The invalidation of teenage girls and young women’s interests is nothing new.
But it’s 2024 now, people.
Some of the dislike for BookTok seems to arise from a sense of superiority.
Is it because pretentious readers look down on the genres and authors popular on BookTok?
Is it because they believe themselves above using the app itself?
I don’t know, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
This is objectively a wonderful thing!
Thats a huge number of young people who would not be reading right now if BookTok didnt exist.
According tothe Guardian, one sales assistant said, “I cant stress how much BookTok sells books.
Its driven huge sales of YA andromance books.
The demographic is almost exclusively teenage girls, but the power it has is huge.”
The invalidation of teenage girls and young women’s interests is nothing new.
But it’s 2024 now, people can’t we collectively decide to leave all that behind?
Now, I believe this is a much stronger argument than simply disparaging BookTok books as a whole.
But some readers just don’t care about literary merit, and that’s perfectly okay!
Perhaps they’re so interested in the fast pacing or the characters that they can overlook everything else.
Often, I just want a fun, fantastical read too.
We shouldn’t expect all books to be highbrow literature when many folks read purely for entertainment.
The same could be said for television; shows likeThe Vampires DiariesandGossip Girlcaptured the hearts of millions.
Did they win prestigious awards?
But that wasn’t their intention in the first place.
Additionally, the books recommended are usually centered around straight couples, despite the number of incredible queer romances.
Thankfully, you’ve got the option to intentionally invite diverse content to your feed.
I just can’t see how that’s a bad thing.
