Today is Star Wars Day, a celebration of all things related to one of my favorite universes. 

Growing up, I never gave much thought to what other people considered appropriate reading material (except my Mom, who was pretty strict that way). I ended up reading a lot of science fiction and fantasy, primarily Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey, and Robert A. Heinlein (because those were the books in my school's library), but many, many others as well. No one ever, ever told me to not enjoy SFF because I was a girl. No one. 

So nowadays when I hear other people say things like, "Girls don't read science fiction" or "Girls only like fantasy because of the elves," it really kinda ticks me off. First, no one has the right or authority to dictate the reading habits of anyone else (except for parents of minors). 

Second, statements like that serve one purpose and one purpose only: to exclude readers by denigrating them. This has always been a huge problem, particularly with female readers.

No, I'm not jumping on the "women are oppressed" bandwagon. I'm merely stating my observations. 

If you don't believe me, though, all you have to do is take a look at how the mainstream news media presented the recent sale of Harlequin to News Corp.: cheesy one-liners and references to bodice rippers. Harlequin is a multi-million dollar business serving a billion-and-a-half dollar a year industry (that's romance sales alone, people). Romance readers are among the most loyal and active of all book and related product consumers, and are responsible for a large portion of industry-wide (i.e. the entire book industry) sales each year. So when a major romance publisher is bought out, one would think the MSM would treat the sale with respect. 

Nope. 'Though, I'm not really surprised.

Look. I'm not trying to jump into this fray. Plenty of other people will do that and go on to produce more articulate and insightful commentary on that issue than I ever could. My horse in this fight is a love of reading. Simply put, I love to read and I want other people to share that love with me, so I do everything I can to encourage people to read. It's one reason I write. 

Just for today, I'm encouraging you to do the same thing. Give the girls in your life a good science fiction book. Look at them openly and honestly and let them know that you respect their minds and their reading habits and want to foster those habits by introducing them to new worlds. Then turn around and do the same thing for the boys in your life. If the kids you know aren't readers, then give them an audio book, but whatever you do, please don't tell them that they have to read a certain kind of book, just because they're a girl or a boy or a neon-colored alien with purple polka dots and puce stripes. No one deserves to be treated like that, not even that poor alien.

Above all, remember the awesomeness that is SciFi, on this day above all others. Go forth and read, my friends, and May the Fourth Be with You.