Chocolat author Joanne Harris says boys should read books about girls in school so they ‘listen to women as adults’
Joanne Harris has said that boys should be encouraged to read books with female protagonists as it would help them listen to women’s voices as they grow up.
The 58-year-old author, who has written 19 novels, including the best-selling 1999 novel Chocolat, which was made into a film starring Juliette Binoche, told the Hay Festival that boys are still told it’s ‘wrong’ to talk about girls. read.
When asked about men’s violence against women, according to The timesJoanne said, “We have to stop giving them the message that it’s wrong for a boy to read books about girls, because even schools are giving them this message.
“A boy who is afraid to read a book starring a girl will grow up to be a man who thinks it is inappropriate for him to listen to a woman’s voice.”
‘And here’s the problem, where women’s voices are perceived as less. Women are seen as the ones who are supposed to put up with it and maybe put up with it, to use a cliché.”
Joanne Harris, 58, has said boys should be encouraged to read books with female protagonists as it would help them listen to women’s voices as they grow up.
Meanwhile, she said the divisions among female authors on trans issues could be “resolved” and that the discussion is not favorable to women.
She said, “Any argument that bitterly divides women, I think, we have to ask who it serves?”
Earlier this year, Joanne was awarded an OBE for her services to literature after being called upon to step down as president of the Society of Authors over a “tasteless” Twitter poll about JK Rowling.
There were oneseeks to sack the writer as head of the Society of Authors after she was accused of mocking the Harry Potter author as ‘tasteless’ Twitter poll on death threats.
Ms Harris posted the poll to Twitter in August after Ms Rowling expressed her support for fellow writer Sir Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed at an event in the US.
Ms Rowling immediately got the response from a Twitter troll: ‘Don’t worry, you’re next’.
Ms. Harris then asked her Twitter followers, “Co-authors…have you ever received a death threat (believable or not).”
The response options were “Yes,” “Hell, yes,” “No, never,” and “Show the hell out,” with some interpreting this as suggesting skepticism about how serious the threats were.
The author then deleted the tweet, admitting she “got the tone wrong,” she posted another poll with several options: “Yes,” “Yes, more than once,” “Never,” and “Just show me the result.” ‘.
After the news broke, Ms Harris tweeted that she too had received a death threat in an email that read: ‘We’re coming for you’.
However, she rejected the attempt to remove her from Britain’s largest trade union of writers, illustrators and translators after 81 percent of members supported her.
The author told the Hay Festival that boys are still being told it’s ‘wrong’ for them to read about girls (pictured)
Earlier this year, Joanne was awarded an OBE for her services to literature after being called upon to step down as president of the Society of Authors over a ‘tasteless’ Twitter poll about JK Rowling
In November, at their AGM, members voted whether Ms. Harris should step down as chairman, by 608 votes against and 143 in favor.
After the vote, she thanked her supporters on Twitter, saying that “rationality has triumphed.”
As of 2020, she is Chair of the Society of Author’s Board of Directors.
The author recently came forward in defense of Puffin Books amid the Roald Dahl spat, describing the editing of his classics to update the language as “just business.”