Shakespeare’s poems and plays, “The Great Gatsby”
, “A zoo story” or “A talk in the park”
– all of
these are great pieces of literature and all of them are read by our school’s students in 12th and
13th grade and in many other schools in Germany as well. But what connects all of them is that
they’re all written by male authors.
“The gender imbalance in our literacy curriculum sent us the message that there were no female
authors worth reading” . This quote by a 17-year-old student from South Afrika shows that this
isn’t a unique situation in German schools but in other countries as well. And calling the quote
inaccurate would be an understatement. There are countless female authors who have
produced great literature over the years, and they deserve to be included.
Emily Dickinson for example wrote beautiful and heartbreaking poems. She addressed matters
of inequality much before it was “acceptable” to speak about them and she inspired young
women back then to speak up for themselves and question the traditional views of women.
The whole genre of science fiction was invented by a woman because of her work
“Frankenstein”
. This book is about so much more than just a monster created by a man. It shows
how the greed of men can be far worse than what one would think a “monster” would be. It also
questions the views of our society on how women love, not falling for the pretty face or the men
with money, but being able to look deeper than skin and bones into someone’s soul. These are
topics that would be great to discuss in class.
So, to say there weren’t any female authors worth reading is simply wrong. But it isn’t only that
there are countless talented female authors that also address issues that male authors never
do. There is almost no story, play or book that we read in English class by a male author that
didn’t contain sexist language, normalized it or only portrayed female characters as beautiful
creatures whose only influence was using their beauty on men. This is extremely problematic
because girls and young women will read this and start thinking this is the only way they can
have an impact on the world.
It is important we read more about empowered girls and women who succeed through their
strength and wit or see women go through problems that are unique to them, like postpartum
depression or losing a child. These are things no man will ever be able to relate to nor will ever
understand how this can impact a woman’s life forever.
Reading about topics like this in school is not only important for women but for men as well.
After all, us women make up half the population. I truly encourage teachers to read more female
authors in class; it can only be a useful addition in every lesson.
Lina Günther, Englisch LK Q13