Why Boys Should Read Books With Female Protagonists
When I first began homeschooling my daughter I knew I was going to need to make a strong effort to expose her to great women in history, art, and science. In a quick look through almost every history curriculum, I realized that there was a noticeable lack of diversity, for all groups of people, including women.
According to a study conducted by academics from Princeton and Emory University in 2021, gender bias in children’s literature had declined significantly over the last 60 years. However, boys are disproportionately more represented as the main character in literature. Boys over represent girls at a rate of 1.2 male to every female character. Furthermore, non-fiction books are more likely to feature men over women. (source)
What does this mean for our boys? Quite frankly, they are less likely to happen upon reading books with female protagonists when choosing their own books. This is something that I’ve noticed in our homeschool curriculum as well. While Ambleside online does include some books with female protagonists, most of those choices are “free reads” and not required reading through the curriculum. Which means, boys can opt out of books like The Secret Garden, Little Women, The Borrowers, and A Little Princess.
The nature of a classical education is often getting older books, typically written by and featuring a white man as the central character. Even if women are mentioned in non-fiction text, they are secondary thoughts, not a focal point. If parents allow their boys to opt out of books with female protagonists, or don’t make an effort to include women in the history, they end up with a half education and missing pieces.
So why should boys read books that are more “girly”? There are many reasons.
A living education holds respect for and includes all types of people: This includes women. Boys should read books with female characters as the focal point because it is essential to having a living education.
It helps break gender stereotypes: While some books may include gender stereotypes (for both boys and girls) a story can also help break these ideas. Have you read A Computer Called Katherine by Suzanne Slade? It tells the story of the brilliant mathmatition, Katherine Johnson and how her work was essential to the Apollo space mission. This story helps combat the notion that girls are bad at math. What about the book Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr. It tells that girls are strong and adventurous.
Reading books with female main characters helps provide insight into female experiences: Amber O’Neal Johnston says that books should be windows and mirrors. A way to grow in compassion towards others is through literature. By having boys read books with female protagonists, they can grow in compassion and empathy for things that girls experience.
There really is no such thing as a girl book: There is almost always something to relate to in a book, whether you see yourself in the main character or not. Most of the time, books written with a female protagonist isn’t specifically a girl book.
Girls are born persons (or image bearers): If we believe that children (and people) are born persons, or that they are image bearers, we would make it a priority to include our boys in books that feature brave, strong, and smart girls. We would also hold the expectation that our boys can not omit a book because the character’s gender is not relatable. After all, we’re all persons.
So what should we do with all this? When choosing books for your sons this year in your homeschool, be sure to include books that they may think are more “girly”. These works of literature will only enhance their education and grow them in compassion for others.
