and arresting the older boys who are sexualizing our young girls.
I'm done now.
It seems like books for young girls have gotten really racy. I remember the raciest we got was Judy Blume's Forever or Tiger Eyes.
I think you should write your positive teen book for young women. You've been talking about it for a while now.
I think that girl on the cover looks strange.
I agree with Brandi-- our culture sexualizes young girls way too much while at the same time decrying the fact that they are increasingly becomming prey for creepy old men and perverts. People don't seem to see the connection there. I cringe when I see a little girl wearing clothes even a decent thirty year old would never wear and then I wonder where her parents are until I see her mother walking next to her wearing something even more inappropriate. I'm glad Hope only reads stuff with Harry Potter, wizards, and animals. She'll have a more positive self-image for it and only have to teach those girls around her that beauty isn't what's outside. By the way, have you read Rowling's article on the proliferation of skinny women in the media? Pretty awesome.
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