Do you read books by authors of your own gender? - Page 3

Quake1028 · 09-14-2010, 11:26 AM

I'm a man (a manly one, to boot), and I tend to read more books by male authors, but I think that's because in the genres I like, there seem to be more of them. My favorite author ever though is Agatha Christie. So I'm not sure how to answer the poll question.

Sparrow · 09-14-2010, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grzzly

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

But that doesn't have be a bad thing.
Sometimes it's the genius of a writer to beguile you despite your preconceptions.
(I'm not a romance fan - but I love Anne Tyler's books.)
There are great books in every genre

.

grzzly · 09-14-2010, 11:45 AM

Well if you told me one romance to read that I might give it a chance

The problem I have with romances is that they are often the same. I mean there only is so much you can get out of two people falling in love, it's bound to repeat quite soon with thousands of romances out there.

FlorenceArt · 09-14-2010, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grzzly

Well if you told me one romance to read that I might give it a chance

Jane Austen. The best, ever. To my taste, of course.

TGS · 09-14-2010, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrow

(I'm not a romance fan - but I love Anne Tyler's books.)

I'd certainly second that: also worth a try are Joyce Carol Oates, Barbara Pym, Iris Murdoch (anything before Jackson's Dilemma), Kate Atkinson, Hilary Mantel. None of them write what I understand by "romance" - but I may not understand the term very well since I'd run a mile from anything that I thought was it, (in terms of fiction - real life is quite different!).

FlorenceArt · 09-14-2010, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

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.

Regarding the article linked to (very honest and interesting), I believe that the explanation, in part, lies in deeply ingrained prejudices that are shared by women and men alike. The article hints that today, there may be more women writers than men in the non-fiction field. This in itself is interesting: serious stuff (non-fiction) is still mostly male. But I am pretty sure that if we had access to detailed statistics by genre, you would find that the women to men ratio goes higher as the perceived literary value of the genre goes down. Women writers are legion. Women writers who aspire to "serious" literature are probably still way fewer than men in the same field. There are other factors of course (some subjects are considered more feminine or masculine than others, independently of perceived literary value), but basically, I think it's still very hard for most people to envision anything a woman does, apart from raising a family, as "serious" or "important" stuff. Things are changing, of course and happily, but deep down there is still more prejudice than we'd like to believe.

Donnageddon · 09-14-2010, 12:16 PM

My favorite author is James Tiptree, Jr., so I guess I have a bias toward male authors.

Ea · 09-14-2010, 12:25 PM

@FlorenceArt
You make some good and interesting points, especially about the perceived value, because that's quite as important as the numbers.

ardeegee · 09-14-2010, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

My favorite author is James Tiptree, Jr., so I guess I have a bias toward male authors.

Are you allowed to use dry British humor, not being British?

Donnageddon · 09-14-2010, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Are you allowed to use dry British humor, not being British?

Hush... I try to keep under the radar in order to avoid the MI6.

tompe · 09-14-2010, 12:50 PM

In science fiction i on purpose tried to read female authors since I reasoned that if they managed to get published the book was probably very good.

TC Beacham · 09-14-2010, 01:10 PM

Cool thread!

I've often heard that women read male authors more than men read female authors - nice to see a poll. Just guessing, I'd say 60% female, 40% male for me.

Pookeysgirl · 09-14-2010, 01:25 PM

I choose my books based on authors I like and have read good reviews on. But I have to say that most of my horror/action-filled books are written by men, and all of my historical fiction and vampire books are written by women.

some call me tim · 09-14-2010, 01:47 PM

I tend to read mostly male authors, but I'd like to read more female. Many of the female authors I've read though, have a "by us, for us" kind of feel to them--there is an entire genre of "chick lit" after all.

I read a book by Margaret Atwood not long ago though, and not only was it very, very good, but it also felt largely gender neutral. I also read my first Stephanie Plum book recently, and though that was definitely aimed at a female audience, I found it to be enjoyable.

dreams · 09-14-2010, 02:23 PM

After reading through all the comments, I started to think about those authors who write under other names for specific genres. Maybe, because of a perceived bias?

Males who write under a female name for romance or cozy mystery, etc.

Females who write under a male name for something other than romance, chick lit, etc.

Sometimes, it is not always easy to find out if they are.

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

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09-14-2010, 11:26 AM	#31
Quake1028 Guru Posts: 917 Karma: 9155462 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Tampa, FL Device: See signature	I'm a man (a manly one, to boot), and I tend to read more books by male authors, but I think that's because in the genres I like, there seem to be more of them. My favorite author ever though is Agatha Christie. So I'm not sure how to answer the poll question.

09-14-2010, 11:45 AM	#33
grzzly Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 12 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Germany Device: Kindle 3	Well if you told me one romance to read that I might give it a chance The problem I have with romances is that they are often the same. I mean there only is so much you can get out of two people falling in love, it's bound to repeat quite soon with thousands of romances out there.

09-14-2010, 12:16 PM	#37
Donnageddon Now you lishen here... Posts: 2,494 Karma: 479498 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Seattle-ish Device: Sony PRS-650. Kobo Touch, Kindle Fire	My favorite author is James Tiptree, Jr., so I guess I have a bias toward male authors.

09-14-2010, 12:25 PM	#38
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	@FlorenceArt You make some good and interesting points, especially about the perceived value, because that's quite as important as the numbers.

09-14-2010, 12:50 PM	#41
tompe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,452 Karma: 7185064 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Linköpng, Sweden Device: Kindle Voyage, Nexus 5, Kindle PW	In science fiction i on purpose tried to read female authors since I reasoned that if they managed to get published the book was probably very good.

09-14-2010, 01:10 PM	#42
TC Beacham Great Beach Reads! Posts: 202 Karma: 300000 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle 2	Cool thread! I've often heard that women read male authors more than men read female authors - nice to see a poll. Just guessing, I'd say 60% female, 40% male for me.

09-14-2010, 01:25 PM	#43
Pookeysgirl Wizard Posts: 1,705 Karma: 12696746 Join Date: May 2010 Device: K3, Kobo Mini	I choose my books based on authors I like and have read good reviews on. But I have to say that most of my horror/action-filled books are written by men, and all of my historical fiction and vampire books are written by women.

09-14-2010, 01:47 PM	#44
some call me tim Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 22620 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Seattle Device: Kindle Voyage, Kobo Libra	I tend to read mostly male authors, but I'd like to read more female. Many of the female authors I've read though, have a "by us, for us" kind of feel to them--there is an entire genre of "chick lit" after all. I read a book by Margaret Atwood not long ago though, and not only was it very, very good, but it also felt largely gender neutral. I also read my first Stephanie Plum book recently, and though that was definitely aimed at a female audience, I found it to be enjoyable.

09-14-2010, 02:23 PM	#45
dreams It's about the umbrella Posts: 25,110 Karma: 56250158 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505\| K Fire \| KK 3G+Wi-Fi \| iPhone 3Gs \|Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF	After reading through all the comments, I started to think about those authors who write under other names for specific genres. Maybe, because of a perceived bias? Males who write under a female name for romance or cozy mystery, etc. Females who write under a male name for something other than romance, chick lit, etc. Sometimes, it is not always easy to find out if they are.

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