Scholastic Gives Boys ‘Survival’ Tips and Girls ‘Girly’ Tips

[Ian David]

Don't know what to get little Billy or Sally before they go off to summer camp? How about one of Scholastic's new "How To Survive Anything!" books? The "Boys Only" edition looks pretty sweet: you can learn how to survive a snakebite, swarm of bees and forest fire, as well as how to make it through some more unrealistic scenarios, like a polar bear attack or "space."

So what does the "Girl's Only" edition include? Well, there's "How to Survive a BFF fight," How to Survive a Breakout" and, uh, "How to Have the Best Sleepover Ever." (We can't even get sleepover survival tips? My younger self would've at least liked to know how not to end up the only person not kissed during Spin the Bottle...)

<snip>

A reminder: these books were published THIS YEAR. Publishers still think that all girls would rather know how to "pick perfect sunglasses" (so we just dropped the whole survival theme?) and "how to teach your cat to sit" (NECESSARY FOR LIVING!) than actual survival tips, silly or otherwise. We're surprised there's no chapter for boys on how to protect girls because they're too busy surviving fashion disasters or learning how to handle "sudden stardom."

"If you ever find yourself in this situation, please oh please don't say 'THIS ONE IS FOR BOYS AND THIS IS FOR GIRLS,'" begs Ryan North. "Perhaps instead say 'THIS ONE HAS A BUNCH OF INTERESTING REAL-LIFE DISASTER SURVIVAL AND THIS ONE HAS A LOT OF PERSONAL HYGIENE AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP STUFF IN IT, ALSO, TIPS ON GETTING YOUR CAT TO SIT DOWN, I DUNNO.'"

More:
http://jezebel.com/5916965/scholastic-gives-boys-survival-tips-and-girls-girly-tips

[exboyfil]

1. I think my girls would be more interested in the

boys book. Since when did James Dobson take over Scholastic?

[Ian David]

2. Scholastic has always had a right-wing bias.

Years ago, they even published an article on "Smoker's Rights" in their Scholastic Magazine for kids.

Just this year, they published a hit-piece on the proposed legislation to keep farms from exploiting child labor, that had my daughter enraged. She thought it would prevent farmers from letting their kids milk cows.

[exboyfil]

5. My daughter's read some of their books

through the book club when they were younger. I do think they run some pretty good authors (Harry Potter being the best example). I guess I really never looked closely. I will keep an eye on it in the future (probably don't need to now my daughters are really good at B.S. detection).

[lookingfortruth]

3. When did we time warp back into the 50s?

[Catherina]

4. This infuriates me

Most of the women I know would prefer the Boys Only edition.

Is anyone organizing against this? The folks at Scholastic need a good talking to.

[Ian David]

8. They already removed the books from the market in response to the outrage.

There's probably some good content, between the two books. Hopefully, it will find its way into a more appropriate format.

[Catherina]

10. Good.

I'm glad enough people are aware enough to catch these things and fight back.

[longship]

6. How to Survive for girls by Lisabeth Salander*

That would be a good one.

*For those who don't know, Salander is the heroine in Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy, known here as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but in the original Swedish was titled Män Som Hatar Kvinnor, Men Who Hate Women.

I recommend both the books, and the Swedish version of the movies, but not the English language version which horribly miscasts Lisabeth.

[laconicsax]

12. That'd be a short book.

"Zap them in the balls with a taser" can't be stretched out past a pamphlet.

[longship]

15. Well, there's always the chapter on proper use of a five iron.

Last edited Sun Jun 10, 2012, 07:43 AM - Edit history (1)

And another on the art of the tattoo.
Don't forget boxing out your weight class (co-written by Paolo Roberto).

Lots of possibilities here.

[Zorra]

13. Ooohh. I loved the English language version.

And loved Lisabeth's character, too!.


She's so....unique.

[longship]

14. Check out the Swedish movies.

I like Rooney Mara, but Noomi Repace's portrayal matches the books' characterization much better, IMHO, especially Lisabeth's actions and her extreme social withdrawal.

Plus, all three movies are available on DVD now.

[Zorra]

16. Thanks, I surely will.

ASAP.

It will be fun seeing other manifestations of Lisabeth's character. I really did love Rooney's interpretation, I believe she saw some metaphysical kindred spirit in Lisabeth that sparked something completely natural and visceral within her, and that led her to achieve an extraordinary zone/level of performance.

I loved the English version, and if the Swedish versions are equal or better, this will be a real treat for me!


And I've only very rarely seen a film that was better than the book.

Thanks!

[MH1]

7. "Tips on getting your cat to sit down" - hey I need those!

but, I've heard rumors that boys sometimes need to know that too.

(seriously, anyone who is trying to get a cat to sit down, probably ought to find something else to do, and just let the cat stand in front of the computer monitor as long as it wants to.)

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Lame.

Seriously, lame.

[Catherina]

11. Incredibly

I'm so grateful to my parents for not having imposed these gender guidelines on us.

I don't have kids so I don't keep up with this but I'm shocked this is happening in 2012. I thought we were past this.

[Catherina]

17. Today, with no thanks to jerks like Scholastic

I had to reconnect my car battery after I accidentally drained it by leaving the key in the ignition.

I thought I was doing GREAT just getting it out of there and getting it to a battery charging station since I'd read jump starting isnt the best idea. So I trudged all over my small town with the dead battery and found a place to slow charge it.

The next morning, (this morning) I picked it up, brought it home, googled aobut which connection to do first and before you could blink alarms were sounding so loud.

It took 6 google searches and subsequent attempts to luck into success.

Anyway, I'd like to thank sexist educators like the people at Scholastics who thought it was more important to teach me how to pick out the right shades for my nose.

/end of pissed of rant/