I’ve been thinking of writing this post for a week or two. I’m not sure how I want to proceed, but let’s go anyway. I watch a bit of BookTube and other things on YouTube, and one of the things I’ve seen a lot recently is reactions to various posts about studies on men and reading. A lot is about how younger men, I’ll admit, I’m in my early fifties, so I know I look younger for my age. Some of the main points from the various posts I have read are, firstly, around specific figures in the Manosphere, as it is called. I won’t mention their names, as this particular field of people is something I have never had nor will I have an interest in. Anyway, they seem to promote anti-art, anti-reading ideas. Well, as someone who grew up loving culture, I find this whole thing just beyond me. I am going off track here, I’ll get back to the title as that captures what I am a straight male that reads fiction, we may be on the WWF endanger species, it seems. I wonder how we got here. How have my early years and life to the current situation with younger generations? I l start with me and then see how that may show how things have changed. I grew up with seeing my dad and granddad reading. They read lots of books, went to the library, and brought books. I already had a lead on most people, as males tend to read less than females, even years ago. Having a male reading role model is harder for some people. I also grew up in maybe a golden age of books, Roald Dahl , William Price maybe as early examples. Then on in my mid to late teens Great Fantasy this was a time of wonderfully evocative covers for books like The dragonlance series, Raymond Feist books. Then, Stephen King, I loved and literally just ate his books as a reader. Now, I didn’t go to university, and yes, like many men, I read less after my teenage years. I still brought books. Mainly literary fiction I will hold my hand upo and say I read mostly male writers, Thompson, Burroughs etc. Then it is Updike, Bellow, etc. I never got into Martin Amis but loved Will Self and Irvine Welsh. Then, maybe twenty years ago I became more drawn to world lit. I had read one or two books in translation in my twenties. Till now, where it is all translation bar the few books I pick in English still occasionally (i could do a whole post why this is less than it used to be as a straight male reader ) . Because my reading is so focused and driven, I have had a say in the way things have gone over the last twenty years. Translated fiction has first grown. But it has also become more and more diverse, and I tend to read more female writers than male writers, which sets me apart from many readers. So, I’m maybe an oddity. I love books, and I also grew up watching a lot of arts TV, back when it was actually arts TV, not what passes for arts TV or book shows these days. Sorry, I think about the poor state of Arts TV in the UK is an utter disgrace, and what these sorts of let’s make it hip and trendy and about the book tok or half dozen books that the UK press now seems to think are essential needs to change.Off on another tangent, let’s get back to the whole point of this: why do men read less, and why do they not read fiction ? I will throw my hat in with a few thoughts. The first and often mentioned is screens, whether it’s a computer, a game console, a phone, etc. These were so much less of a distraction and i can even see on my own reading how they have an effect, and I remember a pre-Games, pre smart phone age. So, that’s maybe the first issue. Then I am wary of saying this, but we may have, in a way, let the male novelist die out slightly over the last ten years. I think of the writers I grew up with, yes, they aren’t by today’s standard acceptable. Not that said, they did draw in males to reading. I think we need a new wave of charismatic male writers. But also maybe the demise of music papers, etc, has something as well. I remember a lot of the books I first read, which were new to me, came from interviews with singers in NME or Melody Maker, etc. List like Bowie’s favourite books. Then there is this sort of anti culture manosphere all about productivity, being a man or just how to be a complete arse really. Isn’t there enough of them? Surely, we need new male role models who can draw young men into books. In the early days of the blog, I did things like books about Eurovision. Books from teams involved in the World Cup. I used to do these to try to connect my love of football with my love of books. There are many great travel shows made these days that capture the world, but they often miss the writers and spirit of the place. I think translated fiction offers some great male writers, but also so many other avenues for male readers. The real answer is I don’t know what the anser is only it needs to be addressed soon rather than later or we will lose more and more men to boring how to be a better this that and the other productivity books. Rather than that, let’s stick to something that will feed there mind and take them elsewhere, or even give them empathy. What are your thoughts about this? Sorry to ramble on, I’m not sure what this does, if anything. I wish more people had my path and sheer desire to discover and read. I start with the picture from a well-known image of a woman reading, I saw it in Cambridge, nd will end with a sort of aAIhomage with a man ,this man in the style of that reading . WHta are your thoughts about men reading habits or lack of reading
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, stu – it’s good to hear a man’s perspective on this. I’ve seen people accusing the female-dominated publishing industry of causing this lack of male writers, which I’m not sure I buy, at least not as a unique cause – for one because the publishing industry is working under capitalism, and for another because it’s not the first time in history when the novel form is dominated by women writers. Maybe the fact that authors are underpaid has much more to do with it, which is also a symptom of us as a society undervaluing culture. Maybe the manosphere is also a symptom of that, to some degree.
It’s interesting that you said the older generation of male writers probably aren’t acceptable by today’s standards. This would suggest that the readers have become more progressive over the past decades and the male writers couldn’t keep up with it. Couldn’t or didn’t want to or didn’t care to and moved on to other fields. I’m just speculating here but I’d love to read an actual study on this issue.
Oh i think reader have become much better at letting writers know what is acceptable these days, it deserves a study . I also saw just after I post this there is a new publisher focusing on male writing which tickled me as it looks like things have gone full circle in a few decades
I’ve always known you were a thoughtful man, but this essay tells us many important things about you. You became a reader much as I did, by having books in the house and parents who read, and a dad who went to the library throughout his life.
And because, like me, you *know* the benefits of reading and the joy of it, you fear that it is being lost. I don’t have any stats but I know that the younger generation, both male and female, are reading less, and what they’re reading isn’t at all like what we were reading. I see young people being interviewed on TV, and the interviewer takes their ignorance so seriously, I guess because they also don’t know how ignorant it is. And I remind myself that this may not be representative, that I know young people who are not shallow and ignorant and that I spend part of my day, every day, reading thoughtful reviews of books on other blogs, and the bloggers are readers of all different ages. I also know from my stats that people are reading mine so it can’t be as bad as it looks.
I also know men who are readers, including favourite bloggers, but the ones I know in real life only read NF and they tend to read from a limited range of topics that interest them. I don’t know why that is, my dad wasn’t like that, he read fiction all his life, and *chuckle* wasn’t all that grateful when I gave him the occasional NF book at Christmas and I learned not to do it.
Gosh, I do miss talking about books with him. It would have been his 100th birthday last Sunday, and I miss him just as much as ever.
Lisa, what you said here about your dad was so touching! My dad is still alive and he is the opposite — he only reads nonfiction and religious works, and my mother tends to only read nonfiction as well. Somehow my sibling and I ended up being the ones who love both NF and literature! My upbringing was like yours , in the sense we had plenty of books in the house ( my parents did not have a lot of money but REALLY prioritized making sure we had books of our own to cherish and enjoy, which I am so grateful for) and my parents made sure we went to the library often.
As for the debates around younger generations reading less, I suspect it is true. I am in my 30s, and even at university it was difficult to find peers who read widely and deeply simply for pleasure (and my major was English!). However, I sometimes have to remind myself that mass literacy is still a relatively recent historical phenomenon, and that when my parents were growing up the great complaint was that people spent too much time watching TV instead of reading . . . now those anxieties have shifted to too much time on the Internet. Perhaps some things never change after all?
such a wonderful memory to have , I think it imprints so much on childrnen when they see there family reading it make it seem natrual. my dad is a fiction reader but a lot of escapism thriller type books.
Yes. I look around me and I see so many parents absorbed in their phones and I think well, maybe they’re working, or organising something important, but I think that children need to feel that they are the most important thing in their parents’ lives for longer than we guess at, and they are only children for such a short time. Of course we can’t respond 24/7, nobody is that perfect, but my weekly walks to the library with my father told me that he loved me and he loved being with me, and he loved listening to my childish prattle. It wasn’t what people call ‘quality time’ it was simply the highlight of his week and mine.
Love this Stu. I think so much of it is down to role models. Both of my parents read prodigiously, and I think that’s really important!
Yes and so many parents don’t read and even worse don’t even own books which I always find strange as someone thart loves being around books
And to Stu: I’m quite saddened, but not surprised, to hear that these “Manosphere” influencers are anti-reading. They know that reading can help people develop critical thinking skills, which in turn might make their audience less likely to buy into the nasty stuff they say. They definitely know how to protect their income stream! I agree with your idea that good male role models are a crucial part of the solution, and that helping young men find male authors whose works they could connect with is a great idea.
However, I would also add the important caveat that it is also helpful to steer young men away from the idea that female-authored works are somehow “not for them” — all great literature is meant for all humans, regardless of the author’s gender. As a woman I’ve always had to contend with the unavoidable fact that the vast majority of literature until recent times was written by men, and usually for men, and yet that has never stopped me from reading and enjoying their works. Women and girls have always had to make that adjustment if they wanted to be readers, so I don’t see why men and boys couldn’t do the same if given the proper encouragement.
I agree men shuld really try reading more female writers. I think it needs a chan ge in male culture a bit to maybe make reading =female writers more the norm , I have in recent year be reading about fifty ffty male to female writing
I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying more female authors yourself! I do have hope that, with the right encouragement, more male readers could follow the same path.
An excellent post. My husband reads a lot and used to just do fiction but has branched out into more nonfiction now, having joined a nonfiction book club (he read a book on explorers the other month that even I would have struggled with). He does a lot of audio books because that suits him when he’s doing a few miles walking before work, but does read e- and paper books as well. But interestingly he would never consider reading Eliot, Austen or a Bronte as they are apparently books that women find more interesting.
Thanks so much for posting this!