I Didn't Expect "The Baby-Sitter's Club" Books To Be So Relatable In My 30s, But Guess What, They Are
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Loading... - Jorge Escamilla
- 11 Apr 2022
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Shortly after Netflix announced the cancellation of its Baby-Sitter's Club series, I read an interview with showrunner Rachel Shukert that basically reached through the screen and punched me in the gut.
Shukert tells Vulture that honest stories about tween girls make people uncomfortable (think: the Turning Red discourse), which is really unfortunate because it's such a challenging and pivotal time in our lives.
And then Shukert goes on to say, "I think female audiences are trained to not take their own stories as seriously. Stuff men were obsessed with when they were nine is treated like Hamlet. How many Spider-Man movies are there? How many Star Wars?"
Not to say that people of all genders can't enjoy Star Wars or The Baby-Sitter's Club, but if you look at the way these franchises have been marketed, there's definitely a distinction. And maybe there shouldn't be.
It's so common for our culture to look down on things that mainly young girls enjoy, but that doesn't mean that they don't have value. I couldn't stop thinking about the interview, and I started to wonder what I'd find if I gave my once-beloved The Baby-Sitter's Club books another look.
TBH, I've also been trying to cut down on my doomscrolling time, and this seemed like a nice wholesome diversion. And it certainly was!
I went to the library and visited my favorite used book store to round up a nice stack of BSC classics. And I realized these books are full of stories about balancing work and life that actually still feel really relevant to me today.
In total, I read seven classic BSC books — one from the point of view of each club member. Here are the books I read, along with the things I noticed about each main character, and why they all still inspire me as a thirtysomething:1. Kristy Thomas | Kristy's Great Idea
First things first, Kristy is iconic because she's a great leader, and she's not even a tiny bit shy about it.
