My Library

One of my best buds asked me recently to suggest some new reading material. She just finished a book, her first in a while, and felt like she’d been slacking on her reading lately. We have a lot of similar tastes in music, books, movies, life in general…so I thought, hell yes, I’d love to suggest a book or two. I came home and started looking over my bookshelves…what to suggest? What would catch her interests and really captivate her? What would she truly relate to?

Then it struck…I’d never noticed this in my book selections before, and I’m positive it’s not a result of conscious decision making, but I don’t have a single fiction book (that I’ve already read) besides Alice in Quantum Land (and I don’t think this really counts since SteveG made me read it) that is narrated from the point of view of a female character. Even those books written by female authors that are part of my collection are narrated from the male character’s perspective.

I’m not sure yet of the source of this phenomenon. I suppose it’s possible that it’s a result of my subconscious likes and dislikes when choosing reading material. It’s entirely possible that I choose books that fit into the categories that have been engrained in my mind as masculine and exciting by years of socialization. But, I think it’s also possible that it’s not only that these books appeal to me more on some level but that they are simply more prevalent. Books written from the female perspective seem (and I’m basing only on personal experience which is woefully limited) to be geared toward teens, seem to tell stories that appeal to teenage and twenty-something women. I’m sure I’m generalizing and that there are many, many novels from the female perspective that I’ve not been exposed to, but do they appeal to a male audience…can I relate without making a conscious effort to do so?

What do ya’ll think?