Battle of the Sexes

Today I went to Boskone 48 NEFSA's (New England Science Fiction Association) science-fiction/fantasy convention. It was my fourth year going and as always I came back energized and ready to pour more energy into my own stuff. Actually, I spent one of the panels taking notes and brainstorming ideas for Guardians of Cornerstone. I've almost reached the halfway mark and Boskone gave me the energy to push forward and finish my first draft. But, the most interesting panel I went to was about whether or not fantasy is becoming a genre geared more towards girls. I guess the question is: do boys even read any more? Well this is probably a vast over-generalization most boys I know do not read, especially not fantasy books. (With the exception of Harry Potter.) My own belief is that so much of the fantasy written by female writers is about strong, powerful, female protagonists doing stereotypically "boy" things and generally just kicking some butt. And I don't know if boys who are in the 12-15 year old age range are prepared to handle that. Well I am definitely for egalitarianism in books and all I can't help but wonder if we girls don't need the help. Even though women aren't oppressed gender roles still exist and in some ways, are encouraged. Girls often feel empowered when reading books about females who break those gender roles and excel while doing so. Boys might not like it, but the truth is that girls are capable of doing whatever they can do. It does disappoint me though to think that as a whole, girls read much more than boys do. But at the same time, when thinking about my own story, I know that boys might not like it. Am I going to change the story to make it more gender neutral? No. I believe that writers should first and foremost write for themselves and whatever else I may be, I am definitely a girl. Hopefully both genders will like my story but if I write something that I can be proud of then I will definitely be happy.