Quote:
Originally Posted by GlenBarrington
I repeat, I question the truth of that assumption. I suspect it can not be backed up with hard data.
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I suspect it can, but nobody paid for the research.
And it has nothing to do with gender discrimination, it has to do with something that is quite normal, our tendency to generalize and classify when we are facing an abundance. And we do. Each and every one of us has favourite authors, and those that are not worthy of our time. Genres that we avoid, those that we like. And so on.
When we face a thousands of books on shelves of the big book store, where each and every one of them is competing for our eyes, the decision to reach for the book and read what is written on the jacket is rarely concious. A colourful cover might grab our attention or send a symbolic message that matches our expectations, books that are on prominent display will capture our attention, a title might interest us, and so on.
The question is NOT do you read women authors, the question is can you tell that a book was written by a lady or is men's work. Most of the time I can, and if you agree with me, then the mystery of the need to mask the gender of the author is easily solved. The marketing guru has denied us a recognition and easy classification, and forced us to reach for the book and read the jacket.