Sunday, February 27, 2011
Is it a problem that the author is a man?
Despite the fact that I am getting through the book with a lot of interest. I have to constantly pause and ask myself if it bothers me that the author is male. During the introduction, the author acknowledge the team members that made the book possible. He then went on to mention that there was only one female on the team to offer her "female" insight. I remember immediately being thrown by that. Its not that I really would have given it any notice, but when the author mentioned it I began to question was he a good authority to get this information about "The Alpha Girl." I believe that the Alpha girl exists, but I wonder if she always has. David Kindlon presents Alpha Girls as this new phenomenon. What about all the women that came before these Alpha Girls. How do we know they did not carry the same confidence and sense of purpose as Dan Kindlon's version of Alpha Girls. Has Kindlon only been able to notice the Alpha Girl of today because women of purpose and confidence in the professional and academic arena are now socially acceptable? As a man raised in a time where this was not acceptable, is he blind to the Alpha Girls throughout history? Why wouldn't female trailblazers be considered Alpha Girls?
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Your point is well taken and certainly valid. This "new" alpha girl phenomenon is really an age-old idea- women throughout history have been both confident and strong change agents. Strong alpha women fought for women's suffrage, women's rights in the work place and women's ability to attend college. In fact, many of the women today are products of these earlier alpha women. Perhaps we, as educators, need to be certain to teach young women about their strong-minded predecessors so that they can continue to inspire change and become the best people they can.
ReplyDeleteAs for the male author, I feel that this might impact the book and its contents. Although this male author might not know personally about the female experience, he did take the time to write the book and celebrate strong females. If anything, it seems to me that his bias may simply be his inability to recognize that alpha girls have always been around. In the interest of selling a book, the author seems to have just made what was old new again- a clever tactic to make cash and celebrate women today.
My initial response to your post was shock in the discovery that there was only one female offering insight of the alpha girl. I wonder where a male figure would find the authority to define this girl and describe this "new" phenomenon. However, my negative mindset changed outlooks with Katie's mention of the author taking the time to celebrate strong females. I agree that the author's bias is most likely his inability to recognize the strong powerful woman that have preceded these alpha girls and do believe this is largely a result of Kindlon growing up in a time where strong, confident, and purposeful woman where not socially acceptable. To those that have read the text, does Kindlon ever explore his own past and identify woman who fit this alpha girl description? Is Kindlon's inspiration apparent in his writing?
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction to this post was "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." Danielle, do you think your overall opinion of the book would have changed if you had read without knowledge of the author?
ReplyDeleteThe more I thought about it, the more I was perturbed by the lack of input from the very "strong women" the author hoped to recognize. If the roles were reversed, would males be as accepting of a book written with minimal contributions from their gender? Would you prefer to read a commentary about space travel written by an astronaut or someone who has never been to space?
To echo MGrant, I'm now also curious about the author's past and inspiration.
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. I am having the same experience as I read...asking myself, does it bother me? If so, why? A man has every right to discuss the female experience as the woman has to discuss the male experience. I agree, though, with you and Katie...the frustration may come from that fact that by touting the alpha girl as "new phenomenon," he is neglecting to recognize that strong, confident, and independent women have been around forever.
As of now, I'm only halfway through the book. Can I say the same for the two of you? I wonder how we'll feel about this topic when we finish reading...
This reminds me of a discussion that we had in another one of my classes about this very topic: can someone outside of a certain group claim to write accurately about that group? We discussed the topic for a while, but came to no definite conclusion. However, I do see a difference between writing ABOUT a particular group and claiming to write AS a particular group. Kindlon is writing as a psychologist, and while he certainly moves into what could be considered sociology or even anthropology, he is writing as an academic, rather than attempting to speak for these alpha girls. I do agree with you, however, that his account is not totally unbiased, and, while it contains its fair share of facts and figures, also has a certain amount of large claims about the "newness" of the alpha girl.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure how I feel about the male author of this book...I'd also be interested in reading his book "Raising Cain," about boys, to compare!