I've been thinking some more about the literary role models out there for both boys and girls. And while I haven't come to any great list of awesome female role models, I have thought of one male role model that I don't love.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Speaking as a woman with a nine year old boy, these books are the bane of my existence. The main character is lazy and rude and overall pretty worthless - as is all the other characters of these books - and not someone I want my son emulating.
My main criticism is that the humor is not age appropriate for the kids that read them. Much of the humor is lost on my nine year old and the jokes he does get are not ones that I'm excited about him understanding. And while I'm all for authors taking a satirical view of childhood, I think this book would have worked better in the Sunday morning funnies.
Do you think a book like this can exist because we have different expectations for our boys? Does the age old saying, "Boys will be boys" trickle down into what we expect from male role models of the books they read? Are we more tolerant of bad male role models because we think our sons are smart enough not to look up to bad characters?
Are we being fair to our daughters?
Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Speaking as a woman with a nine year old boy, these books are the bane of my existence. The main character is lazy and rude and overall pretty worthless - as is all the other characters of these books - and not someone I want my son emulating.
My main criticism is that the humor is not age appropriate for the kids that read them. Much of the humor is lost on my nine year old and the jokes he does get are not ones that I'm excited about him understanding. And while I'm all for authors taking a satirical view of childhood, I think this book would have worked better in the Sunday morning funnies.
Do you think a book like this can exist because we have different expectations for our boys? Does the age old saying, "Boys will be boys" trickle down into what we expect from male role models of the books they read? Are we more tolerant of bad male role models because we think our sons are smart enough not to look up to bad characters?
Are we being fair to our daughters?
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