On my way into work this morning the figure of 20% took on a very big, very new meaning for me. The report over the radio said that only 20% of men would read a book written by a woman. I am generally a cynical person and take the realistic view point but even I was shocked by this. As a writer, who happens to be woman, this discouraged me.
I tried to look up the source of this data but could not find one, so take it with a grain of salt but in the process of researching I came across another correlating article from NPR (link below) that says that men account for only 20% of the fiction market overall. There's that 20% figure again. The story says that men who do read lean toward works of non-fiction in overwhelming numbers.
The story goes into speculative reasons for why there is such a gap. One reason given is that women have a broader emotional range with more empathy so they gravitate toward fiction and find more enjoyment in stories. Another reason given is that in early childhood girls have a longer attention which allows them to grasp reading and comprehension earlier, thus leading to a lifelong love of reading targeted towards fiction. I'm not sure I personally believe all of what these theories say but there is no disputing the fact that men do not read fiction in anywhere close to the numbers that women do.
I think men read less overall and that has some weight on the imbalance but I also see how men are more concrete. They want hard facts that cannot be disputed. They don’t enjoy the nuances of emotional relationships and character tensions. They don't find value in love triangles, he said she saids, and whether or not the characters declare their secret undying love for one another at the end of the book. I am obviously generalizing here but I think overall the numbers and my observances prove true.
Are we going to change natural male instincts now? No. But I think it's worth making a special effort with our young boys to inspire their imaginations and help them find the value in fiction. Without fiction boys would not have the role models of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. They wouldn’t have the adventures in the maze and the Hunger Games Arena and they wouldn’t be able to explore space with Ender. Fiction is just as applicable to boys as it is to girls and every child should know what it feels like to be swept out of reality and into an imaginary world.
Men value facts and hard bottom lines but they can also be taken back to their childhood envisioning themselves as the Roman hero or the British super spy. Fiction allows us all the change our circumstances. It gives us a place to go when we have to stay still. Fiction puts us in other peoples shoes and teaches us to accept, or at least appreciate, the value of another persons trials, tribulations, and triumphs.
I hope the next generation of our boys retains enough of the innocence and playfulness that will help them to become not only lifelong readers, but fiction readers at that. Everyone can benefit from a good story. In the darkest of times the words become a lantern; a lantern to safety, to healing and to acceptance. Who doesn't need that kind of light?
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