[Kath]

1) What these women are talking about?
I have no idea! I have always loved The Hobbit, and have certainly never seen it as a 'boys only' adventure story. There may well only be males in it but just look at the time in which it was written for reasons why that is. But then, I suppose, that could be part of their reasoning (if they have any). The book was written in what many women feel was a sexist period, with women having very few rights of their own, and being seen as baby machines that stayed at home and looked after the family. Therefore it makes sense that in a story written then it would be the males that went off on these adventures.

Saying all that though, we have to remember that the book was written for Tolkien's sons. Tolkien was obviously trying to write a book that he thought would appeal to them, and so he wrote small male characters (hobbits and dwarves) as the lead roles. It is a children's story, and if that is their objection to it you can't do much about that. It was written to be enjoyed by children, though there is no reason that adults shouldn't like it either.

Is it really true that none of them have ever read it? Because with a class of say 20, it's reasonable to think that at least one would have. It is possible that whoever spoke about peer pressure is right, and that the reason they have no good explanations for why they dislike the books is that they have none, they're just agreeing with the 'cool' people in the class so as not to be seen as an outsider.

If though they really see it as a boys adventure that they can't get into because they can't identify with the characters, try asking them what books they do identify with, and then see how many female characters there are in those. If there some then see how they are portrayed, and if they are weak and reliant on the whims of the males in the story, ask them then whether they would prefer to be excluded completely or go back to being seen as those stay-at-home baby machines with no wills of their own.

And though you didn't really ask, I'll say now that I love Treasure Island and always have. The old pirate stories were always some of my favourites, and the fact that there were rarely any women in them had no bearing on whether I like them or not. And I'll bet every one of your students likes Pirates of the Caribbean, but isn't a great fan of Elizabeth.


2) Why you like the book, despite your being a woman?
I don't really know because I can't remember a time when I didn't know and like it. I know that my father read it to me when I was little, and then gave it to me to read for myself when I was 7. I think it may have helped that I was always into the fantasy adventure stories, having read and been read Narnia from about the same age. To me it doesn't matter the gender of the people in the story, just that you can read and enjoy it for the story itself. The Hobbit is a good book! It has characters and events that make you laugh, cry, be angry or even be scared, and any book that can engender such a range of emotions must be well written. But maybe it's necessary to have read it from a young age, because a lot of people that read it for the first time as an adult seem not to enjoy it, often because they have read LotR first and find it far more childish, which of course it is. Also, I think I like it because the first time I heard it was when my dad read it to me. It is a book given to being read aloud, with much more dialogue and less description than LotR, so when you hear it you are transported into this imaginary world more so than when you read it, because you don't have to concentrate on looking at the words on the page.

3) How I can present The Hobbit in class in such a way as to engage those women who find it so unappealing?
Until they can give you real reasons as to why they find it unappealing there's not much you can do. But looking at some of the suggestions on here about making them find the history behind it, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea. They may well resent you for it since they are already against the book, but it might help to broaden their minds a little. You could also try getting them to look at the King Arthur stories and the Mabinogian, which I found similar to Tolkien in a way though more advanced than The Hobbit. If you could make them see that both come from myths and legends, and that the ways they have been used are simply to create different writing styles it might help.

Yes I am clutching at straws now, I just don't understand the quite widespread dislike of this poor unassuming book!