Comments on: An imaginary letter (actually, it’s a rant)

By: About a Boy « Emily Gale

About a Boy « Emily Gale — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:40:48 +0000

[...] mean article) were the comments afterwards, standing up for non-cookie-cutter boys. There was also this very good, creative response from author Lili Wilkinson, and another very good riposte by author William [...]

By: James Roy

James Roy — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:21:22 +0000

Nicely said, Lili.

The obvious response to Alexandra’s rather silly article is this: would we tolerate a male writer (of any age) writing a similarly snarly piece about the general uselessness and unlikaeblility of all teenage girls. The answer is, clearly, no. I don’t mean to patronise Alexandra, but some extent I blame the editor at The Age for letting this through. Like the infamous ‘v’ plates article, someone should have said, “Alexandra, I know you mean well, but if we publish this, it will bite you, and bite you hard. And possibly bite you again some years down the track.”

By: William Kostakis

William Kostakis — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:33:16 +0000

Well, clearly, apart from a small minority, teenage boys fall into three distinct categories: macho, metro or just plain muddled. Considering I’m ready to catch a ball five seconds after it’s hit me in the face (cross out “macho”), couldn’t coordinate an outfit if I tried (cross out “metro”), I’m just “plain muddled”. Great. She could do far worse.

By: Lucy C

Lucy C — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:12:55 +0000

You rock, Lili!

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:24:31 +0000

I think the biggest thing poor Alexandra forgot is that EDWARD CULLEN IS NOT REAL. Were I still a teenage girl, I think I’d rather have a normal teenage boy–warts and all–than pine for a fictional character.

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:22:23 +0000

I’m reading ‘Diary of a Wimpy Vampire’ at the moment. Nice antidote to Twilight.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:34:57 +0000

Megan, It’s not the first time that Alexandra’s gone all preachy about self-respect by hanging onto your “v-plates”, and being wary of those filthy teenage boys…

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/guard-your-virginity-once-lost-its-its–gone-forever-20100130-n5g9.html

By: Megan

Megan — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:11:34 +0000

I was laughing along with your post until I reached the end, where I started uttering ‘oh no, oh no’ and alas, my worst fears were realised…

Oh Alexandra, what have you done?!

By: Holly

Holly — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:53:54 +0000

Ha ha, brilliant Lili!

I’m always gobsmacked that Edward is pointed to as a sparkling example (sorry) of the perfect man when, yes, he is possessive and abusive. I look at how much damage this book has done to our perceptions of the perfect male character and how conservative we are right now with regards to sexuality in mainstream YA fiction, and I get very distressed wondering what the long-term repercussions will be.

Then I take a deep breath and remember there are wonderful authors like Lili Wilkinson writing fantastic, strong characters like Ava and that means that everything will be okay.

By: Chris Miles

Chris Miles — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:45:45 +0000

Thanks for sticking up for the teenage boys there, Lili. I’m long since past my teenage years, but I had enough to be miserable about in the girl department back then without thinking I’d need superhuman powers, sparkles and poetic cliché at my disposal to attract a belle (or Bella).

You’ve got to pity teenage boys in the Adornetto world-view: not only do they have to aspire to this gothic ideal, they’re also apparently so one-dimensional as to fit into one of three categories, none of which are presented particularly positively. Boys are people too — even if they’re not vampire people!