By Zoe Robinson
While Carson Tinkler has his preferred books and authors, he’s happy to read any book as long as it’s good. And while he likes being able to relate to the characters in the book, he has no complaints as long as he can learn something from them.
This is part of the reason why it’s been so easy for him to be the only boy in our AP Literature class, “Squad Goals,” which focuses largely on female-centric stories.
While he admits that he “should’ve known [that the class would be all girls] because the syllabus literally says it’s ‘female focused,’” what appealed to him were the books themselves.
So far, we’ve read Passing and The Wolves, both of which focus on the dynamics between close women. Despite certain elements of those stories being foreign to him, like the mention of period syncing in The Wolves (if you’re not sure what this means, ask your mom, sister, or biology teacher), he’s there to enjoy the stories, which he has so far.
We’ve been reading All the Pretty Horses, the only male-centric story in our class curriculum, and, while I expected to hear more insight from him with this particular book, his level of input has remained the same. While we do ask him every so often if he has any thoughts on the close male friendship the book centers around, he‘s been trying to pay equal attention to this book as he has to the female-centered ones we’ve read. “I’ve been able to relate to every main character we’ve read about this year, so I like this book just as much as the other ones,” he said.
Another reason he’s enjoying the class so much is that he doesn’t have his friends there to distract him. He loves having classes with his guy friends, but “guys can sometimes be goofy,” he reminded me (he didn’t need to).
While he believes that girls and boys are equally smart, the energy in an all-male or mostly male class is significantly more chaotic. “I feel like I can really lock in,” he told me. He said he’s still excited to see his guy friends in his other classes.
Carson said that it’s really important to have experiences that expand his worldview beyond what he already knows. He not only wants to be able to empathize with and be a good friend to everyone he meets, but also to become a better person.
He also believes that doing so will help him grow as an actor. It already has, in certain ways, as part of his job as an Honors Theater student includes reading and analyzing plays. In theater class, he’s reading the plays to work on his acting, but in AP Lit, he’s really getting to the core of the characters. “My acting in class was crap, I’m gonna be honest,” he told me, “but I think any of the plays I analyze help me as an actor.”
He’s also been able to understand female characters way better through the stories he’s read, which have made him a better scene partner, as well as an individual actor.
Since Carson is really proud of the progress he has made because of the class, I wanted to get input from the rest of our class to see if they agree, and the consensus was pretty positive.
While many of us didn’t expect to see a boy in our class, nobody’s upset by it. “I thought only girls could take the class, so I was surprised,” one student said. Another student even admired his bravery, saying, “I was the only girl in my original AP Lit class, and I immediately switched out, so I read it as very brave that he stayed in here.”
They also admire how easy it is to talk with him in female-focused discussions, like ones about periods, for example, and that it’s almost like exposure therapy for him.
“This is why everyone wants to date a guy who has a sister, because all this stuff is normalized and you can talk to him about it,” One student said. Another added, “With other guys I would feel judged, but not with him.”
Even our teacher, Ms. Modak, said she’s so happy that having a singular guy in class has been so positive. “I’m glad it’s all worked out so well,” she said.
At the end of our interview, we took a vote on how we feel about Carson in our class, and the decision was unanimous: we approve of him being there. It’s been a positive experience for all of us, and we’re happy that it’s been a positive experience for him.
“By the end of the semester, he’ll be a green-flag male,” someone said, and I feel inclined to agree.
