Nicolas Gremion asserts that if we could make the culinary arts cool for men, then we can make reading cool, too.
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You’ve just bought a new entertainment center. It’s going to require a bit of assembly, and though you’re ashamed to admit it, you suck with tools. Your lovely wife, however, reminds you that a set of instructions has been crammed into the package for you to follow. And what was the first thing you did when you opened that purchase?
Tossed the darn instructions.
We live in a society today where men figure things out for themselves, where men don’t need instructions, book clubs, or textbooks. It’s all for the same reason we don’t need directions when driving: We’re able to figure out the answers ourselves.
Today, “real men” are focused on life’s necessities: sports, beer, barbecues, and women. But while we men are plopped down on the couch, Budweiser in hand, watching the last quarter of the football game, women are busy filling universities and top job postings.
Reading has, unfortunately, been deemed unmanly in the public perception. Picture your average macho lumberjack. I’m guessing the setting didn’t include lounging on a picnic blanket, curled up with “50 Shades of Grey.”
Even worse, this has led to the idea that men don’t read, so publishers and editors tend to ignore the sex, leading to a lack of titles that specifically target the male reader.
Guys, let’s set down the remote and pick up a book. Don’t worry, though — there’s no need to set down the beer.
The Root of the Problem
The cycle starts when we’re kids. Every class has its cool kids — the guys who succeed in sports and the like — and its nerds, the ones who read.
Charles J. Sykes once said, “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.” And though all of us envy the level of success famous “nerds” (i.e., Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Einstein) have enjoyed, this type of individual wasn’t our hero when we were younger. Rather, younger boys’ heroes are athletes, rap stars, and daredevils — in other words, the type of guys who would tell you that reading is for “suckas.”
Now that I’ve grown up, I read much, much more for pleasure than I did as a kid. I’m not embarrassed to pick up a book at the beach, but I’m still not going to call my buddy and ask if he can lend me the latest bestseller. Case in point: Guys don’t talk books.
The Next Step
Although the stereotypes concerning men and reading have been in place for quite some time (I don’t think it was any cooler for a guy to read when my folks were growing up than it is now), there’s still hope.
Here are a few ways we can move past these stereotypes and change the image of reading:
We need some reading “heroes.” Cooking was not manly, either. It was the domain of the “housewife.” Then, people like Guy Fieri came along. Tatted up and driving a muscle car, Fieri is a “cool” chef. We need some manly authors or avid readers — guys who read math textbooks and drive racecars at the same time.
Dads should use their influence. It’s your turn to step up to the plate, dads. My dad probably reads at least half a dozen books each month. He’s a reading machine. At the same time, he loves beer and plays contact hockey on a weekly basis. To me, he’s about as manly as you can get. Consequently, I never considered reading to be unmanly.
Assigned reading needs to be more inclusive. How about assigning books to kids in school that guys would actually enjoy reading? I would have been much more inclined to read the boxer’s story “The Professional” than “Wuthering Heights.” Studies have shown male readers are more interested in non-fiction (only 20 percent of the fiction market is made up of men), so find stories that will instill a love of the activity early on.
Get into publishing. The Digital Revolution has made the world of publishing much more accessible to all, kids included. Websites can guide people through the writing process and compile their completed work into a cohesive eBook. While it’s highly unlikely that kids will land big publishing contracts, there’s no denying that it’s pretty cool for them to be published authors.
Smartphone apps could make reading competitive. We’ve got apps that track our steps, our calories, and how much water we drink. Why isn’t there one that tracks how much we read? Or how fast we read? Or how much we can retain?
Incorporate gadgets. Reading instantly becomes exponentially cooler when it’s done on an iPad or some other gadget. As mobile devices find their way into more and more children’s hands, they present more opportunities to read. And hey, if another kid asks your kid what he’s doing on his iPad, he can pretend he’s checking sports scores.
Nothing Is Impossible!
If we could make the culinary arts cool, then we can make reading cool, too.
The solution lies with our youth. Once reading is established as nerdy in childhood, it’s a very difficult perception to change — but it’s not impossible. By incorporating some of the ideas I outlined above, we can one day live in a society where it’s not only cool to debate the merits of different beer brands, but where it’s even cooler to discuss the books we’ve read.
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Photo: M. Pratter/Flickr
We run general public speed reading / reading efficiency courses ( sorry – this is not a plug – I just have info abt men reading) and our ratio of participants is abt 90% women 10% men. These are open to all. And mostly women come to generally improve their skills; men come because they have taken on study / work that requires extra reading. That tells me that most men read as a ‘task’ whereas women read a general life skill.
Alastair, reading is never a wast no matter what one reads. Let’s look at it from another view. How babies learn to walk. First, they start pulling themselves into standing position, then moving along while holding onto something. Next with more confidence, they start bearing more weight on the feet. They also move their hands and feet in rhythm. Once they master that they start crossing small gaps between supports. Typically, they won’t release one support until they can reach the other. Then they start crossing the gap unsupported with the ability to stand alone and unassisted. Parents are elated,… Read more »
Forgive the typo … “reading is never a WASTE no matter what one reads.”
I was never big on reading books and it never thought of it having anything to do with gender. Through the years that I’ve worked with adolescents in a residential setting, I’ve been amazed as to how many of them enjoy reading so I’m still confused about the gender thing.
Ha! I was never even aware of this stereotype. Another thing to worry about now, maybe. 😛 I guess ignorance can be bliss sometimes. But seriously, while reading may not be perceived as a “manly” activity, at the same times it also is not perceived as a feminine one, I guess. In a world were men are brutes who don’t try to use their heads (except for headbutts), women are pretty ornaments who don’t use their heads either (except for holding up their pretty hair). Basically reading is not cool for anybody. There’s much too many people out there (both… Read more »
Hi Alastair. Thank you kindly for sharing your pov with us! I certainly agree with you about quantity. As far a quality, I look at it from a different angle. Sure, ’50 Shades’ won’t be as enlightening as ‘Heidegger’s Being and Time’ (though you might still learn a thing or 2 ;-), but for me it’s also important to read what you enjoy. Much like exercise, for most people, if you force yourself to do something you don’t enjoy you’ll soon drop out. On the other hand if you find a book (or exercise) you do enjoy, chances are you’ll… Read more »
Reading for pleasure can be a lot of fun. However, unless you are reading quality material, it is not clear to me why it should be regarded as the intrinsically meritorious activity that many treat it as and why we should be encouraging people to read more. If your reading input consists largely of trashy fiction, then you may even be better off playing video games or watching TV. There is a sort of mystique surrounding books and reading that is largely undeserved. The idea that there is something semi-sacred about the book and the act of reading simply isn’t… Read more »
Rereading this comment, I would want to express it in less harsh terms. Reading isn’t ‘wasted’ on most people, but we shouldn’t fool ourselves into believing that it is being used in any sort of elevated way. Apart from extensive and thoughtful engagement with well-written and worthy material and the development of a literate mind, imagination, and sensibilities, the ability to read is just another technical skill, rather than an aptitude with the cultural and human significance that we are wont to accord it.
I grew up in a house where reading was regarded as a masculine activity. My father has about 10,000 books and also publishes books. Reading was seen as the serious business of honing and informing one’s mind, with a very pronounced weighting towards the reading of non-fiction. I now have a library of my own of about 3,000 volumes. I have many male friends who read extensively and widely. I really don’t think that quantity of books read says as much as many think, which is why I don’t put much weight on a lot of the research in these… Read more »
I always felt that the logical male analogue to 50 Shades of Grey are books by authors like Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy.
Or porn.
Theorama: I always felt that the logical male analogue to 50 Shades of Grey are books by authors like Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy. Sorry but I have to take contention with this comparison. 50 Shades of Grey, at its roots, was basically fanfiction slash based in the world of Harry Potter transformed by changing the characters and settings. Tom Clancy, whether you like his work or not, is a proflic writer with original works based in the world of Military/Spy Espionage. 50 Shades of Grey is like many novelties: Mass-marketed hack writing designed to cash in. Tom Clancy, again… Read more »
Edit: Actually I should add that Tom Clancy WAS a prolific writer since he’s dead now.