So Naomi Wolf wrote an essay for the NYT this weekend about some stupid chick lit for teens and then we got to talking about it over at Shaken and Stirred and I'm just so annoyed by the whole deal that I thought I might as well devote an entry to it as well.
You can never bitch enough about stupid feminists, can you?
Ms. Wolf has discovered some of the more frivolous teen series out there, The Gossip Girls, The Clique, etc. and she is appalled - appalled I say! - by how loose and immoral and mean these girls are. They care about clothes and shopping and money and boys and that's all they talk about and think about and it is apparently corrupting the hell out of America's young women.
Really. She means it.
Okay, so I'm making fun and I know it, but please this is so silly I can't hardly stand it. Yes, there are vacuous, silly teen girls in every high school and I can remember a time in my life when having the right brand of jeans was all that stood before me and eternal damnation (or something like that) and there were girls who put out all the time and girls who pretended to put out but never did and rich bitches and everything else and mostly none of us got along but we all survived and its over now. IT'S OVER!!!! I can't imagine though that reading pointless books about characters like these is any more damaging to the pysche then watching Desperate Housewives (or any soap for that matter - my Mom and I were Knots Landing fan for years - we watched it together!!). Life is intense and serious even in high school (or junior high school) and sometimes you want to read or watch some fluff. It's not rocket science but it's also a relatively painless way to just leave the real world behind for a little while.
And honestly, don't we all want to do that every now and again?
I really think that Wolf and other critics like her, choose these topics to write about so they can throw their own weight around - so they can sound superior to teenagers because they get to disapprove. I'd like to see Wolf champion a title or two instead, and not ones that are deadly dull or buried in messages, but well written and fun to read. Dare I suggest she visit the works of the amazing Cecil Castellucci and see what she thinks of Boy Proof and The Queen of Cool? (Although be afraid - there is sex in QOC - shudder!) Or what about Justina Chen Headley's Nothing But the Truth where mean kids are the order of the day (at least at first -and the adults aren't all that great either) or Greg Leitich Smith's Tofu and T-Rex about the kind of take charge high school student that might scare the crap out of parents everywhere. What about Lulu Dark who spends a lot of time making sure she looks fabulous as she follows clues and pointedly disobeys her father? And then there's the lovely frothy confection of Chicks with Sticks that is about girls who knit and become friends and the only message is "get out of the house and have some fun and it just might change your life!" Yeah, so they knit. Like I said, it's not rocket science, but it's a sweet read and it's funny and some of the adults are idiots but I really liked it and I bet a ton of teenage girls would enjoy it too.
Okay, I'll think about it and post my list of books that aren't big award winners and aren't well known, but are still good and well written and should be read by teens everywhere. Maybe I'll make it a sidebar and maybe I'll change it every month! And maybe instead of bashing YA lit I'll just keep reviewing good books at Bookslut and Eclectica (and here) and spread the word on some titles that teens should know about.
In other words, I'll use my power for good. How about that Ms. Wolf? Did you ever consider writing about something that is good in young adult fiction?
