Hilary Rappaport, a Massachusetts teacher of drama and reading in afterschool programs, adds her voice to the discussion of boy books and girl books. In “On the Rights of Reading and Girls and Boys” in the May/June issue of “Horn Book,” she decries the idea of separate gender reading lists. She has never had the experience of a boy or girl telling her they disliked a book because it was “for girls” or “for boys.” She believes that a good book would appeal to any child regardless of the fact that the characters were male or female.
Do children consider the fact that Charlotte, a girl, is a true friend to Wilbur, a boy. Are there gender issues with the two girls and two boys who enter the wardrobe to Narnia, or with Harry, Ron, or Hermione? She admits that her experiences as a mother with two sons who loved “The Secret Garden,” “The Little Princess,” “Heidi,” and the “Little House” books may place her in the minority. She, however, doesn’t think so.
All children lose when we limit their reading experiences. Girls she believes have greatly profited from the advances of feminism. A wider range of themes and characters are acceptable to them. Boys are “still sadly influenced by that I assume in homophobia and a intolerance of effeminacy.” No one would think twice about a girl reading Sherlock Holmes, or Robert Louis Stevenson. But a boy reading Alcott, or Bronte, or Austen might have problems with his image. In the end, she concludes lets stop dividing books into pink and blue pages. Everyone should have the right to read what they love.