Week 13 Prompt

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Week 13 Prompt 
 
Somehow this prompt totally slipped my mind, but better late than never, I guess?
 
 
Though this week's group of "genres" all seem very different, they all have in common the fact that many people don't feel that they are legitimate literary choices and libraries shouldn't be spending money on them or promoting them to adults. The common belief is that adults still don't or shouldn't read that stuff. How can we as librarians, work to ensure that we are able to serve adults who enjoy YA literature or graphic novels? Or should we? I can't wait to read your thoughts on this. Thanks!

 I've always hated the term literary. It tends to be racist and sexist, so first and foremost it drives me crazy when some people argue that some books are more worthwhile than others. Worthwhile to whom? A lot of critics are men, and this drives ratings of things. In the movie industry, for instance, this is a huge problem. Consider the Jennifer's Body, which was panned by critics who didn't understand the point of the movie. This isn't a movie created for men, it is meant for a female audience; of course a fifty year old man wouldn't understand the appeal completely. 

Secondly, and I can't find many sources on this, I've noticed that fantasy novels written by women, even those with adult themes, end up classified as YA for some not-so-mysterious reasons. If something has a strong female character who is young, especially if it is written in the first person, it's going to be shoved into YA, a genre that is wrongfully seen as lesser.

One thing I have incorporated in order to fight this, is when adults ask me for fantasy novels, I ask them if they are also okay with young adult novels. This trend is discouraging people from reading things they would enjoy, so it is our job to make people see it is okay. I read a lot of YA myself because I don't have time for much heavy reading these days.

I also resent some beliefs about people who read literary fiction (see the article below). Some people think that readers of literary fiction are somehow smarter and more aware of the world. Perhaps these people just have different tastes, or (GASP!) they may be privileged enough to have time for works that they have to expend brain power to read.

 

Articles on these issues:

Literary sexism: Still pervasive and real. https://www.salon.com/2013/10/18/literary_sexism_still_pervasive_and_real/  

Article on Literary Fiction that I disagree with: https://lithub.com/apparently-those-who-read-literary-fiction-but-not-other-kinds-have-a-more-complex-worldview/

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