As the producer of the Pretty Tough series, I have to take issue
with these findings. Of the four books in the series currently
published by Penguin and the two scheduled to be released in 2012,
sports are never presented as a way to receive male approval. In fact
quite the opposite. None of the protagonists rely on the endorsement
or validation from a male as a prerequisite for their athletic
participation.

Although the series is fictional, the authors
are multi-sport athletes and the manuscripts are vetted by female
athletes and coaches in specific sports for accuracy prior to
publication. To suggest that sports don't create tension in the life
of a student-athlete is not only unrealistic but naive as well. I
wonder how many of the reviewers are/were athletes?

The series is designed to create relatable stories for girls dealing with a
variety of real-life issues such as perfectionism, jealousy,
acceptance, friendships/frenemies, self-esteem, rivalries and more.
The fictional setting provides a wireframe for the sports action but
the themes are universal. In developing the novels, we wanted girls to
see they can successfully balance multiple aspects of their lives and
that being pretty AND tough are not mutually exclusive. The mostly
adolescent audience is at a point where they're trying to figure out
their personal identity and the series demonstrates, by it's variety
of protagonists, that no one fits into a box. Pretty Tough has
obviously struck a chord with the target demographic as the titles
have gone into multiple printings and are extremely well-received.
Have we tackled every scenario that a female athlete faces? Not yet.
Not by a longshot. But we have created narratives that reflect the
lives of many, many girls and for a lot of them, it's the first time
they've seen themselves in a popular novel.

Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 10:07pm EST