Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > Reading Recommendations

Notices

View Poll Results: Do you generall prefer to read books by authors of you own gender?
I'm a woman and prefer to read books by women authors 17 8.17%
I'm a woman and prefer to read books by men authors 4 1.92%
I'm a woman and there is no clear gender bias to the authors I read 64 30.77%
I'm a man and prefer to read books by men authors 26 12.50%
I'm a man and prefer to read books by women authors 4 1.92%
I'm a man and there is no clear gender bias to the authors I read 86 41.35%
My gender is undetermined, and I read books primarily by women authors 0 0%
My gender is undetermined, and I read books primarily by men authors 1 0.48%
My gender is undetermined, and there is no clear gender bias to the authors of the books I read 6 2.88%
Voters: 208. You may not vote on this poll

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 09-14-2010, 03:28 AM   #1
Ea
Wizard
Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Ea's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,490
Karma: 5239563
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Denmark
Device: Kindle 3|iPad air|iPhone 4S
Do you read books by authors of your own gender?

A discussion here about men and women authors and male and female readership made me curious about whether people primarily read authors of their own gender.

So taking into account both the gender of the authors you read in general - as well as your favourite authors - is there a bias towards a gender, and is it the same as you own?
Edit: I think I should add that the questions are about what gender the authors of what you read happen to be, and not if it's a conscious choice on your part.

At first I thought, yes, I read more women authors than men, but when I looked at my book case and calibre library, and also trying to add my favourite authors to the equation, I think I end up with roughly half of each.

I am adding favourite authors to the question as it also says something about what we like. For example, one's favourite author may not necessarily have written a lot of books and hence won't feature largely with regards to amount.

Last edited by Ea; 09-17-2010 at 05:03 AM.
Ea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 04:08 AM   #2
dreams
It's about the umbrella
dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.dreams ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
dreams's Avatar
 
Posts: 25,112
Karma: 56250158
Join Date: Jan 2009
Device: Sony 505| K Fire | KK 3G+Wi-Fi | iPhone 3Gs |Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF
My books are about 50/50 and the same with favorite authors of all the books I own.

Now, if I had to reduce my collection to 50 books or less, it ends up being mostly male authors.
dreams is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 09-14-2010, 05:36 AM   #3
FlorenceArt
High Priestess
FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
FlorenceArt's Avatar
 
Posts: 5,761
Karma: 5042529
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreuil sous bois, France
Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus
Uh?

OK, MR won't let me post a message with only "uh" in it, so I guess I need to elaborate a little.

I guess that's another one of these questions about books that baffle me, such as genre. What I care about in a book, ultimately, is whether it touches me or not. I must admit to some bias, when selecting books to read, as there are some kind of books that I automatically assume will annoy me, or just not touch me, and I may miss some good books that way. But gender? Why would the gender of the author have any impact on whether or not I will like it? Or their sexual preference, their age, the color of their skin, the part of the world they come from, whether they have all their body parts or some are missing?

I might have more difficulties reading a book written by someone with a culture and history extremely different from mine, because I would not understand their references, just as I am often baffled by the Bible whenever I try to read it. But contrary to the theories of some pop psychology pseudo-gurus, men and women do NOT live on different planets.

If I can read a book written 2 or 4 thousand years ago and relate to it (even if some parts baffle me a little), I can read something written by a contemporary male and relate to it.

I might get something different from it than a man would, or maybe not. But that's what (good) literature is: an exchange, a contact between different people. When I read, I'm not looking for a mirror, or an imagined version of myself. I am looking for echoes of myself in others, things that can trigger my imagination and that I can link to my own experience, but without being me. If not, I could just write my own book and read only that, couldn't I? Only nobody does that, because it would be incredibly boring.

Reading is a kind of contact with the other. It's a way of feeling and coming to terms with how alien and alike we all are to each other, and that goes way beyond gender differences.

I'm not sure all of the above makes sense, but then, after all, I'm a woman, so I'm not expected to make sense, am I?
FlorenceArt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 05:52 AM   #4
Over
Wizard
Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Over's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,462
Karma: 6061516
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Cascais, Portugal
Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2", OnePlus 6
I would say that 80-90% of my library have male author books. There are excelent women authors, but my own experience showed me that in most cases, I don't resonate very much with most women author's books I've read.

Curious enough, there's female authors in my top favourite books.
Over is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 05:55 AM   #5
Maggie May
Grand Sorcerer
Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Maggie May ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Maggie May's Avatar
 
Posts: 8,907
Karma: 87755439
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Ireland
Device: CYbook Gen3 and Sony PRS 3505 Kindle 3 G Nexus 7 iPad
About 90% of my eBooks are written by female authors, mainly American. There's no particular reason for this except the genre I like to read (murder, mystery, romance) is mainly written by women authors.

Mag.
Maggie May is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 09-14-2010, 05:56 AM   #6
jhempel24
Wizard
jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
jhempel24's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,157
Karma: 7068605
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro
I'm one that can't stand books by female authors (with a VERY few exceptions)....no offense...it's just the writing style, too much romance, I don't need to read 2-3 pages on how they are screwing...women can't seem to write action scenes as well as men, and the pacing of their books just doesn't seem right to me.

Female authors that I DO enjoy:
Alex Kava
JK Rowling (yeah, like Harry Potter, sue me)
Margaret Weiss (when paired with Tracy Hickman)
jhempel24 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 05:57 AM   #7
Ea
Wizard
Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Ea's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,490
Karma: 5239563
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Denmark
Device: Kindle 3|iPad air|iPhone 4S
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlorenceArt View Post
Uh?

....
You sound annoyed by my question.... You don't find it a valid point to look into?

I made this poll because I see statements such as that women read both male and female authors, while men apparently tend to prefer male authors. I thought it could be interesting to get an impression of the state of things here at MR.

While I think gender ought not to mean anything and my ideal is a gender neutral society, in real life and in practise it does mean a lot anyway. It's questions worth looking into and discussing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by FlorenceArt View Post
I'm not sure all of the above makes sense, but then, after all, I'm a woman, so I'm not expected to make sense, am I?
And where did this come from? edit: It gives me the impression that you are angry/annoyed and perhaps think my question is stupid. It gives me the impression that you are for some reason angry and annoyed by the question. I don't quite understand why. I felt mildly attacked.

Last edited by Ea; 09-14-2010 at 06:00 AM.
Ea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 06:19 AM   #8
FlorenceArt
High Priestess
FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
FlorenceArt's Avatar
 
Posts: 5,761
Karma: 5042529
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreuil sous bois, France
Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus
Quote:
Originally Posted by jhempel24 View Post
I'm one that can't stand books by female authors (with a VERY few exceptions)....no offense...it's just the writing style, too much romance, I don't need to read 2-3 pages on how they are screwing...women can't seem to write action scenes as well as men, and the pacing of their books just doesn't seem right to me.

Female authors that I DO enjoy:
Alex Kava
JK Rowling (yeah, like Harry Potter, sue me)
Margaret Weiss (when paired with Tracy Hickman)
How many female authors have you actually read?

You don't like romance and you don't like to read about screwing, OK, I can understand that. But assuming that just because a woman is writing, those two elements will be present... that's just not true.

I can give you some examples of books written by women where there is no or very little romance. Margaret Atwood comes to mind. As for the screwing, that's very easy. Anything written before the 20th century, and much of what was written in the first half of the 20th, whether written by men or women, has absolutely no screwing at all.

Can't talk about the action scenes though, as I am not that interested in them myself.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ea View Post
You sound annoyed by my question.... You don't find it a valid point to look into?

I made this poll because I see statements such as that women read both male and female authors, while men apparently tend to prefer male authors. I thought it could be interesting to get an impression of the state of things here at MR.

While I think gender ought not to mean anything and my ideal is a gender neutral society, in real life and in practise it does mean a lot anyway. It's questions worth looking into and discussing.


And where did this come from? edit: It gives me the impression that you are angry/annoyed and perhaps think my question is stupid. It gives me the impression that you are for some reason angry and annoyed by the question. I don't quite understand why. I felt mildly attacked.
Well yes, the question annoyed me, but it doesn't mean that you were wrong to ask. What annoys me, really, is the assumptions people make about men and women (such as the one I replied to above). I'm sorry you felt attacked, and it's certainly not personal. The whole subject of men and women tends to switch me into an aggressive mode.
FlorenceArt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 06:20 AM   #9
FlorenceArt
High Priestess
FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
FlorenceArt's Avatar
 
Posts: 5,761
Karma: 5042529
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreuil sous bois, France
Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlorenceArt View Post
Anything written before the 20th century, and much of what was written in the first half of the 20th, whether written by men or women, has absolutely no screwing at all.
Well, there are exceptions of course. I understand Sade has some screwing around in his book, and guess what... he was a man
FlorenceArt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 07:02 AM   #10
grzzly
Enthusiast
grzzly began at the beginning.
 
grzzly's Avatar
 
Posts: 37
Karma: 12
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Germany
Device: Kindle 3
I barely read any books by women at all now that I come to think of it. Not that I would avoid them on purpose, but I actually hardly have any in my bookshelf or in my database. Also, when I think of my favorite pieces, they are all by men.

In that sense it was an interesting poll as it made me realize this.

In writing I think it is more important than in other kinds of art as one finds it much easier to relate to the problems, hopes, dreams of the author/ his heroes if they remotely resemble one's own. This is more likely to happen with authors of the same sex. You can tell me as often as you want that men and women ought to be treated the same way and are basically the same and there's no difference between the two, but ultimately there is, and a considerable one at that.

For books written by women I have the feeling there always needs to be a romance involved. I can't think of an example where this wouldn't have been the case from the top of my head. You don't have such a clear tendency in books written by men. That's just my subjective feeling.
grzzly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 07:07 AM   #11
Ea
Wizard
Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Ea's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,490
Karma: 5239563
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Denmark
Device: Kindle 3|iPad air|iPhone 4S
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlorenceArt View Post
Well yes, the question annoyed me, but it doesn't mean that you were wrong to ask. What annoys me, really, is the assumptions people make about men and women
We can easily agree on that
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlorenceArt View Post
(such as the one I replied to above). I'm sorry you felt attacked, and it's certainly not personal. The whole subject of men and women tends to switch me into an aggressive mode.
"Replied to above"? I deliberately tried to avoid making assumptions in my question and poll and simply ask questions. I am not sure what you are referring to?
Ea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 07:30 AM   #12
wayrad
Fanatic
wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wayrad ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 551
Karma: 1121392
Join Date: May 2008
Location: USA
Device: HTC One M8
Interesting question. I've never been particularly conscious of an author's gender when purchasing a book, but looking at my shelves, I'd say about 2/3 of my books from the last few years are by women. But then I've been reading a lot of urban fantasy and mysteries.
wayrad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 07:38 AM   #13
FlorenceArt
High Priestess
FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.FlorenceArt ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
FlorenceArt's Avatar
 
Posts: 5,761
Karma: 5042529
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreuil sous bois, France
Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ea View Post
"Replied to above"? I deliberately tried to avoid making assumptions in my question and poll and simply ask questions. I am not sure what you are referring to?
I was referring to the post by jhempel24 I replied to in that same post.
FlorenceArt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 07:41 AM   #14
Ea
Wizard
Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Ea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Ea's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,490
Karma: 5239563
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Denmark
Device: Kindle 3|iPad air|iPhone 4S
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlorenceArt View Post
I was referring to the post by jhempel24 I replied to in that same post.
Thanks. I'm afraid your original post freaked me.
Ea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2010, 07:45 AM   #15
Sparrow
Wizard
Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 4,395
Karma: 1358132
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3
I've got nothing against women writers - some of my closest friends read books written by women.

But I do think that (most of the time) you can tell an author's gender by how they write, and what they write about.
Sparrow is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Espionage authors you (and I) should read dougbiss Reading Recommendations 107 07-17-2013 10:26 PM
Fantasy authors you (and I) should NEVER read Dr. Drib Reading Recommendations 307 08-22-2011 07:58 PM
Sci-fi authors you (and I) should NEVER read Dr. Drib Reading Recommendations 186 03-11-2011 09:03 PM
Fantasy authors you (and I) should read dougbiss Reading Recommendations 65 08-23-2010 10:29 AM
Sci-fi authors you (and I) should read dougbiss Reading Recommendations 39 11-14-2009 07:48 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:51 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.