eShe TV: 4 Indian novelists on female protagonists and young-adult literature

Does the younger generation look up to strong female protagonists in books? Will boys pick up books that feature girls in the lead? Who decides one kind of literature is for women and another for men? 

eShe editor Aekta Kapoor spoke to four Indian novelists on these subjects and more, in the latest episode of eShe TV.

Dr Shalini Mullick, Delhi-based pathologist, award-winning writer, and author of Stars from the Borderless Sea (2022), talks about the three female protagonists of her book who make courageous choices for their lives, even if it means going against social norms. She believes patriarchy harms men as much as women, since it stereotypes notions of masculinity and femininity, and that this bias continues in the literary world.

“Women’s writing and women protagonists have been dismissed by male writers and the male-dominated publishing industry. Look at the term ‘chicklit’ — just the way it is spoken is demeaning, meant to put off the male reader and undermine the female reader; it is meant to be a reflection on the women’s IQ. That is one very big factor in why men are not reading books by women and those with female protagonists,” she opines.

She adds that it’s been a long spell of suppression for both women writers and women readers, and change will also be gradual.

Salini Vineeth, Bengaluru-based fiction and freelance writer, author of five books, took the less beaten path when she portrayed an unconventional couple in her new book Lost Edges (2023). She speaks about a male reader who vehemently criticised her portrayal of a man crying on his wife’s shoulder, saying no educated man from a ‘good family’ would do such a thing.

“I think it was a good review because it reveals the stereotypes in the readers’ minds,” she smiles, adding that literature should portray “real men” from real life who do have vulnerabilities and weak moments, and not just be used to perpetuate cultural stereotypes.  

Dr Arva Bhavnagarwala, Mumbai-based paediatrician, fiction writer and mother to two boys, spoke about her debut novel A Little Bit of Love (2023), which features a young couple in the lead. She believes that, though traditionally, the literary market is skewed towards male readers and writers, ardent readers enjoy reading all kinds of fiction, no matter whether it’s a male or female protagonist or author.

“It’s up to us as parents to groom young boys to respect the choices of young women and to accept them in strong lead roles [in books and pop culture]. We should encourage them to read more so that they realise that this typical patriarchal mindset will not work in the future,” she opines.

Read also: Everything Changed After That: 25 Women, 25 Stories

Dr Preetha Vasan, associate professor of English literature at a premier women’s college in Bengaluru, and award-winning poet and writer, talks about the heroine in her mythological fantasy novel The Chronicles of the Crimson One (2022).

Her young-adult readers connected with the eco-feminist angle of the story. However, she feels that books with male protagonists are more likely to appeal to the larger market.

“Let’s take the Harry Potter series. Those who have read the series know that the brain in the book is really Hermoine Granger. But would the Harry Potter series have turned out as successful if Hermoine was the protagonist and not Potter?” she posits.

“Let’s face it,” she adds. “The literary canon is very patriarchal, the publishing world does privilege a male reader and a male protagonist.”

This episode is also available as a podcast.

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