Am I in this book?

by

This project came out of my many years of defending girls who read Twilight and/or identify with its protagonist, Bella Swan.

  1. Teen girls are smart enough to understand the book about VAMPIRES is not a realistic reflection of reality.
  2. Teen girls grow up.
  3. I was assigned to read Romeo & Juliet and Wuthering Heights in school. These stories have the same “disturbing messages” as Twilight, they are just better written. 
From The Geena Davis Institute — on film/tv/visual media but the same principle applies to books.

It is AS if not MORE important for boys to read about girls. The election of 2016 is proof of this.

This is from a study conducted before I was in high school so it is very out of date, but as we’ll see, still relevant.

  • 3.5 of the protagonists are women.
  • 1 of 12 is non-white and she died in the Holocaust.
  • 2 of 12 of the authors are women; 1 non-white…and she died in the Holocaust.

These 9 (of 12) titles also showed up in my informal survey. 

  • 2.5 of the 9 protagonists are women.
  • 1 of the 9 are non-white
  • The author statistics are the same.

These additional titles showed up in my informal survey. 

  • If the protagonist’s race is unspecified I used the film adaptation. There the default is white even when it IS specified (Hunger Games).
  • Titles in the second slide show where author or protagonist is male and white, but other is not. Notably includes another Holocaust story
  • In the third slide both the author and the protagonist are neither male nor white. Note that Wrinkle in Time has been considered default white but film adaptation currently being made will feature a Black girl in the role.
  • White and male are the majority for both author and protagonist.

Common Core recommendations strive for diversity but that still means 50% white, 50% not white. They feature less than 50% female protagonists but 80% female authors.

She ended up with over 4000 books.

I chose to use Elizabeth Swann to illustrate this point as I think she is the best film representation for this quote. She is still white and rich.

This is an example of finding what is needed in the story that exists.

Representation does not mean “I exist in this story” — it means “this story is about me”.

Too many “diverse books” tell stories of struggle. Kids should read stories about these events and issues but not ONLY these events and issues. Anne Frank’s diary is not actually JUST about the Holocaust but it is taught as a book about the Holocaust, not a book about a girl. Simon in the Shadowhunters novels is a Jew in fantasy novel. His Jewish identity is important and even becomes a plot point, but it is not his defining feature. He has many aspects to his character and it is not a story about the Holocaust.

Note: This project did not go forward because all three of the advisors I met with felt that it was futile. They believed “everyone already knows this is a problem, and believed it is too big a problem to address without significant systemic change, so you won’t learn anything new”.