It’s a tale as old as—well for me, this blog. Overall, books written by women are not given the same attention as books written by men. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t something I paid attention to until I was on my quest to become a published author. I’ve always read books by men and women. Mostly women. When I tried to decide (in that “you must know what you write before you query” frenzy) what I was writing, the term women’s fiction made sense. I mostly write about women. Likely about topics of interest to women. Now, I know that men have read The Glass Wives and enjoyed it, appreciated it. Even men not related to me.
Obviously, I don’t mind the term women’s fiction. I always used it as a way to describe what I write until I started also using the term book club fiction. I never saw the term as an emblem of righteous indignation. Yet, the facts that author Katie O’Rourke brings to light below, are troubling. And the fact that books of all kinds by women (women don’t just write women’s fiction, shocking, I know!) don’t get the reviews and acclaim—or are even considered for it—is troubling.
Many thanks to Katie O’Rourke for wanting to share her thoughts here. Please share yours in the comments.
Amy xo
Sexism and Books By and About Women
Many female authors bristle at the label “women’s fiction” for the same reason Wikipedia users were upset last year when all novels written by women were segregated from those writers whose gender was deemed irrelevant to their writing: men. Why isn’t there a ‘men’s fiction’? Because men have determined that to be the default.
In one of my favorite reviews of Sue Miller, she’s described as writing about “families and marriages, infidelity and divorce — what we call ‘literary fiction’ when men write about those things.”
Though women’s writing doesn’t get the same respect, the reason it doesn’t hurt sales is that most book buyers are women, a fact that makes the predominance of male reviewers even more bizarre.
Whenever I read an article about sexism in contemporary literature, I’m frustrated by what seems to be missing from the conversation. To me, all these issues are connected and they have to do with the way girls and boys are taught how to read.
During the four years of my public high school education, I was assigned close to twenty novels. Only two of them were written by women: Pride and Prejudice and To Kill a Mockingbird. A British lady from the 1800s and a ten year old American girl from the 1930s are representing all of female human experience. It’s a heavy burden.
The books I was assigned in school are the same books my parents were assigned, the same books they’re assigning today. I’ve been told this isn’t sexist; it’s a product of the sexism of the past. Classic literature must stand the test of time.
Certainly, there were fewer women being published in the 1900s and I don’t suggest we whitewash history to pretend otherwise. But when we create a mandatory reading list for children, why are we focusing on this time period, perpetuating the ideas of white men whose sexism can be forgiven? Doesn’t time march onward? Haven’t there been any great novels written in the last three generations?
As an adult, I read an article that quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald as saying: “Women learn best not from books or from their own dreams but from reality and from contact with first-class men.” It colored my impression of his female characters.
Did you read The Great Gatsby in high school? Is it possible that every American to pass through a public school in the last fifty years has been forced to read the same book, absorbing the perspective of this old-school misogynist because critics have decide it is one of the “great American novels”?
And, can a woman write the great American novel? Salon’s Lauren Miller writes: “Men are allowed to stand for the entirety of a national identity or for humanity itself, but women are only supposed to stand for womanhood, if in various flavors.”
Imagine if The Great Gatsby had focused on Daisy instead. Could it have been a story representative of what it was like to be an American in the 20s, or would it have only been representative of what it was like to be an American woman in the 20s?
When a subject is written by a man, it’s considered universal because men see stories about men as universal and men make these definitions. Because assigned reading is so heavily male, women have been taught to find universal themes in books written by men and about men. The opposite is not true. Men have not been required to find universal themes in books written by women, about women. They have rarely even been required to read such books.
Out of curiosity, I tracked down the current reading list for my public high school. The freshman and sophomore reading remains unchanged: eight titles (including Gatsby!), only one written by a woman. The junior reading list is a choice among 100 books, five of which were written by women. Of the fifty-five books on the senior reading list, there are six books and ten short stories by women. It’s unclear whether the reading choice is made by the students or the teacher, so I’m still not sure boys are being assigned more female authors than they were twenty years ago.
Beyond the obvious charge of sexism, the disadvantage this presents to female students, I’d suggest a disservice is being done to male students as well. I think reading habits are developed early in life, and this may have something to do with why women are better, more diverse readers.
It’s true that in order to make room for more female authors, some of the established male authors would have to be cut. Perhaps ten straight, white men who wrote before the 20th century would be enough. Maybe it’s time to hear some other voices. If not now, when?
Katie O’Rourke was born and raised in New England, growing up along the seacoast of New Hampshire. She went to college in Massachusetts and graduated with a degree in gender and sexuality. She lives in Tucson, Arizona where she writes, loves, and is happy. Monsoon Season, her debut novel, was a bestselling e-book. Her second novel, A Long Thaw was released in 2014. You can find out more about Katie and her books on her website: Katie O’Rourke
Here are links to articles referenced in Katie’s post:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/opinion/sunday/wikipedias-sexism-toward-female-novelists.html?_r=0
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042004354.html
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/nov/11/dont-patronise-popular-fiction-women
www.vulture.com/2013/05/schulz-on-the-great-gatsby.html?test=true
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/05/rachel_kushners_ambitious_new_novel_scares_male_critics/
Katie – But, but but. I’m with you, right up to the discussion of the classics. It was different than now. I’d love to see a chart based on the percentage of women writers back then, compared to now. Intuitively, I’d assume the percentage of women writing were much smaller back then. So it makes sense that there’s less women’s names among the classics.
Today though? No excuse for the disparity.
Honestly, I write for women, so I’m just fine with only women paying attention to my writing.
But Jodi Picoult and others? Stand strong, Sista – I’ve got your back!
i know it was different then, but my question is why is that the only place we get assigned reading? i think kids who are 17 and under would be better served by reading books that are relatable and diverse, teaching them to be critical readers in their adult lives, at which point they can read all the classics they want.
Thanks, Katie. Great perspective! It really resonated with me!
Fascinating and insightful post, although we know these are deep truths set in stone.
As one French publisher said at the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival last year, ‘Without women readers, the publishing industry would not exist, in any shape or form’.
And yet..
Good luck with your writing Katie!
Excellent post Katie and I completely agree. Of course it is not just in literature sexism prevails, so to in science, history, psychology and so on. I remember reading an interview with Sadie Smith where she scolded women for writing about the domestic as if this was a bad thing- but as you rightly point out, if a man writes it, then it must be literature. Sigh, there is a long way to go, but good for you for expressing the issues so well.
I wrote a really long comment and then it got deleted! But Katie, I agree with everything you said here. Just because that disparity existed in the past doesn’t mean we should continue presenting it and perpetuating it to students in a modern classroom. I’d love to see more diversity of authors read in classrooms, not just based on gender but also in terms of race, ethnicity, geography, sexuality…we can do so much better.
And it’s so true that this form of sexism is taught early on, not just by reading choices, but in how children are taught to play. Why is it okay for a little girl to play with “boy’s” toys, like trucks and action figures, while it’s not okay for a boy to reach for a doll? As a culture, we have this obsession with protecting boys’ masculinity, but all it does in the end is shun the idea of anything “feminine” as being less than. Which leads to an entirely different discussion gender and how we define masculine vs feminine, of course! 😉 But that would be a whole other post, or book.
EXACTLY! we can’t change the past, but let’s stop perpetuating it.
Speak it, Sister! Actually, you opened my eyes to something I had never even considered before. Thanks for that.
Wow, Fitzgerald said that? Shame on him. But Gatsby is still a great novel. And your perspective is valid. However, at the women’s college I attended we read a lot of women writers and my English professor assigned us a piece in freshmen year where we were to explain what was or wasn’t great about being a woman. He was horrified at the response–most were positive and didn’t GET that we were not in power positions in the mid sixties. So, it’s often about exposure or geography. I’m sure Vassar women were reading female writers. And I still intend to contribute to the literature of writers–and if more women read my work–that still resonates with me. Thanks, Katie, Beth Havey
Well-said.
I’ve been wondering about this, too! Why don’t men and boys read books about/by women but women and girls read books about/by men all the time? I agree with you that we need to train our readers young–we’re sending a very powerful message to them about what “serious” literature is and what is a universal experience.
right. and the problem is that we ARE training them young and these are the results..
This is a great post. Thank you for bringing attention to the disparity between men and women writers. This is one reason I don’t mind my daughter reading fiction like The Hunger Games and Divergent outside of her assigned readings for school. Sure, the protagonists aren’t perfect, but they are strong, young female heroines and at least the authors are women.
My daughter’s reading list reads with similar stats (high school junior). A great teacher is able to recommend books to each student that will engage them, with characters they can relate to. The suggested reading lists are like military rations: they get the job done, but not very enjoyable.