So, my bookish bestie and I took a little adventure to our local wine shop a few weeks ago to purchase our wine of the month for our book club meeting. While we were there, we had a very…interesting conversation with the gentleman that rang us up. That conversation seriously got me thinking about this topic. Why is it that it’s considered socially acceptable to read books about characters your own age and older, but so many people look down on you if you read books about characters who are younger than you?
The conversation went something like this:
- Wine Seller: “What are the matching wine bottles for?
- Bookish Bestie: “They’re for our book club. We pair wines with books.”
- Wine Seller: “Oh. So what are you reading?”
- Me: “Will Grayson Will Grayson.”
- Bookish Bestie: “It’s a YA and Wine book club.”
- Wine Seller: “What’s YA?”
- Bookish Bestie: “It’s Young Adult Literature.”
- Wine Seller: “Do you have kids?”
- Me: “No.”
- Wine Seller: “Oh.” [Insert super judgmental look here]
Now, of course, I understand that this gentleman is under the impression that reading YA Lit is somehow immature due to some ignorance of YA and literature in general on his part. But I think this social stigma goes deeper than that. It applies not just to books but to movies, television shows, even language.
Not only is this idea ageist, it tells young adults that their ideas, opinions, values, and lives are less important. It tells adults that read YA that they’re somehow less mature, that what they read does not help them grow intellectually and emotionally, which is so far from the truth.
This kind of thinking is what perpetuates old stereotypes and ways of thinking. We should be encouraging people to read books from the perspectives of people of all races, religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, genders, and YES, ages. This is how we learn to understand one another. This is how we truly walk in each others shoes. And this is how we truly move forward as a society.
YA literature IS important. And to all of you book bloggers out there discussing the important real-world issues and themes that are highlighted in the YA books you read, what you’re doing is important too.
So keep reading YA! Keep writing about it! And keep encouraging others to do the same!
You made some fantastic points! 🙂 Sorry for judgmental wine sellers. 🙁 But you definitely imparted some great wisdom from that experience!
Thanks! I think all readers of anything not considered to be “literary” deal with this. Hopefully it’ll change someday.
As a teenager (maybe 13 or 14) , I used to like YA fiction. Of course I did; I was part of authors’ target audience so they included things I would like. Now however, as a university student (so not that much older really), I think they’re quite repetitive in characters, themes or plots because the demand for YA has grown. I think it’s turned more into a money-making scheme, to churn our same-old YA books with minor differences and advertise them as completely new and original works of fiction – which they’re not. I’ve got nothing against anyone – young or old – who still reads and enjoys YA fiction; it’s just not my cup of tea anymore 🙂
Thank you for sharing this experience though; I found it really interesting to read!
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Thanks for your comment! I read pretty widely, so all genres of YA and all genres of books with adult protagonists as well, and while I’m seeing a lot of different themes, I am also seeing a lot of the same themes across the board. I really feel like common themes at any given time in literature is a reflection of where we are as a society, just like how when you read Classic novels from the same time period, you see a lot of the same themes there as well. I also feel like the plot structures and characters depend on how widely you’re reading YA. A lot of the ones that have recently been turned into blockbuster movies are very similar, but they’re also an extremely small percentage of what exists in YA literature. I also studied literature in college and learned a lot about the seven basic plot structures that exist and how every book you read is just a take on/combination of those. The more you study that the more you see it in all genres as well. Not saying you should read YA if it isn’t your thing. That’s totally fine! But I definitely feel like YA is not a money-making scheme, nor do I feel like their all the same story. It truly just depends on what you read.
I love this post! I definitely have noticed the same kind of… hmm, judgment for adults who read YA. I never really understood this, but I imagine you’re right – it’s all bc of the assumption that YA is for teens… while in reality, I think anyone who likes YA should read YA no matter their age. Having spoken to tons of publishers, too, I feel like nowadays they’re realising that YA readers aren’t only teens and have started catering to the older YA audience.
EXACTLY! And there are so many classic novels with protagonists of a “young adult” age, but they didn’t feel the need to categorize them back then. They were just books. YA is not a genre!
I feel like anything can be a genre if specific enough, but “YA books”, as a group, is definitely broader than it sounds. 🙂
Agree with everything you said, after all, if children’s or YA lit can only be appreciated by children then what’s the point?
Thank you and EXACTLY!