George Orwell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Shakespeare, Mark Haddon, John Steinbeck, Tim O'Brien, Mark Twain, Markus Zusak, Jonathan Safron Foer, Charles Dickens, Art Spiegelman, and William Golding (just to name a few). Now you might be wondering, what do all of these men have in common besides being old and white?? Well I'm glad you asked! Each and ever one of these TWELVE men have written a book, or two, that has been required by my English curriculum. In addition to these male authors I was only able to find FOUR female authors: Harper Lee, Julia Alvarez, Pearl S. Buck, and Toni Morrison. And out of all of these authors combined, male and female, only ONE African American.
Women are under-represented in many areas and occupations, literature being a major one, and most concerning for high-school students. According to Jessica Sheather-Neumann , "female students make up around half of the secondary student population. With the under-representation of female authors in high school literature, there is a real risk that the texts being studied by these young women (and men) will not reflect their own stories and experiences." Now hear me out, I am not "man hating" (a term feminists are often associated with, which is a false accusation about feminism) on these male authors, it just makes you wonder "where my girls at?" (Beyonce). Back in the times of William Shakespeare and Mark Twain women were not seen as educated or qualified enough to be writers, let alone authors. But imagine if they were. What impact would it have on our literature today? Would we have more well known female authors? Would societies behavior/viewpoint toward women be different? The answer is I don't know, and it's a real shame we will never be able to find out.
The dominance of men in certain aspects of life are often over looked or seen as non problematic because 'that's the way things have always been'.
To that I bite my thumb. Our society is often blinded by its fear of change, that it misses many opportunities to progress and become a stronger, more united nation. The integration of female authors into the high school English curriculum may seem like a minuet change, but in reality it is a giant step in the right direction. The proper balance between literature written by female and male writers in schools has the potential to inspire young writers to freely express their thoughts with no gender limitations. It is never to late for change! So why not now? 
How do you think the representation of female authors in the English
curriculum will effect students? Society? Gender equality?
Lets play a game! Try to match each author with its correct photo! Good luck, no cheating!!
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Hint: I looked up 'generic white guy' on google and put him in the mix!
I love how you brought to light the fact that we don't read enough literature written by women. I feel like if female writers' work was integrated into our schooling system, we'd be able to see way more different viewpoints and have better discussions (like Song of Solomon!!). I also like the creativity you included in the end. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI love the ending, it's so funny! I definitely agree that we need to read more female-written books; it would open our worldview. Great job!
ReplyDeleteOlivia! I loved how conversational yet informative your blog post is! I definitely think that more female writers should be incorporated into the English curriculum because the books that we currently use might be lacking in the female viewpoint. By doing this I feel that schools can provide students with a more balanced outlook on society! I also enjoyed the interactive game at the end!!
ReplyDeleteThis blog is great. I agree that there should be more female authors. I like how you incorporated lots of outside sources and the game as fun.
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I feel that exposing students to more works by women would definitely empower more female students, while also offering them something to relate to more strongly. We all need to see what females have to say in order to get a more balanced depiction of life. Love the game you incorporated, well done!
ReplyDeleteNice writing Liv! I am going to bring up some counterpoints just for fun and to make things interesting. These comments go in order of the points you made.
ReplyDelete1. Why does it matter if the authors are white or black, male or female? (Unless if your reason is to view the world from a different perspective. If that is the reason, then how can we view the world from every perspective? Everyone has a different one.)
2."Women are under represented in many areas, literature being a major one". Lets use Troy High as a case study. We have about 3 female english teachers for every 3 male ones. I acknowledge that they are not the authors of the books we read, but they most certainly have as much or more influence than the author.
3. "The dominance of men in certain aspects of life". I agree that women should be represented more in certain areas, but there will always be disparity in what men do and women do. I've never heard people complaining that more than 90% of nurses in America are women.
4. I agree its a shame that in the time periods the majority of our books were written in, women were largely oppressed and didn't even have an opportunity to write. That being said, the reason we read classics is because "they are timeless"(Simone), and most classics were written in this oppressive time period. If we were to integrate more female authors into the curriculum, then the novels would have to be much more contemporary, but sadly, as we all know, contemporary novels are a big no-no in english class.
5.If we are going to talk about balance between the two genders, then we shouldn't we consider every category, not only gender?
Also, I love the "to that I bite my thumb" Shakespeare reference.
I totally agree with the fact that we should incorporate more female authors' work into our educational system. We're truly missing a lot of great literature, and it would also make significant change in men's dominance in at least the educational aspect of life, even though it may seem like a small thing for others. Great post!
ReplyDeletePersonally, when we read books I don't think about if the author is black pr white or female or male. And the fact that you, and appearenly other people, do might mean youre focusing on the wrong things. Maybe you should focus if the writing is good or bad instead of if its good, but written by a male. If I'm inspired to do something its either by self motivation, or more usually by someone doing a great act. The person doesn't need to be the same gender as me to inspire me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you're right. We need equality in the professions. Less than 1% of trash collectors and septic tank installers are women, and ITS NOT FAIR. WE NEED EQUALITY!
ReplyDeleteHaha very insightful blog this week Liv! Loved the pictures, especially the "generic white guy." Keep it up!
ReplyDelete