Do you read books by authors of your own gender?

[Ea]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

That's also my gut feeling, I think I tend to read more books by author when the author is female, but I'd like to check the facts

Yes, it's probably fair to say that the genre fiction I read is generally written by women, while general and literary is balanced. If I feel really energetic today I might do a count - you made me curious

[WT Sharpe]

Most of the books I read are written by white males, but I don't believe this represents a conscious bias. It's just that the subjects that interest me, such as science, philosophy, and religion, have been traditionally dominated by white male authors. That having been said, I find myself frequently reading books by women as well as people of color. Two of the books I'm currently reading are Arianna Huffington's Third World America and The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations edited by Elizabeth Knowles. Neither was chosen because of the gender of the author/editor, but simply because I was interested in the subject matter.

[djgreedo]

I think the word 'prefer' should be omitted from the question as it implies a preference.

I read almost exclusively male authors, but not for any reason other than coincidence. I suppose the genres I read tend to be male-dominated.

Off the top of my head I can only name 3 female authors that I have read more than once.

Out of about 20 books I've read this year I think only one was written by a woman and on co-authored by a woman and man.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Ea

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.

That will never happen it will always exist, there will always be some bias. Your poll is evidence that you yourself contradict your ideal.

=X=

[Ea]

Originally Posted by djgreedo

I think the word 'prefer' should be omitted from the question as it implies a preference.

I read almost exclusively male authors, but not for any reason other than coincidence. I suppose the genres I read tend to be male-dominated.

Off the top of my head I can only name 3 female authors that I have read more than once.

Out of about 20 books I've read this year I think only one was written by a woman and on co-authored by a woman and man.

Unfortunately it's not possible to edit poll questions - not AFAIK.

[Falcao]

> Do you read books by authors of your own gender?

Yes, but it's only a coincidence.

[=X=]

Like djgreedo said I believe* most of the authors I read a male, but that has more to do with the types of books I read vs actually choosing a book on an author ethnicity/gender.


* I say believe because any author can create a pen name and hide their gender/ethnicity. This is a practice that is still occurs in our present day.

=X=

[jamesread]

I support good writing no matter the gender. I like supporting good writing by good indie authors more than anything else though, because they need the extra push and word of mouth to find an audience.

[SensualPoet]

I tend to read works by male authors because, as a male I feel the stories relate more to me than do those of women authors. I inhabit a male world, am comfortable here, and want to immerse myself in story-tellers telling stories most relevant to me.

Not that I don't read female authors -- I certainly do. But for every Agatha Christie, there is a Raymond Chandler; for every Louise Penny, an Eric Wright; for every Elizabeth George, an Ian Rankin; for every Ngaio Marsh, a Robert B Parker. And then Georges Simenon, Conan Doyle, Rex Stout, Erle Stanley Gardner, Hulbert Footner ....

What surprises me is that there are as many female authors in my collection as there are -- the mix might be as high as 45-55 in e-books although much wider divide in p-books. Then again, I have been collecting (and pruning) p-books over the years whereas e-books are rather recent and somewhat driven by what's available. There's little classic gay male fiction as ebooks -- it tends to be "romantic/erotic" vs "literary". And works like Hermann Hesse or Thomas Mann in English are currently hard to find in ebooks or hideously expensive. So Carolyn G Hart suddenly shoots to prominence in a nascent collection.

[nguirado]

[QUOTE=Pookeysgirl;1111506]

Originally Posted by nguirado

We were married only a week and a half ago, he better love me!

I'm glad he's not a MR member, so he won't see your hint

Congratulations! I've been married for 15 years. After some very rough patches (oh, I'm so tempted to give advice!) and me growing up, I love her more now than I did the first week we were married.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

What surprises me is that there are as many female authors in my collection as there are -- the mix might be as high as 45-55 in e-books although much wider divide in p-books. Then again, I have been collecting (and pruning) p-books over the years whereas e-books are rather recent and somewhat driven by what's available. There's little classic gay male fiction as ebooks -- it tends to be "romantic/erotic" vs "literary". And works like Hermann Hesse or Thomas Mann in English are currently hard to find in ebooks or hideously expensive. So Carolyn G Hart suddenly shoots to prominence in a nascent collection.

Yes, for those older books there is really little to be done but produce them oneself.

[JSWolf]

As far as romance goes, it's a prickly thing. I don't mind it in the store if it's natural and not forced. But when you can obviously say, yes, it's going to happen and it does, that kind of spoils things.

I read The Ark in July and you could just feel the romance before it even started. But having read Killing Floor, the romance did not feel like forced or unnatural. So when the romance is not so obvious until it happens, it's ok. But when it's stariung you in the face before it happens, it's just feels forced.

[JSWolf]

Last book I read was by Agatha Christie and the book I recently started is by Christopher Moore. And I have some Anne McCaffrey Dragon Riders of Pern ready to go. So really it's just what catches my fancy at the time. It's not based on the sex of the author.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Ea

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.

The problem is the question you are asking and the way the poll questions are phrased do not mesh. You ask about the bias we have about the authors we read and the sex of the authors and then in the poll questions you ask what we prefer. So what we have here is really a question that doesn't fit the poll. Really, the poll should be started over in order to get proper answers. I would answer differently if the poll matched your question. I am male and I read mostly male authors. But, it's not that I prefer to do so. It just turns out that way. So the bias here is towards male authors. But I do not "prefer" male authors to female authors. So really if the poll question was something like "I am male and I read mostly male authors", I would have voted for it. But when you say that I am male and prefer male authors, that's just wrong for the way it is.

[JSWolf]

More male authors write thrillers. More male authors write science fiction. I'm not sure of the ratio of male to female authors when it comes to fantasy but it may be close. More female authors write paranormal books (undead). More women write romance (bosom heaving). More women write cozy mysteries. More men write crime novels.

So really, the sex of the author can depend on a lot on the genres you like to read. Pick a genre and you can see the chances of reading a male or female author vary.