Do you read books by authors of your own gender?

[carld]

I don't have a specific preference for male authors, but I do prefer male main characters. That does lead me to read more male than female authors as a consequence.

[ardeegee]

[pedant] My gender is masculine. My sex is male. [/pedant]

[avantman42]

I've heard before that men tend to read male authors. I've never really given any thought as to whether the authors I read are male or female, but when I came to answer this poll, I realised that almost all my books are by men. I find that realisation quite interesting, but I doubt it'll change my habits. I don't read books by men because they're by men, I read them because the subjects I want to read about tend to be written by men. I've got a series of books by Dana Jorgensen, who I think is Swedish. I've no idea if Dana is male or female, and frankly, I don't care. I do care that they're good, interesting books.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

[pedant] My gender is masculine. My sex is male. [/pedant]

That's also why I used the definitions 'women authors' and 'men authors'. The reason I used 'gender' is because to me, what people define themselves as, is more important in this respect than their physical sex (which may also be undetermined).

[BenG]

I tend to read more male authors than female. However some of my favorite authors are women. It may be simply that I read a lot of older science fiction which tends to be male-dominated.

I do consciously avoid female fantasy writers who tend to be a little more New Agey than men. I don't rule them out, there just has to be a higher level of interest in the book for me to buy it.

But I love books by Connie Willis, Andre Norton, Ursula LeGuin, Harper Lee, J.K. Rowling, Shirley Jackson, Agatha Christie, Marion Zimmer Bradley (her science fiction more than her fantasy), and Coleen McCullough (her historical fiction).

[FlorenceArt]

I just remembered one of Librarything's silly stats. Turns out 71% of the authors I registered there are male.

I don't know what the percentage of male authors in all the literature available today is, but I would guess it is at least 70%, probably more than that, so maybe my reading is a bit biased toward the feminine side compared to this, I don't know. I have been reading quite a lot of romance lately, which is usually written by women.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I don't know what the percentage of male authors in all the literature available today is, but I would guess it is at least 70%, probably more than that, so maybe my reading is a bit biased toward the feminine side compared to this, I don't know. I have been reading quite a lot of romance lately, which is usually written by women.

I made an educated guess, didn't count exactly, but still it was interesting to note that I read more men authors than I thought I did. It's always interesting to take a look at what we actually do, rather than what we assume we do - as in the article linked to in this post.

[FlorenceArt]

Here's another take on a similar question

Do women have to be naked to get into the Metropolitan Museum?

[Sparrow]

How are they defining 'nudes' - I'd have thought there would be more topless men than women (all them battle scenes - nipple count in the thousands!).

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

How are they defining 'nudes' - I'd have thought there would be more topless men than women (all them battle scenes - nipple count in the thousands!).

Look at the poster - "Modern Art sections".

However, a battle scene of naked Greeks or Celts, is generally not classified as a "nude" in the artistic sense. But we are talking about modern art anyway.

[JSWolf]

For me, I don't pick a book because of the gender of the author. I pick a book because I like the author or I think I might like the book.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

For me, I don't pick a book because of the gender of the author. I pick a book because I like the author or I think I might like the book.

Ah, but I wasn't asking that. I was asking what what happens to be the gender of the authors you read and how it relates to your own. It's not necessarily an intentional relationship (I think that would be rare). There's a definite difference.

[TGS]

[QUOTE=grzzly;1108933]
For books written by women I have the feeling there always needs to be a romance involved. /QUOTE]

Maybe you just haven't read the "right" women (not that there's anything wrong with romance!).

[speakingtohe]

Well I read books that I enjoy and I do like the odd touch of romance.
I find that many male others have romance in their novels, even action type books.
The late great Robert B. Parker, Stuart Woods, Lee Child, Lawrence Block, Jack Higgins, Charlie Huston and the list could go on for quite a bit.
Many female authors do not focus excessively on the romantic aspect. Agatha Christie, Margerie Allingham, Martha Grimes, Nevadah Bar, Kate Wilhelm
Strip away all the romantic interaction and IMO the plot becomes a bit thin especially in mysteries and thrillers.
In my younger days I read a lot of Harlequins etc. and still would if there was nothing else available, nice light reading. But I really admire authors who can keep a romance alive through a long series without it getting boring or icky.

Helen

[grzzly]

[QUOTE=TGS;1109208]

Originally Posted by grzzly

For books written by women I have the feeling there always needs to be a romance involved. /QUOTE]

Maybe you just haven't read the "right" women (not that there's anything wrong with romance!).

Could well be, I don't consider myself well read compared to most people here, but then these authors are hiding well from me