Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
Not too long ago I read a YA book by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera titled “What If It’s Us”…a fantastic teen rom-com that takes place in New York. (here is the link to that review if you’re interested: https://brainglitterwithdani.com/what-if-its-us/)
After I finished that book, this one popped up as a recommended read.
I placed it on my library wait list waaaayyyy back in March and it *just* came thru, yall 😑
WHY DOES THE WAIT LIST TAKE SO DANG LONG?!?!?
I absolutely enjoyed so much about this story ….but there was ONE thing that REALLY gave me pause and question my enjoyment.
Here is the official summary and then we will get into my thoughts:
“Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.
Incredibly funny and poignant, this twenty-first-century coming-of-age, coming out story—wrapped in a geek romance—is a knockout of a debut novel by Becky Albertalli.”
First I’m gonna tell yall some of the things I really liked about this book….and then I’m gonna get into the one BIG issue that I am wrestling with.
Simon–aka “Jacques”—and “Blue” are both students at the same high school who anonymously met each other (hence the made up nicknames) due to a post on their school’s Tumblr account (which I honestly still have NO IDEA what that is or how that works….I am so behind the times in technology, yall….I still haven’t gotten Instagram figured out and I won’t even GO THERE with the TikTok nonsense🤣 My age is showing FOR SURE)
Both boys have not told anyone around them that they are gay…and they find support and solace in each other as they begin communicating thru email.
Following them as they get to know each other thru daily emails is fun and heartwarming. Totally had that “You’ve Got Mail” type of romance vibe.
They flirt, tell about their families, make up inside jokes, support each other thru difficult moments and get deep on many personal levels…while at the same time keeping their TRUE identity under wraps.
Simon is adorbs and I just completely loved his character in all it’s unique and geeky wonderfulness.
All the angst related to being a teen in high school is here—the struggle to figure out who you are, the changing dynamic with your parents, the constant assessment of the social hierarchy, the tight circle of friends you hang with on the reg—something I could remember so vividly and brought back all kinds of memories…good and bad.
Also Simon is in a school play throughout the book so there is plenty of talk of line memorization, cast member drama and goofy things theatre kids do during those many hours at after school rehearsals. When he talked about that special sense of close knit community you feel when doing a play, my heart lurched with fond memories of my own high school theatre experience. 🥰
But something I obviously could NOT relate to and have NO IDEA how it feels to experience is all the emotions and struggles of maneuvring high school life as a gay teen….the fear, the questions, the struggle…and then the freedom filled feeling of acceptance, for self and from loved ones.
It’s got to be just so so so tough on a level I will never be able to fully understand.
But I imagine that having YA books like this may be really helpful to teens who are going thru similar experiences. To show them they are not alone…they are not “wrong”….they are not “weird.” They are loved and wonderful and perfect human beings just as they are.
There needs to be more things created to help pave the way to normalizing and representing LGBTQ+ people in media—not just in books, but in movies, TV shows, etc.
And that brings me to my big time problem with this book.
The author of this story is a straight, cis gender woman.
I am feeling some kinda way about her voice telling this story.
I confess that I did not even start thinking about that until I was halfway thru this book….I never even thought to look up more info about the author before I started reading. My bad on that…because I realize now that is quite an important thing to do.
Right at the halfway point of this book, I had this thought of “Wait a sec….this book is written by a woman. Is she gay? Or is she not? And if she IS heterosexual, how in the world does she think she is qualified to write about how it feels to be a male teenager just coming to terms with his true identitiy?”
So yall know I went to the Googles.
I discovered she is NOT gay.
And that got my brain going.
Because here are the questions that started tumbling around:
Who should be the voices that tell stories of marginalized people?
Even when stories are fiction, is it okay for voices that are NOT part of the community they are writing about to write about very real experiences that people ARE going thru without having an ounce of first hand knowledge of it?
In my opinion…..the only voices who should be telling the stories from marginalized communities are their OWN.
I know I know…I can hear some of yall saying “But it’s FICTION. What about creativity? Should authors only write from a perspective that they personally know? I mean, does that mean men can’t write from women’s perspectives either?”
I do believe in creative license and creating art has all kinds of various nuances and perspectives.
I mean, people can write whatever the hell they want.
BUT…. just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
And sometimes the thing you DO– even if good intentioned– can cause extreme harm to other human beings and community groups.
I am not cool with people putting words and emotions to things they can NEVER have any idea AT ALL what it’s like to experience.
Unrelated personal thing (but also kinda related): I can NOT STAND when male authors write from a female perspective and talk about ANYTHING having to do with our bodies….ESPECIALLY intimate things, like sexual relationships. I also HAAATTEEE this in movies too….because you ALWAYS ALWAYS can tell if a man wrote the love scene and not a woman….I’m always like “Okay our bodies DO NOT WORK LIKE THAT AT ALL. We would NEVER be able to DO THAT in the time frame that scene took place.”🙄 This creates ALL KINDS of problematic and unrealistic expectations in real life relationships AND in self esteem/body image issues for real life women.
ANYWAY….I could go on about THAT toxic nonsense for awhile…but let me get back to what I was originally addressing.
When I went to Google to look up this author and to find specific critiques on this book, some of what I found was highly esteemed praise from many in the LGBTQ+ community. Many reviews and social media commentary I saw expressed gratitude that stories such as this one as being brought into the spotlight FINALLY.
But what I also discovered the opposite….and I discovered there was a movement created about this very thing called #OwnVoices, which has been around since 2015.
As always, I am late to the party on this and was not aware of it….I continue to learn new things EVERY DAY that teach me and grow me.
Here is an explanation of the movement that I found on Google:
“#OwnVoices is a term coined by the writer Corinne Duyvis, and refers to an author from a marginalized or under-represented group writing about their own experiences/from their own perspective, rather than someone from an outside perspective writing as a character from an underrepresented group.”
I went to Corinne Duyvis’ website to read up more about this movement.
Here are some of her own words about it:
“People can write about whatever they want; whether they should is a valid and complex discussion to have — a discussion that’s separate from the definition of the term #ownvoices, which is what this page is about.
Getting to write what you want goes both ways. However, it’s disingenuous to pretend these are similar conversations. Historically speaking, it’s extremely common for marginalized characters to be written by authors who aren’t part of that marginalized group and who are clueless despite having good intentions. As a result, many portrayals are lacking at best and damaging at worst. Society tends to favor privileged voices even regarding a situation they have zero experience with, and thus those are the authors that get published.
All #ownvoices does is center the voices that matter most.”
All the things she said up there is why I was feeling weird about this author writing this story.
Becky Albertalli is a clinical psychologist who worked with many teens who are LGBTQ+ for numerous years…so she has been in close proximity, relationship and collaboration (the author she co-wrote “What If It’s Us” with is a gay male author) with many in the community.
BUT….proximity does NOT equal experience.
And listen….no community or people group is monolithic.
I totally acknowledge that the opinions on this will vary greatly in the LGBTQ+ community, whether it is approval or disapproval or indifference.
But IDK yall…
I feel how I feel about it….authors who are NOT part of a marginalized group should NOT profit from stories they create about an experience they will NEVER know about firsthand.
How could she know what it feels like to hide who you love from the world?
How could she know what it feels like to be bullied for who you love?
How could she know what it feels like to live in a world where every single message and image that is thrown in your face in the media tells tells you that straight relationships are expected and “normal”?
How could she know how it feels to worry about the safety of your life just from walking down the street holding hands with your significant other?
I don’t care how many clients she has talked to or friends or relatives she has that HAVE experienced those things….she herself HAS NOT.
So…that’s where I’m at with this book. 🤷♀️
From here on out, I will be sure that when I read a book (even a fictional one) written about LGBTQ+ people, that the person who wrote it is part of the community.
(I know that a movie has been created based on this book, but IDK yet if I’ll check it out due to that very fact….looks like I gotta do research on the screenplay writer, director and actors first.)