Every Tuesday I offer a reader's perspective on reader stuff such as ... the negative associations that get attached to genre fiction. I'm not going to get super indignant in this post because if this kind of thing happens, then it happens. People judge each other constantly on everything starting with appearance and moving on to the less obvious clues. It can be annoying, but it's all part of being human.All hobbies have devotees and there are always elements of snobbism and one-upmanship practiced by some of them. Reading is no different. If you're seen in public with a book, people will use this information to make assumptions and sometimes snap judgments. While I'd never snoop through someone's medicine cabinet while using the bathroom at their house, I would look at the bookshelves in the living room. Reading material on display says a lot about us.
I thought about this recently when I took a three-hour flight to Washington DC. I sat between a man reading Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, and a woman reading a Man Booker Prize-winner I wasn't familiar with. There I sat between them, reading m/m erotica!
Do you think people pick imposing-looking books when they will be stuck out in public under the observing eyes of others? What's the most desirable reading material with which to be seen?
It might be the Bible or possibly another spiritual text such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Tao Te Ching. You can't go wrong with contemporary literary fiction, especially something with gorgeous cover-art and a sticker proclaiming "Pulitzer Prize Winner" or "National Book Award Winner" or "Man Booker Prize Winner." Classics are always impressive, especially written by someone dead such as Dickens, Dostoevsky, Hemingway, Faulkner, Flaubert, or Cervantes.
Contemporary literary fiction or classics or "smart" nonfiction are all seen as at the pinnacle of the reading pyramid. At the rock-bottom? Probably porn or men's adventure or tabloids. You don't even get credit for knowing how to read if you're seen with any of that!
Genre fiction falls somewhere in the middle, and no genre gets picked on more than the romance genre. It's often seen as silly, trashy, and formulaic. Readers are seen as unrealistic, anti-feminist, immature, and dumb. Of course, if you're reading m/m romance, you've got an additional level of homophobic stigma to deal with.
What is a romance reader to do about snotty assumptions? That depends on you. Some readers might defend themselves and present their own view on the matter. Some might hide their reading material behind a neutral book-jacket or on an ebook reader.
I don't judge people on their reading material because I myself read just about everything. But I can't understand those who choose not to read – and not for a reason like dyslexia that might make reading difficult. No, I mean those who would rather put ALL their free time into watching television. If you've managed to work reading into your daily schedule, don't feel guilty about your choice of reading material. Give yourself credit for having the right priorities to value reading in the first place.
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9 comments:
ITA with your last paragraph. You know what the funniest thing is? Even if you walk around with a Jane Austen or Thomas Hardy or whatever the non-readers will make fun of you for reading that rubbish. It has happened to me. It's bad enough to be on the receiving end of snotty remarks from other readers for reading genre fiction, but to get snotty remarks from people who spend their time watching TV for reading classics beats everything!
Hi, Rikki! For goodness sakes, you'd think the non-readers would be way too ashamed of themselves and their favorite shows such as [insert name of obnoxious reality-show] to get snotty with people for reading the classics! That is really amazing.
I have an English lit degree. IMO, literature=boring. Yes, even Austen. I was ready to scream at the absolute USELESSNESS of the women in Pride & Prejudice.
I like genre. I will approach someone reading a bodice-ripper with a floofy-shirted Fabio bending over a swooning damsel or someone reading a really gross-looking horror novel before I approach someone reading Virginia Woolf or Tolstoy.
Reverse snobbery? Maybe. But at least the genre reader is likely to be interested in the same books I am and we can swap favorite authors.
I like genre fiction, too. I know what you mean. I've really liked some of the classics like Dostoyevsky, but I've never been able to get more than a few pages into any Jane Austen book at all. I seriously don't understand her appeal these days.
I think that genre writers write for two good reasons:
(1) they enjoy doing it, and
(2) to make money = to entertain
So you KNOW you're going to get your money's worth with something that's so entertaining that the author enjoying writing it.
Whereas with literary fiction, often the writer is trying to win a prize, gain prestige, get tenure, convey insights into society, educate the masses, and all sorts of pretentious things that have nothing to do with entertainment! So I'll approach literary fiction with some skepticism, I'll admit.
Try telling people you still read YA. "But why? you're, like, old and stuff." My husband does not get my fascination with what I read - lots of YA, lots of gay-oriented fiction. It's not genre, exactly, but it still has it's own stigma. Since he doesn't read - beyond gun magazines - I figure he has no right to sneer. I even bought him norman Schwarzkopf's biography recently, and he hasn't finished that.
Hello, ReadWriteGo, thanks for the comment. I hadn't even considered the YA stigma!
And this: "But why? you're, like, old and stuff." Oh, that's priceless!
You're absolutely right. I'll bet people just don't know what to make of it unless there is a clear-cut reason such as that a reader of YA also teaches school.
And this is in spite of the fact that the Harry Potter and Twilight books have crossed over to adult readers!
I work at a university with college students, so I can use the excuse "I'm just trying to stay in touch with the youth of today!" or some such claptrap. But it's bull. I just like YA, always have.
You know when I was in grad school, I used to cover the paperbacks I was reading with plain white paper. A homemade cover of sorts to hide what it was. I've never been ashamed of what I read but the covers very often make *ME* blush let alone other people.
I read everything from genre to award winning and anything that catches my attention. As a daily staple of my reading diet, I tend to stick with romance because frankly I love the genre and it's easy to read, not mindless but the entertainment factor is high. Whenever I get picked on for that, I just laugh because no doubt I've read more literary fiction in the past month than the person picking on me has.
Anyone who only reads what Oprah tells them to needs more variety in their reading diet :D. So yes there is stigma but everyone in life has an opinion about everything!
ReadWriteGo, I know what you mean. Sometimes it's easier to have a handy explanation that ends the conversation -- so you can get back to your book! Probably most annoying is when people see you reading and want you to tell them about the plot!
Kassa, you're not alone in finding those covers a bit much. In our genre, those covers are usually WAY lacking in subtlety or are just plain ugly as in looking weird and self-published. You know, I think of the same defense that you do when I sense somebody about to judge my reading taste -- it's like, "I read EVERYTHING so don't even bother!" ha, ha!
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