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Gender swapping heroes in literature


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Out of curiosity, do you think the reverse is true, as well? That books with strong female characters send a message that men are less important to society? (I realize the difference between the "sum total" of literature* vs. 6-8 books in stack.)

It isn't the fact that strong male central characters exist that is an issue. The issue is the numbers. So, who could the reverse be true when the reverse doesn't even exist?

 

 

I sometimes don't "get" the gender wars, really; I hope my tone comes across as curious, chatty, inquiring how others think vs. crabby. I do think there are many venues in which women are not treated equally with men, but - The Very Hungry Caterpillar just doesn't strike me as a cause for all that woe.

In isolation, no. But, when taken as part of a large sample, then I can see the problem. I don't really see why anyone would care if someone else changed the gender in some stories while reading to their kids. It doesn't make sense to me that it would upset people. People being upset over the fact that books about girls are a minority is understandable.

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I've never personally seen a shortage in books with strong, likable female characters.

Your perspective isn't consistent with the actual data. It illustrates why data is an important tool with knowledge. Going by subjective perception only gives us a skewed interpretation of reality.

 

Anne of Green Gables

Heidi

A Little Princess

The Secret Garden (not so likable in the beginning, but by the end)

The Little House series (Laura works at a job she hates to send Mary to college)

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Eyre

Alice in Wonderland

Swallows and Amazons (Nancy is an even stronger character than John)

Narnia - Lucy is the one who's right about the whole thing in the first place! She's closest with Aslan. And all of the books have a female heroine who at least ends up good in the end.

Little Women

Nevertheless, if you were to list all the stories with strong female characters in the last century, it would still be 1/3 the size of the list of stories with strong male characters.

 

I could go on and on. So why mess with famous literature?

Because it's fun. Because a child requests a fun, likable character with which to relate, because imagination is good for developing critical thinking skills.

 

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I just think it's weird and creates too many potential problems later. I have really fond memories of books and those memories really help me bond with other people because of our common interest. If someone is going to turn Bilbo Baggins into a girl, then that makes it harder for child (once older) to relate to others over the book because their perceptions will be very different.

What potential problems do you see?

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Ok, I won't lie, sometimes now I make up stories in my head, too, to fall asleep at night.  I'll insert a new character into a show I'm currently watching or a book, and it knocks me out in minutes.   :D :lol:

 

 

 

 

I do this too! It is my regular bedtime habit.

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I still think it's just way too weird and strange. Strikes much too close for comfort for me to all the weird gender things going on these days.

 

Arguably, "weird gender things" have always gone on, even when we were kids, even when our parents were kids. The difference was that many people in our culture faced aggressive, sometimes violent repercussions for not keeping it hidden.

 

 

Because that's the way things are??   :huh:

 

They don't have to be. We can take the time to identify injustice, search for the roots of this injustice, and work towards an environment of inclusion and respect. It's a compassionate thing to do, in the opinion of many, and by examining how literature affects and/or reveals cultural elements in society we can be more aware of injustice and the opportunities to remedy that.

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We're talking about The Hobbit. It takes place in a fantasy world. There is no historical context from the POV of a small child listening to it as an adventure story.

 

Thank you!!  I see people defend some really questionable things in fantasy novels and claim that xyz happened in history, so that's why it's in the book.  Um, no.  Historical fiction or Nonfiction?  Maybe or for sure.  Fantasy?  Entirely different thing.

 

My oldest recently read a book and didn't realize the character was a boy until the book was almost to the end.  She laughs about it.  For some reason she just didn't notice and you know what?  She's fine with it.  A lot of what you take in from books is in your own head and the way you personally interpret it.  You want to read The Hobbit with Bilbo as a girl?  Who cares?  I doubt you'll be ruining your children that way.  I've made lots of mistakes in interpreting books as a kid vs. adult and I doubt it's caused any damage to me.

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It would never have even occurred to me to switch the gender of a literary character. Honestly, I would have simply chosen a different book.

 

If your kid had asked you to switch the gender, then you would have (refused and) chosen a different book? Or as a child you would have requested a different book that was about a girl instead?
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It would never have even occurred to me to switch the gender of a literary character. Honestly, I would have simply chosen a different book.

 

I don't care if other people do it, though. :)

 

this is about my take on it.

 

I asked my daughter what she thought of it and she said she would have been angry if I'd changed the gender of a character.   She also didn't feel there was any lack of strong female characters in literature, or that it seemed as if women were made to seem less important.

 

ETA:  Especially Gandalf!  ;)

 

 

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I can't imagine Bilbo as a girl because I have known Bilbo for decades and he is most definitely male, BUT Middle Earth as it exists in my mind does have an extra female character out wandering around and having grand adventures: I inserted myself into the story long ago. Gandalf and Bilbo and Frodo and Aragorn and the rest of the crew have all met me and are not in the least bothered that I am a girl. Actually, I think the scarcity of female characters in many adventure stories actually makes it easier for me to join the adventure since there is a clear void to be filled :D

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I can't imagine Bilbo as a girl because I have known Bilbo for decades and he is most definitely male, BUT Middle Earth as it exists in my mind does have an extra female character out wandering around and having grand adventures: I inserted myself into the story long ago. Gandalf and Bilbo and Frodo and Aragorn and the rest of the crew have all met me and are not in the least bothered that I am a girl. Actually, I think the scarcity of female characters in many adventure stories actually makes it easier for me to join the adventure since there is a clear void to be filled :D

 

I am so glad I am not the only one who does this. I have so many lives in many different universes, from fighting on a superdreadnought under Honor Harrington to riding a talking horse in Narnia to fighting Thread in Pern to ... yeah.

 

Except Game of Thrones. I'm happy in my world, thanks.

 

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Right. That was my initial point. She gets interested in nylons, lipstick and invitations (sexual awakening) and therefore falls from grace and cannot return. It is a problematic situation for girls.

So we're seriously supposed to believe that by the time of the Last Battle (directly before which not even Lucy could go to Narnia under normal circumstances because she was too old) neither Peter, Edmund, or Lucy experienced sexual awakening? Not even PETER? Who was OLDER than Susan??? Surely plenty of time had passed for Lucy to grow enough to reach that point too. (It had been YEARS in our world time since E&L's last trip to Narnia).

 

Mmmhmm. Yeah. Right. Got it. 

 

 

Why must everything be turned into a sex issue?  :glare:

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When I was young (esp. in my tween years) I used to "write" myself into stories. (Including LOTR) many of the stories I loved could not be played out unless I took on a male part. So, I would create a character to insert into the story that way I could play out the narrative without pretending to be a boy.

 

 

I absolutely love and cherish my multiple readings of the Hobbit and LOTR as a child.

 

It was not varnished by my imaginative alterations.

 

And I had no trouble keeping my story and the piece of Lit. separate in my mind.

I did something similar too. But it went on past childhood and stopped when I was pregnant with my first kid. Twenty-eight is probably way to old to be dreaming oneself into books. *blush* But once I was pregnant I couldn't do it anymore because I couldn't separate the pregnant me from my dreams and there are no realistic pregnant women in books. Maybe THAT'S what we need more of, pregnant heroines! ;)

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I did something similar too. But it went on past childhood and stopped when I was pregnant with my first kid. Twenty-eight is probably way to old to be dreaming oneself into books. *blush* But once I was pregnant I couldn't do it anymore because I couldn't separate the pregnant me from my dreams and there are no realistic pregnant women in books. Maybe THAT'S what we need more of, pregnant heroines! ;)

I still imagine myself into books, even my pregnant self. I have a whole after-story to LOTR where I am in fact married with children. It does have to come after the part in the books because I wrote myself into that part as an adolescent and I just can't put two of myself in the same place :D

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I still imagine myself into books, even my pregnant self. I have a whole after-story to LOTR where I am in fact married with children. It does have to come after the part in the books because I wrote myself into that part as an adolescent and I just can't put two of myself in the same place :D

Omg you totally get it! I didn't think anyone else did this!

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So we're seriously supposed to believe that by the time of the Last Battle (directly before which not even Lucy could go to Narnia under normal circumstances because she was too old) neither Peter, Edmund, or Lucy experienced sexual awakening? Not even PETER? Who was OLDER than Susan??? Surely plenty of time had passed for Lucy to grow enough to reach that point too. (It had been YEARS in our world time since E&L's last trip to Narnia).

 

Mmmhmm. Yeah. Right. Got it.

 

 

Why must everything be turned into a sex issue? :glare:

You must not have read much Lewis, if you can't recognize that his works deal with male and female adulthood/sexuality very differently. But, if you are going to get mad and huffy about an intellectual discussion, it pretty much shuts it down. If you aren't interested in the discussion, you can stay out of it. If you are interested, then you might read some of the links I provided or discuss the content of my posts instead of glaring at me and being sarcastic. I have three teenagers at home, so the latter is pretty yawn-inducing.
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You must not have read much Lewis, if you can't recognize that his works deal with male and female adulthood/sexuality very differently. But, if you are going to get mad and huffy about an intellectual discussion, it pretty much shuts it down. If you aren't interested in the discussion, you can stay out of it. If you are interested, then you might read some of the links I provided or discuss the content of my posts instead of glaring at me and being sarcastic. I have three teenagers at home, so the latter is pretty yawn-inducing.

Sorry; I'm genuinely not mad. I just strongly disagree. 

 

I didn't intend the glare for you personally. I know that many share your POV. I just sometimes feel like sex gets dragged into every. thing. That's what was frustrating me.

 

It was ungracious of me to come down on you for that, though, and I apologize. 

 

I do find the discussion interesting. I feel that maybe a little to much reading into the passage about the lipstick & nylons might be at play, though: what Eustace says seems to me to support the other side:

 

"Yes,' said Eustace, 'and whenever you've tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says, "What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.'"

 

I also feel that the unbelief theory fits very well into the allegory of Christianity.

 

I regret, though, that I am leaving on vacation tomorrow and won't be here to talk. I do look forward to pondering these questions while I'm gone, though, and perhaps we could discuss later if the thread is still relevant when I come back. 

 

Again, please accept my sincere apologies for jumping all over you and getting huffy. 

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Sorry; I'm genuinely not mad. I just strongly disagree.

 

I didn't intend the glare for you personally. I know that many share your POV. I just sometimes feel like sex gets dragged into every. thing. That's what was frustrating me.

 

It was ungracious of me to come down on you for that, though, and I apologize.

 

I do find the discussion interesting. I feel that maybe a little to much reading into the passage about the lipstick & nylons might be at play, though: what Eustace says seems to me to support the other side:

 

"Yes,' said Eustace, 'and whenever you've tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says, "What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.'"

 

I also feel that the unbelief theory fits very well into the allegory of Christianity.

 

I regret, though, that I am leaving on vacation tomorrow and won't be here to talk. I do look forward to pondering these questions while I'm gone, though, and perhaps we could discuss later if the thread is still relevant when I come back.

 

Again, please accept my sincere apologies for jumping all over you and getting huffy.

That is very gracious of you. :)

 

I feel like the Eustace comment comes after Susan has been rejected by Narnia first for being interested in claiming her womanhood.

 

I don't really even understand how anyone can reject the idea that Lewis's ideas of how a woman should handle her sexuality is part of the issue here. Childhood=innocence, adulthood=sexuality comes into play. It seems like a very natural connection to me.

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That is very gracious of you. :)

 

I feel like the Eustace comment comes after Susan has been rejected by Narnia first for being interested in claiming her womanhood.

 

I don't really even understand how anyone can reject the idea that Lewis's ideas of how a woman should handle her sexuality is part of the issue here. Childhood=innocence, adulthood=sexuality comes into play. It seems like a very natural connection to me.

How would you say Lucy fits into the equation though? She doesn't get shut out in the Last Battle. Genuinely wondering, not snarky. 

 

Was she just too much of a tomboy?

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How would you say Lucy fits into the equation though? She doesn't get shut out in the Last Battle. Genuinely wondering, not snarky.

 

Was she just too much of a tomboy?

She was the "right" kind of girl for Lewis, a tomboy, uninterested in the trappings of adult femininity.

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I just think it's weird and creates too many potential problems later. I have really fond memories of books and those memories really help me bond with other people because of our common interest. If someone is going to turn Bilbo Baggins into a girl, then that makes it harder for child (once older) to relate to others over the book because their perceptions will be very different. 

 

To know that I intentionally made-believe that a book was different in such a major way? I would be bothered by that. 

 

If daughter was too young to appreciate a story like the Hobbit without a female lead, I'd just wait a couple years and try again and find a different book to read in the meantime. I don't see the need to indulge a strange wish like that. 

 

I guess I just don't believe in messing with/denying reality. Bilbo Baggins isn't a girl. End of story in my book (no pun intended).

 

You know what I think is weird? Equating Bilbo Baggins with reality, period.

 

It's hardly a strange or dangerous phenomenon to reimagine made-up stories. I used to write made up stories based on Walter Farley's The Black Stallion series when I was in 5th grade. I generally liked Alex Ramsey, the main character, but sometimes, the fact that Henry (the trainer) made comments about girls not being suitable jockeys, I got pretty upset with that.  And Alex became Alexis in my imaginary retellings of the stories and adventures in my head.  I was a bit pacified when The Black Stallion and the Girl rectified a bit of that--but then, she got tragically killed in an accident in the Alps.  After serving as Alex's romantic interest. :glare:

 

So, I think it's all part of owning the stories that I read, and integrating them into my own fantastical world, when I wanted to put aside real life for a change, and suspend belief.  But then, I don't hold fiction as something reverent, or somehow incontrovertible.  It's by definition, not reality.  And giving it the same weight as if it was, is just bizarre to me.

 

I say, kudos to the girl for genderbending Bilbo, LOL.  :thumbup:   She's exercising her imagination and her capacity for "What if..."

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That is very gracious of you. :)

 

I feel like the Eustace comment comes after Susan has been rejected by Narnia first for being interested in claiming her womanhood.

 

I don't really even understand how anyone can reject the idea that Lewis's ideas of how a woman should handle her sexuality is part of the issue here. Childhood=innocence, adulthood=sexuality comes into play. It seems like a very natural connection to me.

I disagree with this, because Susan first grew to full womanhood IN Narnia, complete with explorations of love and potential marriage. To me, Susan's later rejection of Narnia is about embracing worldliness and rejecting faith.

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I'm curious: is a preponderance of male characters related to a preponderance of male writers? Male writers sometimes do write in female protagonists, and vice versa, but I am thinking that the male authors I read have more male protagonists and the female authors more female protagonists.

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I find this discussion fascinating. It never would have occurred to me to change the gender of Bilbo as a child, because I had no problem becoming him in my imagination. In fact, when I played Dungeons and Dragons as a teen, I was a male hobbit. I've never thought about that before. I find it equally easy to immerse myself in a main character who is male or female,but only if the story is not a romance. Maybe that is why I tend to stay away from most romances.

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I get it. Prior to having kids, I played a lot of RPGs. The game/story never seemed as important to me if the character was male. To really become involved in the world, I needed to become a female character.

 

On a related note, so many men and boys in books are just bumbling idiots, or one dimensional. While women and girls tend to be smart, imaginative, and not necessarily bound by gender roles. Is there any research into this?

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I find this discussion fascinating. It never would have occurred to me to change the gender of Bilbo as a child, because I had no problem becoming him in my imagination. In fact, when I played Dungeons and Dragons as a teen, I was a male hobbit. I've never thought about that before. I find it equally easy to immerse myself in a main character who is male or female,but only if the story is not a romance. Maybe that is why I tend to stay away from most romances.

I have no trouble identifying with male characters either, though when I invent my own stories or put myself into a story as an extra character I don't typically turn myself into a male. In a game I could imagine taking on a male character but I never played D&D, the imagination type games we played I think I was usually female; I never saw that as limiting what I could do and most of my roles followed more typically male patterns.

 

I've never been much interested in romances :)

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I would be curious to see a study of children's books between 2000 and the present to see how things are different.  One of the things I've heard people buzz about at SCBWI conferences that I've attended is the difficulty in getting boy books considered at all these days.  This is not to say that there aren't many and that "boy books" or books with boys as the central characters aren't still big sellers, but the impression that writers have is that publishers have a lower bar for looking at books with girls as the central characters because there is a belief that girls read more.

 

But it would also be interesting to further break down and see some analysis about the popularity of various titles.  It seems to me that many of the "girl" titles of the past have had more lasting popularity than many of the boy titles.  People still read Wizard of Oz and Little Women and so forth in great numbers while many troves of boy books of the past are forgotten (and others are remembered, but I do wonder about the breakdown there).  Conversely, my guess would be that there are more books being published with female heroines than male these days...  but Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Greg Heffley, Hiccup Horrendous, etc. may be selling more books overall.

 

Also, it would be interesting to contrast the state of picture books versus chapter books, MG, and YA.  My impression is that there are still a lot more boy characters in picture books than girls.  And I wonder how the fact that picture books are read aloud, not read independently for the most part, plays into that, especially in current publishing trends.

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I still think it's just way too weird and strange. Strikes much too close for comfort for me to all the weird gender things going on these days. 

 

 

Because that's the way things are??   :huh:

 

What kind of weird gender things do we have going on today?  I must have missed something because I haven't seen anything today that didn't exist in the past.  Although I will say with the internet it's a lot easier to find.

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My DD does this on her own.  She decided that Harry Potter should be a girl.  It'll be interesting when she gets to the later books.  I'll have to ask how she handles Harry's relationship with Ginny.  

 

For non-fiction or biographies I might find this a little challenging.  But they are based in reality.  For most kids books I don't see why it would cause problems.  I do think it's important to see yourself in the world around you.

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I would be curious to see a study of children's books between 2000 and the present to see how things are different. One of the things I've heard people buzz about at SCBWI conferences that I've attended is the difficulty in getting boy books considered at all these days. This is not to say that there aren't many and that "boy books" or books with boys as the central characters aren't still big sellers, but the impression that writers have is that publishers have a lower bar for looking at books with girls as the central characters because there is a belief that girls read more.

 

But it would also be interesting to further break down and see some analysis about the popularity of various titles. It seems to me that many of the "girl" titles of the past have had more lasting popularity than many of the boy titles. People still read Wizard of Oz and Little Women and so forth in great numbers while many troves of boy books of the past are forgotten (and others are remembered, but I do wonder about the breakdown there). Conversely, my guess would be that there are more books being published with female heroines than male these days... but Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Greg Heffley, Hiccup Horrendous, etc. may be selling more books overall.

 

Also, it would be interesting to contrast the state of picture books versus chapter books, MG, and YA. My impression is that there are still a lot more boy characters in picture books than girls. And I wonder how the fact that picture books are read aloud, not read independently for the most part, plays into that, especially in current publishing trends.

Yes! I would love to see a comparative study of children's lit that was published from 2000-2010.

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If my dd insisted a character in a book was a different gender, I'd discuss with her why she thought that.  If my dd asked me to change the character's gender, I wouldn't do it or I'd find a different book that suited her better.  After reading the book, she'd be free to play around with the story any way she wanted but while reading it--the first time--I'd want her to read it the way the author wrote it. I guess I'm weird like that.  If Tolkien wanted Bilbo to be a girl, he would have written it like that.  It feels wrong to change the story--the first time anyway.  I'm one of those goofy people who get attached to characters as actual people.  It would be unsettling to me to change their gender.  It's not like changing their hair color.

 

One of my oldest boy's favorite books in the younger school years (he never read for pleasure) was Understood Betsy.  My girls have never had problems relating to books where the main character was a boy.

 

As far as comparing the number of books that have boy v. girl central characters, it kind of made me laugh a little.  Who reads all the books out there?  You can pick and choose what you or your children read, so if you really want your dds reading only books with female central characters there is still plenty to choose from.  Skew your kids' reading the way you want.  Make it 90% female leads and only 10% male leads if you want.

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If my dd insisted a character in a book was a different gender, I'd discuss with her why she thought that. If my dd asked me to change the character's gender, I wouldn't do it or I'd find a different book that suited her better. After reading the book, she'd be free to play around with the story any way she wanted but while reading it--the first time--I'd want her to read it the way the author wrote it. I guess I'm weird like that. If Tolkien wanted Bilbo to be a girl, he would have written it like that. It feels wrong to change the story--the first time anyway. I'm one of those goofy people who get attached to characters as actual people. It would be unsettling to me to change their gender. It's not like changing their hair color.

The story remains absolutely the same. Only He is now She. Not sure why that is such a big deal.

 

One of my oldest boy's favorite books in the younger school years (he never read for pleasure) was Understood Betsy. My girls have never had problems relating to books where the main character was a boy.

 

As far as comparing the number of books that have boy v. girl central characters, it kind of made me laugh a little. Who reads all the books out there? You can pick and choose what you or your children read, so if you really want your dds reading only books with female central characters there is still plenty to choose from. Skew your kids' reading the way you want. Make it 90% female leads and only 10% male leads if you want.

Except that overall, there are less books overall to try to do a 90% female lead.
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I think it would be odd if my kid insisted that Bilbo be a girl. I don't know why it would be necessary to her enjoyment of the story. Why not toss the whole book out the window and read fan fiction if it's no big deal to change the characters and storylines the author wrote as you're reading?

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I don't get why one would toss a good story, much less a work of literature, simply because their child wants the protagonist to be a he instead of she (or vice versa).

But if it's such a great work of literature, shouldn't it be read as-is, so it can be appreciated as the author originally intended? Why the need to change the sex of the main character?

 

As I posted earlier, I don't really care what anyone does, but if it's a good story or a work of literature, I'm not sure why the story wouldn't interest the child without having to change a main character. I don't think it's a big deal to read a story from a male character's POV instead of insisting on a female perspective.

 

I'm OK with people doing it, but I have to admit that I think it's a bit silly.

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I think it would be odd if my kid insisted that Bilbo be a girl. I don't know why it would be necessary to her enjoyment of the story. Why not toss the whole book out the window and read fan fiction if it's no big deal to change the characters and storylines the author wrote as you're reading?

That's what I was thinking, too.

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Ds sometimes asks me to change the characters to penguins. Sigh. Takes quite a lot of editing on the fly.

 

He listened to one chapter of The Hobbit, remarked that Tolkien was awfully fond of long, descriptive sentences and requested we choose something livelier. So I've never had to turn Bilbo into a penguin.

I'm sure Bilbo very much appreciates that. :D

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Authors lose ownership of the text as soon as they give it to a single reader. I honestly don't think the writer would be fussed over changes the reader makes. Bemused, perhaps, as in the case of the penguins, but resigned.

 

Texts are dynamic, not static.

The bolded. In addition, the child in question was age five. If this makes the story more accessible to her, why not?

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The fact that it's harder for girls to find books with girls in them, especially at the very young ages with animal characters, clearly sends a message that girls aren't as important or as interesting as boys. To me the link is so clear that I have trouble why other don't see it as a big deal. I think it's a very big deal.

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I believe I got shot down earlier on the point that an authors original intent has little bearing on how today's modern children don't feel married to the author's intent.

 

I see it being less of a problem to swap a gender with a plot driven story. If we take an adventure plot, for example, it's fairly easy to swap out Indiana Jones for a Lara Croft character. There is little to no character development to contend with.

But when you get into a coming of age plot, or a quest plot, you do have a lot of character development going on as part of the plot. Changing the sex of a character is almost like changing the setting that character has to develop in. It's not like changing the color of the hair, or just swapping a pronoun. Not saying it couldn't be interesting, and lead to some novel developments; but the story has essentially changed. 

It's a little like fracturing a fairy tale. It's fun, and in the right hands it can be quite comical, and sometimes better than the original. But it's not the same story. 

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Authors lose ownership of the text as soon as they give it to a single reader. I honestly don't think the writer would be fussed over changes the reader makes. Bemused, perhaps, as in the case of the penguins, but resigned.

 

Texts are dynamic, not static.

I think what a few of us are saying is that if something is regarded as a classic work of literature, we should encourage our children to read it as written.

 

I do think it's cool when kids go off on rabbit trails and project themselves into the stories, but I don't think it's necessary to actually change the sex of a main character for them to do that.

 

I'm also not so sure it's a great idea when kids won't read a book unless the main character is the same sex they are. If they're really interested in the story line, the sex of the character shouldn't be a big deal.

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The fact that it's harder for girls to find books with girls in them, especially at the very young ages with animal characters, clearly sends a message that girls aren't as important or as interesting as boys. To me the link is so clear that I have trouble why other don't see it as a big deal. I think it's a very big deal.

What I find interesting is that I'm a lot older than many of the members of this forum, and even when I was growing up, I never had trouble finding stories with girl characters, and it never once occurred to me that girls weren't as important or as interesting as boys.

 

I think the only way kids get that impression is when adults make a big deal out of things like there not being enough female characters in stories and books. I don't think most kids would ever even notice it.

 

I think people are making this into a far bigger issue than it really is.

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