I admit it, I don't like reading fiction stories. I never read fiction books unless it is required for a class. However, it is important for people to know how to read and think critically. Reading is a necessary evil!
There is nothing wrong with thinking reading is boring, but there is a lot wrong with using sexist stereotypes as a way to dismiss it.
I can't stand how the Wall Street Journal (directly and indirectly) uses "girly" and "feminine" as synonyms for boring. They make boys in school seem like horrible victims because they have to read a book where the characters have feelings! Or even worse, they have to read stories with female protagonists! They failed to mention the fact that the majority of the classical novels read in middle and high school have male protagonists.
The part that bothered me the most was the little boy who said that "Charlotte's Web [is a] girl's book". Charlotte's Web may have a female protagonist, but it also has plenty of male characters and its plot is gender neutral. The idea that it is acceptable for young boys to use sexist remarks to dismiss something they don't like is disturbing. I mean, what would someone think if a middle or high school aged girl complained that a classic novel was a "boy book"?
So go ahead and hate reading! Just don't use stupid sexist stereotypes to dismiss activities you don't like!
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The part that bothered me the most was the little boy who said that "Charlotte's Web [is a] girl's book". Charlotte's Web may have a female protagonist, but it also has plenty of male characters and its plot is gender neutral.
I'm not even sure if I'd call Charlotte the protagonist. I always thought the protagonist was Wilbur. And the book was written by a man.
My younger sister's summer reading list consisted of a bunch of classic books like The Hound of the Baskervilles, Cheaper By the Dozen, and Little Women (and a ton of others)...and then they included some non-classic book about baseball to 'appeal to boys.' What is so bad about boys reading, say, Lilies of the Field? Just because there's a flower in the title does not make it a 'girly book.'
When I was in high school, I *DID* complain that all of the books we read had male protagonists, male supporting characters, male authors, traditional gender notions, and a whole lot of latent sexism surrounding any female characters that made it into the book. People thought I was overreacting, which only made me angrier.
Luckily, when I was old enough to take AP classes, we actually read feminist essays and novels by brilliant feminist authors like Margaret Atwood. There were still issues (nothing is perfect), but at least the curriculum was diverse.
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