Media Feels Like it’s Losing the PLot About Books & Reading

I swore I was done writing about books and reading, but it’s dawned on me that media is treating both like the new popular kids everyone wants to hang with. While it’s great that communities like #BookTok and #Bookstagram exist, articles with headlines like “Miu Miu Is Making Books the New Fashion Status Symbol” feel tone-deaf. Instead of having a knee-jerk reaction, I actually read it and discovered it was highlighting the fashion brand’s literary club.

Having just come up for air after living and breathing book club conversations, I think it’s great more people are creating their own reading communities. The U.S. does have a literacy problem after all, so encouraging people to read is something I’ll always champion. It’s just…the U.S. has a literacy problem which makes books the opposite of being a mere status symbol in my honest opinion. And if they are, what are they symbolizing and who gets to enjoy them based on fashion’s standards?

@iamjasminejenai Are books fashion’s newest status symbol? Share your thoughts! #books #reading #booktok #bookstagram #blackgirlsreadtoo ♬ original sound - iamjasminejenai

Let’s Talk About the Literacy Rate

I wrote about why ‘Reading is More Than an “It Girl” Hobby’ in February, but I didn’t think I’d reflect on what I’d written again this soon. According to the National Literacy Institute, 54% of adults had a literacy below a 6th-grade level with 20% falling below 5th grade. That means a little over half of the adults in America’s society are unable to read and comprehend beyond the first year of middle school.

Do you know how old 6th graders typically are? We’re talking about between 10 and 11 years old. You know, children whose brains are still developing socially, emotionally, mentally, etc? To know the literacy rate hasn’t improved since then feels like we’re living during a societally abysmal time even with the rise of said reading communities.

Do You Remember When reading Was Illegal?

Though reading is being hailed as a cool hobby, there was a period of time when it was considered illegal for slaves [read: Black people]. “Southern slave states enacted anti-literacy laws between 1740 and 1834, prohibiting anyone from teaching enslaved and free people of color to read or write,” (via Oakland Literacy Coalition). These laws were a direct fearful response to the possibility of another “slave uprising” after the events of the “Stono Rebellion” because “Plantation owners feared that literate slaves could write and use forged documents to gain their freedom.” The purpose of said laws were not only to keep slaves on plantations, but they were also designed to strip them of their identities which led to some enslaved people developing Stockholm Syndrome.

What’s the point?

How does this relate to books being considered fashion’s newest status symbol? Well, it reads like a buzzy, yet dismissive headline that doesn’t consider reading’s history in America. Beyond that, too many people gloss over the fact that reading books wasn’t always considered cool or fashionable for that matter. Sure, elitist groups know that education is just a portion of society’s uphill battle, but smaller communities in society weren’t always championing things like hanging out at libraries and having conversations with librarians about the joy of reading. I was born in the ‘90s so I know.

Realistically, what’s next? Are we going to start seeing a rise in authors partnering with exclusive designer houses to publish books for more than the current $20+ sticker price? Are readers going to see book clubs peddling membership fees to be a part of cool literary communities for X amount of money? It makes me wonder if reading will become so cool in the media’s eyes that it becomes inaccessible to different socioeconomic groups…

I hope not, but I guess it depends on what the media giants decide.