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What Do Girls Want?
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From: SueMacy1 at aol.com <SueMacy1>
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 00:13:30 EST
As I mentioned the other day, some of the motivation behind my first two books was my attempt to find overlooked female heroes from the sports world--and that was influenced at least in part by my studying women's history and coming of age as a feminist in the 1970s. Yesterday, though, I was speaking to a 22-year-old who grew up playing about five sports with encouragement and support from those around her. She said she's turned off by the feminist agenda of the people of my generation who are fighting for equal opportunity and more coverage of women's sports. To her, sports just isn't political. It seems probably that a lot of younger girls feel that way, too.
So my question is, what does this mean regarding the types of sports books that girls growing up today will reach for? Are they at the point where, like boys, they want behind-the-scenes books about current stars, leagues, and events (such as the Olympics)? Is historical fiction the best way to introduce sports history to them, or will girls choose to read biographies of past female athletes or books like A Whole New Ball Game or Winning Ways to meet school assignments?
I know it's hard to generalize and there may be different answers for different age levels, but any insights would be appreciated.
Macy
Received on Fri 22 Jan 1999 11:13:30 PM CST
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 00:13:30 EST
As I mentioned the other day, some of the motivation behind my first two books was my attempt to find overlooked female heroes from the sports world--and that was influenced at least in part by my studying women's history and coming of age as a feminist in the 1970s. Yesterday, though, I was speaking to a 22-year-old who grew up playing about five sports with encouragement and support from those around her. She said she's turned off by the feminist agenda of the people of my generation who are fighting for equal opportunity and more coverage of women's sports. To her, sports just isn't political. It seems probably that a lot of younger girls feel that way, too.
So my question is, what does this mean regarding the types of sports books that girls growing up today will reach for? Are they at the point where, like boys, they want behind-the-scenes books about current stars, leagues, and events (such as the Olympics)? Is historical fiction the best way to introduce sports history to them, or will girls choose to read biographies of past female athletes or books like A Whole New Ball Game or Winning Ways to meet school assignments?
I know it's hard to generalize and there may be different answers for different age levels, but any insights would be appreciated.
Macy
Received on Fri 22 Jan 1999 11:13:30 PM CST
