so I just read a post at this blog theartofmanliness.com (ok, I have been reading a lot of blogs about mens style lately - it just intrigues me - so thats how i found this blog) about the top 100 books a man should read. Here is a link to the article: http://artofmanliness.com/2008/05/14/100-must-read-books-the-essential-mans-library/
I think it was a really interesting read. And it got me thinking, if there was a list of the top 100 books a WOMAN should read, would it be much different from the list a man should read? What books do you think would be in the top 100 books list for women that wouldn't be in the list for men? And perhaps vice versa.
My votes are for (big surprise here):
Anne of Green Gables
Little House on the Prairie
Little Women
Those three books are just great classics that deal more with growing up a girl and have great examples of strong women who are really great, relatable role models for young girls.
I feel like there would be more Hemingway on the guys list than the womans list, just because Hem is so masculine. Really though, for the same reason thats why I think women should read Hemingway - to get a man's point of view on the world.
What do you all think?
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Something to Talk About: Books and Gender Bias
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6 comments:
I think most of the books on that list are just really famous and classic books. Also I thought it was interesting that there seemed to be a bit of a pattern emerging as i went form title to title. Thet were all either about power, angst, or the future. Or they were like The Odyssey or something. Isn't it interesting to think that most of our most revered literature was written about and for men? And most of it deals with those themes. And we are forced to read their literature in schools. I think if this list wants to claim that there books will educate men to be the best they can be then they should include more female authors. Then they will learn the female perspective.
I second Little Women, amy, but i don't know about the other two. Granted I've only ever read Little House. What about Jane Eyre or anything by Mary Wollstonecraft.
At least there was an Ayn rand novel on there.
Really good points. I think that we really SHOULD make a womans list now. It really is interesting how most famous literature is considered - mens - literature. what is womens literature? what would the themes of womens literature be I wonder if the themes of mens literature are power, angst, or the future?
I really want to think about this.
I also though of two more books that should be on the womens list - The Awakening by Kate Chopin, and The Romance of a Shop by Amy Levy.
Also, I second your call for Jane Eyre. Oooh, Jane Austen would also obviously be on the list. This is getting really good.
I call to order a month next year in which we read quote unquote, womens books.
And as to Anne of green gables and little house on the prarie, maybe i will accept that little house on the prarie shouldnt be on the list, but i think anne of green gables definitly should. and not just because im obsessed with it. :)
Hey -
What a good list of books! There's a lot of stuff on there that I want to add to my own list of things to read eventually lol. I think that it is definitely a male list because they dont neglect to include plenty of nonfiction works. I wonder: what nonfiction would make it onto a women's list?
And I also think that there should be more books on the list by women since men ought to know both sides of literature though I can see why it is excluded since this is a list for 'manliness' and not 'the high-brow man' instead. But if there were, I would totally put Anne on their list. Shes a really interesting female character and mixes it up a bit.
Hmmm, I wonder if non fiction would be featured on the women's list that much at all. Or is that more of a "masculine" type of book? Something else to think about.
I think non fiction could play a large part on the womens list, though not as large of a part as it would on a man's list. I think some good biographies of women should be on there... Maybe some Jackie O. bio or something... I dont know. Very interesting to think about.
What genres would there be more of on the woman list than on the man list?
I think that if we looked at women's literature (as well as women's films) the common themes would be sacrifice, competition between women, and the struggle between family and career. The Wollstonecraft I mentioned would be non fiction actually. She was an essayist on human rights. Have I read The Romance of a Shop? Was that the one with the sisters who open the photograhy studio? If so, that was really good. And I think it would be excellent since it shows the competency of women and a woman's struggle to make her own place in the world. I second the women's lit month. I think its important to read books with a perspective that we can hopefully really relate to and thats still considered literary (too bad for romance novels though they may be modern societies Austen, who knows?).
The Romance of a Shop was the one with the sisters and the photography store.
I think that another common womens themes would be Self-discovery. I'm thinking about the awakening particularly with this one, but i know it's a very common theme. Self-discovery might not be the best moniker to assign it though. Maybe it's more like... self-awareness.... not really just coming-of-age, but something along those lines.
I think that womens themes are just a lot more inward where as men's themes are more outwards. we're us vs. ourselves and men ore them vs. the world.
and that romance novelists being the modern age's austen could be a whole other post. i think that could be a really good debate because I know I can definitly see both sides.
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