Men, Women and reading August 4, 2008
Posted by bluewendigo in Writing.Tags: Books, men, Reading, Twilight, Vampires, women, Writing
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So my friend Jenny has a blog called “Date Jenny” (datejenny.com) and I actually think you can date her, I’m not sure what the sign up process is, but if you are single, it’s worth checking out.
Anyway, on her blog recently there has been an interesting conversation about why we read, what we choose to read and people who read books and can’t put them down when they start to suck because they have trained themselves to believe that they must finish what they started. I do not subscribe to this point of view.
But I did start to wonder why I read the books I read and why women read the books they read.
Specifically mentioned was the “Twilight series” that is really popular right now. Every girl I know in the world is all giddy with excitement over this series.
For those of you who do not know, let me sum up! A girl in high school falls in love with a vampire in high school but they can’t be together (oh the angst!) because the vampire wants to eat her but he can’t because he loves her at the same time.
This is sappy, romantic utter female fare. Someone asked me if I would read it, knowing my liking of Sci Fi and Fantasy. I asked, “How many people does the vampire kill? Do they kill the vampire? What’s the body count?”
A similar thing happens when my wife brings home a chick flick. “Are there any explosions? What’s the body count? Are there any robot battles?” etc.
Why is it that men and women are so different? As far as I can tell, women are very socially oriented, they are all about relationships, so they like to read books about relationships and how people struggle with them.
Men are geared towards problem solving and like to read books about problems and the characters struggle to solve them. I’m sure it’s deeper than that, but I don’t know why.
I’ve even tried reading female authors and have had very little success in finding any that I like.
I might read Twilight, if the vampire was killed by a pack of werewolves and the girl decided to get revenge by going on a murderous rampage. Then I might pick it up.
Stay tuned, I may have some thoughts on how to improve Sense and Sensibility as well.
Jason
yeah, i know what you mean. i also think it’s emotional vs. physical. i can’t believe that Twilight is about such an old, worn-out theme. Sting wrote a great song about that in the 80s called “Moon Over Burbon Street.” There was an 80s movie called “Ladyhawk” that was also pretty similar. Then there’s the whole “Underworld” series, too. NOW you’re talking…Kate Beckinsale…
Yes, not original but Stephanie Meyers has definitely struck a chord with young women. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series is also un-original and we know how that one turned out.
But Kate Beckinsale kicking ass on werewolves, that’s a guy flick for sure!
These are all generalizations of course. Some women love a good action flick. I think women should actually be discouraged from reading/watching romance because romance in books/films is often far from real life. It just sets us up for disappointment. On the other hand, if you watch a good action movie where everyone dies, you know life is never like that, and you appreciate your current life situation all the more. Single people usually have to watch a lot of action movies to stay out of depression.
Awesome post. I like the Blade series too… Don’t understand the romantic vampire stuff. I hate my wife comparing me to a 17 year old blood sucker and coming out looking bad. That just sucks… really.
I will say this: Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight books knows her audience, knows romance, and writes to her strengths. Good lesson there.
Look, if you want original vampire romance, check out the movie Once Bitten with Jim Carrey in 1985. Now that’s quality entertainment.