In Quebec, the great reader is a reader. A study commissioned by the Association of Quebec Booksellers (ALQ) reveals this reality among its figures. Readers who read at least 12 paper books last year are 75% women. On the sidelines of 46e Montreal Book Fair, almost taboo questions: Why do men read fewer books than women? If we want to get boys to read, why don’t we look at the (non)-reading of their father, their first model?
“At all times, in Quebec, women have made up the majority of the readership,” responds immediately to these data the sociologist of literature Marie-Pier Luneau.
“And this is true for all eras. Still, it’s fascinating to see these current figures,” continues the professor at the University of Sherbrooke.
These figures were hidden between the lines of the‘Study on online book consumption habits and behaviors, produced by the firm SOM. They come from a survey carried out in March 2023 for the ALQ, which had more than 1,000 respondents.
We also learn that among the readers whose main leisure activity over the last 12 months has been reading, without reference to the format, paper or digital, there are 66% women, as confirmed by Duty Vincent Bouchard, from SOM.
How is it that men and women in Quebec read so differently? The duty was turned down a surprising number of interview requests for this question.
“We don’t really like to address these gender issues in reading,” analyzes Marie-Pier Luneau, also director of the Group for Research and Studies on Books in Quebec. ” It’s delicate. »
Delicate ? ” Yes. In history, when books or genres are read overwhelmingly by women, they are automatically devalued. Easy example: the sentimental novel,” illustrates the researcher.
“At the beginning, it was not an essentially feminine genre. During the classical era in France [de 1661 à 1685], women and men wrote about it. Men read it. The Princess of Clève (1678), by Mme by Lafayette, became a literary classic because everyone read it. »
“When women started reading sentimental novels en masse, it became industrialized, and it was devalued. »
In light of this past, to say today that readers are in fact readers, “is not thefun » because we still risk symbolically devaluing reading, popularizes Mme Luneau.
“And if we say that men don’t read, that’s not the case.fun either, because it is demeaning for them. No one wants to be seen as a non-reader, neither in Quebec society nor elsewhere. »
Man’s readings
The statistic remains: only 25% of men are avid readers. Should we understand that 75% do not read? Or that they read something other than books — magazines, newspapers, social media posts?
“It’s the bias of all these surveys on reading,” replies Marie-Pier Luneau. “Basically, we don’t agree on what reading a book is. Take the example of Car guide, continues the sociologist. It is very possible that a reader surveyed did not count it, because for him, it does not represent a “real book”. »
“The whole relationship with books in Quebec has long been divided by fiction,” continues the researcher. For my father, for example, who was a baby boomer, reading a novel is a waste of time. »
“He can read a biography or a documentary. He is not alone: traditionally, we believed that everything that is an essay or documentary will be useful to society. It’s an old speech. »
Marie-Pier Luneau takes a historical detour: “In the 19the century, at the beginning of Quebec literature, the journalist Étienne Parent made harsh remarks about the novel. He encouraged young writers, if they absolutely wanted to “waste their time” on letters, to “at least write studies, essays, but above all not novels”. »
The ABCs of girls who read everything
The difference between men’s and women’s reading doesn’t really surprise elementary reading and writing teaching teacher Rachel DeRoy-Ringuette. “Quebec studies which distinguish between the reading practices of boys and girls are dated,” first specifies the specialist from the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières.
Mme DeRoy-Ringuette is willing to risk thinking. “Monique Lebrun, in 2004 (that’s almost 20 years ago!), published a study where, according to ministry data from 1994 (that’s almost 30 years ago!), guys read less than girls. »
In primary school, we read that 63% of boys read “a lot or a lot”, compared to 73% of girls. In secondary school, there were only 33% boys and 56% girls in this niche. The averages were established by The duty based on data from the different primary and secondary cycles.
Also, in 2014 — almost ten years ago — professor at the University of Sherbrooke Marie-France Morin asked primary and secondary school students if they saw their mother or father reading. ” Surprise ! Mothers read more! » recalls Mme DeRoy-Ringuette.
“In short, these different data paint a relatively old picture, from 20 or 30 years ago. But we can extrapolate that these teenagers are adults now, right? » the specialist in children’s literature reflects out loud.
The study of Mme Morin also observed reading interests. Rather diverse among girls, throughout school. “Whereas boys’ tastes are more polarized. According to this study, boys at the time showed a greater interest in comics and documentaries. The older ones clearly preferred science fiction novels,” summarizes Rachel DeRoy-Ringuette.
Find the differences
“The danger of these questions is to reduce reading to gender differences,” expresses Marie-Pier Luneau. We are now so cautious towards anything that could be essentialist that we no longer see that we are engaging in double talk. »
She continues: “I recently heard teaching specialists in France who say that at school, there would be no difference between the reading preferences of little boys and little girls. »
“We are in a movement where, saying this, we advocate diversity in children’s literature. We are going to include female pirate and female superhero characters. While we also have studies which show that young girls and young boys do not read the same thing at all. »
Paradox, then. “Are we encouraging diversity? Or are we losing the boys along the way? » asks the literature specialist cautiously. “We can ask the question in these two ways. »