Funny #coverflip Twitter meme highlights real problem

It all started when author Maureen Johnson tweeted a gripe about gendered book covers. Men have told her that they won't read her books, because the covers look "too girly." Her followers took up the charge, posting gender-swapped book covers under the Twitter hashtag #coverflip.

The results of gender-swapping book covers are as hilarious as they are enlightening. It may be that "you can't judge a book by its cover," but don't tell the publishing industry that. I would love it if someone could visit a bookstore and count all of the following:

• Female hands making a heart shape or gently cradling some small cute thing (female author).
• Female hands making a heart shape or gently cradling some small cute thing (male author).
• Scantily-clad women in anatomically awkward poses (female author).
• Scantily-clad women in anatomically awkward poses (male author).
• Scantily-clad men in anatomically awkward poses (female author).
• Scantily-clad men in anatomically awkward poses (male author).
• Gender-neutral book covers (female author).
• Gender-neutral book covers (male author).

Once you start looking for this, you see it everywhere. It seems that book covers are one of the last bastions of overt sexism in our society. And all it really does is hurt book sales, since men don't feel comfortable reading books with "girly" covers (whereas they might buy that book if it had a gender-neutral cover design).

Of course, this is also one of the forces which has been driving the insane popularity of the Kindle and other ebook readers. In this Huffington Post news video, the commentators engage in a frank discussion of the problems with reading books on the bus or subway. "People assume that romance novels are not for smart people," he says, and he is (sadly) right. But when you read on a Kindle, all anyone sees is that… you're reading on a Kindle.

Image courtesy Twitter/bgm