Does the Writers Gender Matter?

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Bunny

Marketing Team

6,253 Posts
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12:49pm Sun, Oct 14, 2012

QuirkyJessi (02:58pm Fri, Oct 12, 2012)
SifuPhil (12:06pm Fri, Oct 12, 2012)
Nice find.

I knew about Lovecraft, Benson and Andrews but not the others - The Babysitter's Club was somehow omitted from my reading lists ...

I can't imagine why. I, on the other hand, read at least a couple dozen of them, if not more. Thinking back on the story lines and seeing them as actually being written by a man is a little creepy. He did a good job, though, I suppose.

After seeing this, and knowing in the past it did play an important role (many women using male names and the like), does it play a role for todays writers?

We've come a long way, where both genders are able to write and publish as their gender, but I wonder if there are still hurdles yet to be jumped over.

QuirkyJessi

Fuzzy Kid Bunny

477 Posts
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I think it still matters to a certain extent. Yes, female writers can get published and become very popular, no doubt. I do still see some judging based on gender at times, at least in the US and online in general, so I don't think it's a complete "non-issue" yet.

Sandra Piddock

Fluffy Baby Bunny

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I'd agree with Jessi that there is still a sort of differentiation between what is expected from writers based on gender. I think that mindset had a lot to do with the hype around 50 Shades of Grey. People were amazed that a woman could know about BDSM and actually write about it.

QuirkyJessi

Fuzzy Kid Bunny

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Sandra Piddock (05:47am Mon, Oct 15, 2012)
I think that mindset had a lot to do with the hype around 50 Shades of Grey. People were amazed that a woman could know about BDSM and actually write about it.

The opposite was true, too. Have you seen some of the Amazon reviews for it? They rip it apart:

http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Shades-Grey-Book-Trilogy/dp/0345803485

Which means because she was a female, she also got the criticism about how a woman can only write complete trash, was only successful because it was about sex and not because she was a quality writer at all, that all she did was repeat herself (just like a woman), on and on and on.

Sandra Piddock

Fluffy Baby Bunny

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Maybe some of those reviewers could do it better themselves? The thing is, who's laughing all the way to the bank? Not the reviewers or the detractors, that's for sure. It must really smart to know that E. L. James is pulling in around £6,000 an hour for what they refer to as 'trash.'

J. K. Rowling used to get a lot of similar treatment over Harry Potter. Sexism is alive and well, and living in a bookstore near you, it seems.

QuirkyJessi

Fuzzy Kid Bunny

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Sandra Piddock (01:08pm Thu, Oct 18, 2012)
J. K. Rowling used to get a lot of similar treatment over Harry Potter. Sexism is alive and well, and living in a bookstore near you, it seems.

Yep, exactly. So even when they make it huge occasionally, that means they're up for even more criticism. Every author is really, but you don't usually see male authors criticized about their writing *because* they're men. Ah well.

Bunny

Marketing Team

6,253 Posts
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So I guess it's still seen as a male profession?

On our site we have a 1:1.1 male to female ratio - but that could be cause we're girly or something....maybe ha ha.

Sandra Piddock

Fluffy Baby Bunny

132 Posts
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Where's SifuPhil? We could do with his input here. Or is he still trying to advertise his services on Fiverr? Maybe he got a lot of takers, and he's too exhausted to hit the keyboard.

Bunny

Marketing Team

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I thought he was more rabbit-like than any of us!

Triss

Fluffy Baby Bunny

134 Posts
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I suppose the gender of a writer still matters. Most of my male friends wouldn't read any female writing. It's interesting that girls rarely think of the writer's gender when they're reading a particular book. It's true that female writers tend to describe the feelings better than male writers, though (at least in my opinion).

Ryder13

Washed Heathen

191 Posts
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Sandra Piddock (05:47am Mon, Oct 15, 2012)
I'd agree with Jessi that there is still a sort of differentiation between what is expected from writers based on gender. I think that mindset had a lot to do with the hype around 50 Shades of Grey. People were amazed that a woman could know about BDSM and actually write about it.

This title goes back a bit but The Story of O was definitely hot and kinky and was written by a woman, Pauline Reage. This French novel dealt with S & M and B & D. It was also made into a film.
As well, Anne Rice wrote a series of books which were erotica, and I think were also S & M. I think they were titled the Beauty trilogy after the fairy tale. Really. So the critics who were so surprised that 50 Shades was penned by a woman obviously need to brush up on their history of erotic literature, because these were pretty big titles. I am sure there are more but these are certainly not obscure.
Ryder13

Ryder13

Washed Heathen

191 Posts
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BTW at the start of this there is a mention of Lovecraft in what seems to be a quote of a post. I am not sure where the Lovecraft reference comes in. I am a bit of a fan of Lovecraft. A bit of a strange figure in many ways. But I am sort of curious where he comes in on this thread.
Ryder13

Victor Leigh

Fluffy Baby Bunny

156 Posts
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I think women have the advantage when they make it as writers.

Let's say "Fifty Shades" was written by a man. Then the reviews would just talk about the book and its contents. I doubt if there would be much ado about nothing over the gender of the writer. However, since "Fifty Shades" was written by a woman, there are reviews about the book and its content. Then there's a debate about whether a woman should have written about such things.

So when a woman makes it as a writer, she gets, more or less, twice the amount of publicity.

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