Sexism for Teenagers

I recently wrote a review for a book aimed at teenage girls: and I slated it for its sexism and portrayal of teenage girls, and women in general, as desperately needing a boyfriend at all times.

The first chapter was about the girl, Tella, with her mother. The second one opened with Tella lying in a forest after having sex with some random bad boy in tight leather trousers.

It's not the first time I've reviewed a book aimed at teenage girls that starts off with a sex scene. But it's not the sex scene that bothers me. It's when you compare it to the books aimed at boys you see a massive difference.

I can't remember one aimed at boys that pays much attention to their love lives. Yes they have a sort of love interest somewhere, usually late on in the book, but it's nowhere near as intense as the 'love' that's written about in girls' books.

Why?What is it about books aimed at teenage girls that leads most of them (in my experience at least) to see the female lead as desperately in need of a man?

I then drew some, none too flattering, comparisons with Disney, Barbie and Tinkerbell films. I've had to sit through a couple of Barbie and Tinkerbell films due to a friend's 8 year old daughter. I've even seen a relatively recent animated film about the French ballet school in Paris. Barbie, Tinkerbell and the ballet film had far better female characters than a lot of teenage girl books. They were independent, went on adventures, built things, made friendships and enemies and dealt with the problems of life.

Even the latest Disney films seem to have got it right. In the two Wreck-it-Ralph movies, the lead female character doesn't get romanticly involved with anyone, but builds a great friendship with Ralph. Brave shows how a young princess destined to inherit a kingdom can build a life without being in thrall to a man. Then there's Jessie in Toy Story, Elsa in Frozen, Eva in Wall-E, not fogetting the girls in the How To Train Your Dragon films.

So why are the books aimed at teenage girls so obsessed with them having boyfriends or lovers? What are they teaching them, what example are they setting?

I wonder if this is one reason behind the success of the Harry Potter books. While love and relationships come into the stories, none of the main female characters are obsessed with boys, though Ginny Weasly is a probable exception.

I want to be clear that none of this applies to the genuine romance books in which you expect there to be relationships, love and sex. It's the attitude of the books that claim to be about adventure and friendships that are aimed at teenage girls, when they are little more than 'isn't it nice to have a boyfriend' tales.

Nor does this attitude stop at teenage books. It's also in those 'independent woman saves world/solves crime/catches spy' books. Whereas the man can just get on with it, the lead female has to get involved with someone in a close relationship to the point where it can take her away from the job at hand. When was the last time you read a book with a female lead where she was allowed to get on with things?

Yes, there are generalisations here and not all books or lead female characters are written that way, I'm also aware that I'm writing this as a middle aged man. But I believe it is far too prevalent to be random.

Isn't it about time we, as authors, changed it? Because if we don't, who will?