cliterature

When I was going through high school the New Zealand government was really pushing a campaign where the slogan was “Girls can do Anything”.It was a good idea to try and open up the vocational opportunities for women, and get girls to think about the issue when they were still at school deciding whether to pursue math and science subjects.

However the campaign quickly started producing some annoying side effects.  Because I scored well in chemistry, several teachers made a concerted effort to convince me to continue to to take chemistry.  But chemistry did not, for the most part, interest me–and other subjects did.  And while I was good at chemistry I was equally good at those other subjects.  The implicit message seemed to be that if, as a girl, I could excel in a traditionally male-dominated discipline I was under an obligation to pursue it. 

I get a similar feeling every time someone sees me reading a romance and expresses surprise.  Or they find I write romance and ask me why–as if, given that I am a reasonably bright professional women, an interest in genre romance is an almost inexplicable aberration.  Yes, I can and do read literature, scientific non-fiction, technical manuals and epic poetry and ancient Greek plays.  I also read westerns, thrillers, romance, fan fiction, comic books and erotica. 

 I don’t feel the need to justify my interest in romance.  Girls can do anything.  Girls can read anything.  Girls can write anything.  The operative word her is anything–including romance, stories with the goal of sheer gratuitous entertainment and various “chick” genres.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with chick stuff.  In fact, isn’t suggesting that an intelligent woman should not be interested in traditionally feminine genres and vocations actually reinforcing, rather than challenging, the deeply embedded-sexism that is still clinging to our culture?

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